πίφιγξ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πίφηξ (píphēx), πίφιξ (píphix)

Etymology

Probably an onomatopoeia, and as such comparable to πιππίζω (pippízō, “to chirp”), πιπώ (pipṓ, “woodpecker”); the suffix is reminiscent of instances such as σάλπιγξ (sálpinx), πέρδιξ (pérdix), and the morphological variation between -ιγξ (-inx) and -ιξ (-ix) strongly points to Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pí.pʰiŋks/ → /ˈpi.ɸiŋks/ → /ˈpi.fiŋks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pí.pʰiŋks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.pʰiŋks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.ɸiŋks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.fiŋks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.fiŋks/

Noun

πῐ́φῐγξ • (píphinx) f (genitive πῐ́φῐγγος); third declension

1. unknown kind of bird

References

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