φάρυγξ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• φᾰ́ρῠξ (phắrŭx) — Epic, Lyric

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, followed by prenasalization of the coda. Alternatively, it could be related to φᾰ́ρᾰγξ (phắrănx, “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 (lắrŭnx).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pʰá.ryŋks/ → /ˈɸa.ryŋks/ → /ˈfa.riŋks/

• (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 • (phắrŭnx) f or m (genitive φᾰ́ρῠγγος); third declension (Attic, Ionic)

1. throat; windpipe; esophagus; pharynx

   Synonyms: βρόγχος (brónkhos), γᾰργᾰρεών (gărgăreṓn), ᾰ̓́σφᾰρᾰγος (ắsphărăgos), σφᾰ́ρᾰγγες (sphắrănges)

2. (zootomy) dewlap of a bull
3. (in the plural, pathology) diseases of the throat

   Synonym: λοιμός (loimós)

Usage notes

• Originally a feminine noun (and chiefly treated as one in Attic), but increasingly declined as masculine by the Koine period.

Declension

Third declension of ἡ φᾰ́ρῠγξ; τῆς φᾰ́ρῠγγος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ φᾰ́ρῠγξ hē phắrŭnx	τὼ φᾰ́ρῠγγε tṑ phắrŭnge	αἱ φᾰ́ρῠγγες hai phắrŭnges
Genitive	τῆς φᾰ́ρῠγγος tês phắrŭngos	τοῖν φᾰρῠ́γγοιν toîn phărŭ́ngoin	τῶν φᾰρῠ́γγων tôn phărŭ́ngōn
Dative	τῇ φᾰ́ρῠγγῐ tēî phắrŭngĭ	τοῖν φᾰρῠ́γγοιν toîn phărŭ́ngoin	ταῖς φᾰ́ρῠγξῐ / φᾰ́ρῠγξῐν taîs phắrŭnxĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν φᾰ́ρῠγγᾰ tḕn phắrŭngă	τὼ φᾰ́ρῠγγε tṑ phắrŭnge	τᾱ̀ς φᾰ́ρῠγγᾰς tā̀s phắrŭngăs
Vocative	φᾰ́ρῠγξ phắrŭnx	φᾰ́ρῠγγε phắrŭnge	φᾰ́ρῠγγες phắrŭnges
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ φᾰ́ρῠγξ; τῆς φᾰ́ρῠγγος (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ φᾰ́ρῠγξ hē phắrŭnx	τὼ φᾰ́ρῠγγε tṑ phắrŭnge	αἱ φᾰ́ρῠγγες hai phắrŭnges
Genitive	τῆς φᾰ́ρῠγγος tês phắrŭngos	τοῖν φᾰρῠ́γγοιν toîn phărŭ́ngoin	τῶν φᾰρῠ́γγων tôn phărŭ́ngōn
Dative	τῇ φᾰ́ρῠγγῐ tēî phắrŭngĭ	τοῖν φᾰρῠ́γγοιν toîn phărŭ́ngoin	τῇσῐ / τῇσῐν φᾰ́ρῠγξῐ / φᾰ́ρῠγξῐν tēîsĭ(n) phắrŭnxĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν φᾰ́ρῠγγᾰ tḕn phắrŭngă	τὼ φᾰ́ρῠγγε tṑ phắrŭnge	τᾱ̀ς φᾰ́ρῠγγᾰς tā̀s phắrŭngăs
Vocative	φᾰ́ρῠγξ phắrŭnx	φᾰ́ρῠγγε phắrŭnge	φᾰ́ρῠγγες phắrŭnges
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Descendants

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

References

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

Further reading

• “φάρυγξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “φάρυγξ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • gorge idem, page 367.
  • gullet idem, page 379.
  • throat idem, page 870.
• φάρυγξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
• Frisk, Hjalmar (1970), “φάρυγξ”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 995
• Lidén, Evald (1937), “Wortgeschichtliches”, in L. Hjelmslev, C. Höeg, Ch. Møller, Ad. Stender-Petersen, editors, Mélanges linguistiques offerts à M. Holger Pedersen à l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire, 7 avril 1937 (Acta Jutlandica: Aarsskrift for Aarhus Universitet; IX1) (in German), København: Levin & Munksgaard, page 92