φωνέω

Forms

φωνέω (phōnéō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”) + -έω (-éō).^[1][2] The noun is from Proto-Hellenic *pʰōnā́, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoh₂-néh₂, from the root *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”) that also gives φημί (phēmí).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses only the aorist of the simple verb, as in the formula in which a speaker, raising his voice, addresses someone in winged words.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the classical language it means to speak, to utter a word or to sound, of people, animals and things.^[2][4] Herodotus uses it of making oneself understood in a language.^[4] With an object it meant to call someone or to address him.^[2][5] In the New Testament it is used of the crowing of a cock, of crying out aloud and of calling or summoning someone.^[5]

In medieval Greek it was reshaped, after κράζω (krázo), as φωνάζω (fonázo), which is the Modern Greek verb for shouting and calling.^[6][1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the aorist of a speaker raising his voice.^[2][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus introduce spoken words with it.^[2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of having the loudest voice and of uttering a word.^[2][4]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of a cock crowing and of calling someone.^[5]
• Modern Greek – The verb continues as φωνάζω (fonázo) “to shout, to call”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To speak aloud, to utter words; to raise one's voice.^[2][4]
2. To make a sound, of animals and things; of a cock, to crow.^[2][5]
3. To call to someone, to address or summon them.^[2][5]
4. To communicate in speech with someone who knows one's language.^[4]

Word family

• ἀναφωνέω (anaphōnéō)
• ἀντιφωνέω (antiphōnéō)
• διαφωνέω (diaphōnéō)
• ἐκφωνέω (ekphōnéō)
• ἐπιφωνέω (epiphōnéō)
• μεταφωνέω (metaphōnéō)
• ὁμοφωνέω (homophōnéō)
• περιφωνέω (periphōnéō)
• προαναφωνέω (proanaphōnéō)
• προσεπιφωνέω (prosepiphōnéō)
• προσφωνέω (prosphōnéō)
• προφωνέω (prophōnéō)
• συμφωνέω (sumphōnéō)
• ὑποφωνέω (hupophōnéō)

Related words

• φωνή (phōnḗ)
• φημί (phēmí)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux