ἐρεύγομαι
Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk treat ἐρεύγομαι “belch” and ἐρεύγομαι “roar” as two words, which LSJ also separates; they note that Greek often blurred them.[1][2][3][4]
ἐρεύγομαι1 belch
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /e.rěu̯.ɡo.mai̯/[5]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /eˈreβ.ɣo.mɛ/[5]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈrev.ɣo.me/[5]
Forms
ἐρεύγομαι (ereúgomai) [5]
Etymology
The belching verb is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewg- (“to belch”),[1][5][6] an expressive root found in many languages.[1][2][3] Cognate with Latin ērūgō, Lithuanian riáugėti, Russian рыга́ть (rygátʹ), Old English rocettan and Old Armenian ործամ (orcam), with the same prothetic vowel as the Greek.[1][5][3] The nasal present ἐρυγγάνω (erungánō) stands beside it as πυνθάνομαι (punthánomai) stands beside πεύθομαι (peúthomai), and the aorist ἤρυγον (ḗrugon) has the zero grade.[1][3][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Iliad wolves that have eaten flesh spew out blood, and in the Odyssey a man heavy with wine belches.[4][7][8]
Semantic evolution
The verb is poetic; in prose the present was ἐρυγγάνω (erungánō).[2][1] It was used figuratively of the sea spewing onto the land, of rivers discharging into the sea in Alcaeus, and of a volcano in Pindar, whose “springs of fire” belch forth.[4][8][2] Hippocratic medicine has nouns of belching such as ἔρευξις (éreuxis) and ἐρευγμός (ereugmós), and Aretaeus and Galen ἐρυγή (erugḗ).[2][1]
The Septuagint and the New Testament use it expressively for uttering: “day pours out speech to day” in the Psalms, and “I will utter things hidden” in Matthew.[4][1][8] It continues as Modern Greek ρεύομαι (révome) “to belch”.[9][5]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad uses it of wolves spewing blood; the Odyssey of a drunken man belching.[4][7]
- 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses it of a river discharging into the sea.[4][8][10]
- 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of the fire of a volcano.[4][8][10]
- 1st century AD – Matthew's Gospel uses the future for uttering hidden things.[4][1]
- Modern Greek – ρεύομαι means “to belch”.[9]
Meanings
Verb
- To belch; to disgorge, spew out.[4][8]
- Of the sea, rivers and volcanoes, to pour out, discharge.[4][8]
- (Koine) To blurt out, utter.[4][8]
Word family
- ἐρυγγάνω (erungánō)
- ἐξερεύγομαι (exereúgomai)
- ἐρυγμός (erugmós)
- ἐρύγμηλος (erúgmēlos)
ἐρεύγομαι2 bellow
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /e.rěu̯.ɡo.mai̯/[5]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /eˈreβ.ɣo.mɛ/[5]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈrev.ɣo.me/[5]
Forms
ἐρεύγομαι (ereúgomai) [5]
Etymology
The roaring verb is attested with certainty only in the aorist ἤρυγον (ḗrugon).[1][2] Other languages have similar words for roaring: Latin rūgiō (“to roar”), and with a final -k- Old English rȳn and Old High German rohōn.[1][2][3] Chantraine concludes that both Greek uses go back to a root imitating a hoarse sound.[2] Greek words that clearly refer to sound, ὀρυμαγδός (orumagdós) and ὠρύομαι (ōrúomai), belong with it.[1][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Iliad a dying warrior “bellowed as a bull bellows”, ἤρυγεν ὡς ὅτε ταῦρος ἤρυγεν.[7][4][2]
Semantic evolution
Homer's present forms used of the sea, “roaring” waves breaking on the land, can be read either as roaring or as spewing foam.[1][2][7] Theocritus uses the aorist of Heracles shouting for Hylas, and Apollonius of Rhodes of a river roaring into the sea.[2][8] The Septuagint uses the present and future of lions roaring.[1]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad compares a dying warrior's cry to a bull's bellow.[7][4]
- 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of Heracles shouting for Hylas.[2][8][10]
- 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of a roaring river.[8][10]
Meanings
Verb
Related words
- ὠρύομαι (ōrúomai)
- ὀρυμαγδός (orumagdós)
Usage notes
The two words are hard to keep apart: Beekes and Frisk point out that in the Psalms and in Matthew “to belch out” is used expressively for “to cry out”.[1][3] Homer's ἐρύγμηλος (erúgmēlos), also used of the bull, is listed by Beekes among the derivatives of the belching verb, from a noun ἐρυγμή (erugmḗ) recorded by Hesychius.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
- ^ a b c d e f g Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
- ^ a b c d e f Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge