Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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Expressive and onomatopoeic words, resembling κινυρίζω (kinurízō, to lament) and κινυρός (kinurós, wailing), with which were amalgamated in a way that can no longer be established. There is no further evidence for a variation κ/μ, as proposed by Furnée. Still, Pre-Greek origin is possible, according to Beekes. Latin minurriō (to chirp, twitter) shows a remarkable similarity; if it is not directly borrowed from Greek, it was at least influenced by it. According to Leumann, this verb is the oldest form of the series, while μινυρός (minurós) is a back-formation.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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μῐνῠρῐ́ζω (minurízō)

  1. to complain in a low tone, whimper, whine
  2. to sing in a low tone, hum, warble

Inflection

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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