φάρυγξ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

φᾰ́ρῠξ (phárux)

Etymology

According to Frisk an inherited Indo-European word for “throat, gorge”, cognate to Latin frūmen and Old Armenian երբուծ (erbuc), both from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to use, enjoy”), but phonetically this is somewhat problematic as the Greek form requires laryngeal metathesis to *bʰr̥Hug-, turning the root disyllabic, for unknown reasons. Alternatively, it could be related to φᾰ́ρᾰγξ (pháranx, “ravine, cleft, chasm, gully, abyss”) or φᾶρος (phâros, “cloth, cloak”), also of disputed origin.

Beekes pointed out that the prenasalized suffix -ῠγγ- (or -ῠγ-) argues for a Pre-Greek origin. Compare λᾰ́ρῠγξ (lárunx).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pʰá.ryŋks/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰa.ryŋks/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɸa.ryŋks/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈfa.ryŋks/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈfa.riŋks/

Noun

φᾰ́ρῠγξ • (phárunx) f or m (genitive φᾰ́ρῠγος or φᾰ́ρῠγγος); third declension

throat, windpipe, esophagus, pharynx
(zootomy) dewlap of a bull
(in the plural, pathology) diseases of the throat

Usage notes

Primarily feminine, rarely masculine.

Inflection

Lua error: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value) Lua error: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

Descendants

Greek: φάρυγγας (fáryngas)
→ New Latin: pharynx
- → English: pharynx
→ Italian: faringe

References

“φάρυγξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press