φάλαγξ Ancient Greek · revision 2280

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=qfa-sub-grc}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pʰá.laŋks/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɸa.laŋks/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈfa.laŋks/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''φᾰ́λᾰγξ''' (phálanx) ''f'' (genitive φᾰ́λᾰγγος); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, [[der|qfa-sub-grc|-]]: it is formed like [[φάραγξ|tr=pháranx]], [[σῆραγξ|tr=sêranx]] and [[φάρυγξ|tr=phárunx]], and the prenasalized suffix -αγγ- proves a Pre-Greek origin.^(Beekes 2010)^(Beekes 2014)^(Wiktionary) PHILOGLOSSA rates this judgement as very reliable.^(PHILOGLOSSA)

+

+ The older comparison with Germanic words for “beam”, [[non|bjalki]] and [[goh|balko]], and with Balto-Slavic words for planks and crossbeams, from [[ine-pro|*bʰelǵ-|t=beam, plank]], is made obsolete by the nasal and by the constant vowels -αλα-.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary) Frisk had to assume that the nasal was secondary.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It was borrowed as [[la|phalanx]] and [[m|la|phalanga]], whence Late Latin planca and [[de|Planke]] “plank”.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it only in the ''Iliad'': once in the singular, “he broke the phalanx of the Trojans”, and otherwise in the plural, the lines or ranks of battle.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hesiod and Tyrtaeus also use it for the ranks of troops.^(CGL 2021) The concrete senses appear later: a log or round piece of wood (Herodotus, a Delian inscription), rollers for launching a ship (Apollonius), a balance beam and a joint of the fingers (Aristotle), a row of eyelashes (Paul of Aegina), and a spider, named after the long joints of its legs (comedy, Xenophon).^(Beekes 2010)^(CGL 2021)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ From Xenophon on it is the body of heavy infantry drawn up in close order, opposed to light troops, to cavalry and to the marching column, and later above all the Macedonian phalanx (Polybius).^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010) The Suda tells how the consul Lucius, who had fought many battles, admitted that he had never seen anything more frightening than a Macedonian phalanx.^(Suda) In the Septuagint it appears only in 1 Maccabees.^(Lust 2003)

+

+ It continues as [[el|φάλαγγα|tr=fálanga]].^(Wiktionary) [[en|phalanx]], first a line of battle (1550s), was used in anatomy for the row of finger joints, which fit together like infantry in close order.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – the lines of battle in the ''Iliad''.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * 7th century BC – Tyrtaeus uses it for ranks of troops.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a log.^(Beekes 2010)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for heavy infantry in close order, and for a spider.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a balance beam and a finger joint.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius describes the Macedonian phalanx.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 1550s – English ''phalanx''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(plural and collective)'' Rows or ranks of troops; the line of battle.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A body of heavy infantry in close order, the [[m|en|phalanx]]; a close formation of troops or ships.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # The ground occupied by troops, the lines.^(CGL 2021)

+ # A [[m|en|log]] or block of wood, a spar, and ''(plural)'' rollers for launching a ship.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+ # The [[m|en|beam]] of a balance.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' A bone of a finger or toe.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A row of eyelashes.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|spider]].^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)^(Hesychius)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[φαλαγγηδόν|tr=phalangēdón]]

+ * [[φαλάγγιον|tr=phalángion]]

+ * [[φαλαγγομαχέω|tr=phalangomakhéō]]

+ * [[φαλαγγίτης|tr=phalangī́tēs]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|phalanx]]

+ * [[en|phalanx]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}