ῥάμφος

See also: ράμφος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Next to this word, there are ῥέμφος (rhémphos, “mouth or nose”) and ῥαμψός (rhampsós). The words ῥέμβομαι (rhémbomai, “to turn round, roam”) and ῥόμβος (rhómbos, “wheel”) are phonetically comparable and semantically similar; confront further ῥάβδος (rhábdos, “rod, wand”) and ῥομφαία (rhomphaía, “Thracian sword”). Germanic words have been compared, like Middle Low German wrimpen (“to turn up one's nose”), but these comparisons are ungrounded. The variation β/ψ rather points to a Pre-Greek origin, as does the α-vocalism. Moreover, ῥαιβός (rhaibós, “crooked”) is probably a variant, showing prenasalization.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /r̥ám.pʰos/ → /ˈram.ɸos/ → /ˈram.fos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /r̥ám.pʰos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈram.pʰos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈram.ɸos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈram.fos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈram.fos/

Noun

ῥᾰ́μφος • (rhámphos) n (genitive ῥᾰ́μφεος); third declension

1. crooked beak of birds of prey, bill

   Synonym: ῥύγχος (rhúnkhos)

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ ῥᾰ́μφος; τοῦ ῥᾰ́μφεος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ῥᾰ́μφος tò rhámphos	τὼ ῥᾰ́μφεε tṑ rhámphee	τᾰ̀ ῥᾰ́μφεᾰ tà rhámphea
Genitive	τοῦ ῥᾰ́μφεος toû rhámpheos	τοῖν ῥᾰμφέοιν toîn rhamphéoin	τῶν ῥᾰμφέων tôn rhamphéōn
Dative	τῷ ῥᾰ́μφεῐ̈ tôi rhámpheï	τοῖν ῥᾰμφέοιν toîn rhamphéoin	τοῖς ῥᾰ́μφεσῐ / ῥᾰ́μφεσῐν toîs rhámphesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ ῥᾰ́μφος tò rhámphos	τὼ ῥᾰ́μφεε tṑ rhámphee	τᾰ̀ ῥᾰ́μφεᾰ tà rhámphea
Vocative	ῥᾰ́μφος rhámphos	ῥᾰ́μφεε rhámphee	ῥᾰ́μφεᾰ rhámphea
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• λεπτόραμφος (leptóramphos)
• ῥαμφάζομαι (rhampházomai)
• ῥαμφή (rhamphḗ)
• ῥαμφηστής (rhamphēstḗs)
• ῥάμφιον (rhámphion)
• ῥάμφιος (rhámphios)
• ῥαμφίς (rhamphís)
• ῥαμφώδης (rhamphṓdēs)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ράμφος (rámfos)

Further reading

• “ῥάμφος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ῥάμφος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ῥάμφος 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