λύγξ Ancient Greek · revision 2269

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=Homeric Hymns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /lýŋks/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈlyŋks/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈlyŋks/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''λῠ́γξ''' (lúnx) ''m'' or f (genitive λῠγκός); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an old name of the lynx, also found in Armenian, Germanic and Balto-Slavic.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Apart from the nasal it matches the Lithuanian consonant stem seen in the genitive plural lūšų, beside the newer [[lt|lūšis]]; other languages remade it with a thematic vowel ([[sv|lo]]), with an s-suffix ([[goh|luhs]], [[ang|lox]]) or with an n-suffix ([[xcl|լուսանունք|tr=lusanunkʻ|t=lynxes]]), which presupposes an old full grade [[m|ine-pro|*leuḱ-]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Beekes, following Furnée, concludes that the word is not Indo-European: a link with the root *leuk- “to see, shine”, as if the animal were named for its sharp sight, cannot explain the long ū of Balto-Slavic, the n of Armenian or the g of Greek [[λύγγιος|tr=lúngios]], and he takes it as a loan from a European substrate language.^(Beekes 2010)^(Etymonline) Wiktionary instead reconstructs [[m|grk-pro|*lúnks]] and [[m|ine-pro|*lú(n)ḱs|t=lynx]], a nasal-infixed form of [[ine-pro|*lewk-|t=white, light, bright]], after the cat's glowing eyes.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It first appears in the ''Homeric Hymns'' and in Euripides, who speaks of “dappled lynxes”.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Xenophon, Aristotle and Theophrastus mention the animal.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Aelian and Oppian also use the word for the caracal, and Galen for a kind of ape.^(LSJ 1940)^(Montanari 2015)^(CGL 2021) From the personal name [[Λυγκεύς|tr=Lunkeús]] came λυγκεύς, the name of an eye-salve.^(Beekes 2010) [[λυγγούριον|tr=lungoúrion]] was a kind of amber (Theophrastus).^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ It was borrowed as [[la|lynx]], the source of the word in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homeric Hymns – the lynx.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)

+ * 5th century BC – Euripides' “dappled lynxes”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle describes the lynx.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus names the amber λυγγούριον.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century AD – Galen uses it for a kind of ape.^(Montanari 2015)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd–3rd century AD – Aelian uses it for the caracal.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|lynx]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The [[m|en|caracal]].^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(Galen)'' A kind of [[m|en|ape]].^(Montanari 2015)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[λύγγιος|tr=lúngios]]

+ * [[λυγγούριον|tr=lungoúrion]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|lynx]]

+ * [[en|lynx]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different word λύγξ, genitive λυγγός, means “hiccup” (Hippocrates, Plato) and, in Thucydides, ineffectual retching; it belongs with [[λύζω|tr=lúzō]] “to hiccup”.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(Montanari 2015)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}