φθόγγος Ancient Greek · revision 3215

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=grc φθέγγομαι}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈfθoŋ.ɡos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''φθόγγος''' (phthóngos) ''m'' (genitive φθόγγου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a noun from [[φθέγγομαι|tr=phthéngomai|t=to utter a sound, speak]].^(Wiktionary)^(Cunliffe 1924)^(BDAG 2000) The verb has no certain etymology: comparisons with Slavic and Baltic words for barking, neighing or ringing, such as [[lt|žvengti|alt=žvéngti|t=to neigh]], are not phonetically convincing.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Iliad'' horses would miss the voice of their driver; in the ''Odyssey'' it is the voice of the Cyclops and the song of the Sirens.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was any sound of the voice: an utterance or cry, speech, and the language of a people in Anacreon and Aeschylus; the cries of animals and birds; and the sound of the wind, the sea and musical instruments.^(CGL 2021) Plato and Aristotle use it for a musical note, and for an individual sound of speech, a letter.^(CGL 2021) Aristotle speaks figuratively of the emotions as notes of the soul.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ In the New Testament Paul uses it for the tone of a flute or harp, and quotes the Psalm “their voice has gone out into all the earth”.^(BDAG 2000)^(Lust 2003) Modern Greek [[m|el|φθόγγος|tr=fthóngos]] is a learned word for a speech sound and a musical note.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' use it for a voice and a song.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 6th century BC – Anacreon uses it for a language.^(CGL 2021)

+ * 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the roar of the sea.^(CGL 2021)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a musical note and for a speech sound.^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century AD – Paul uses it for the sound of instruments.^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|voice]]; a cry or call, of people or animals.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # An utterance; speech; a [[m|en|language]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # A sound, of the wind, the sea or something moving.^(CGL 2021)

+ # A musical sound, a [[m|en|note]].^(CGL 2021)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # An individual sound of speech, a letter.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[φθέγγομαι|tr=phthéngomai]]

+ * [[δίφθογγος|tr=díphthongos]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}