σάλαξ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

According to Beekes, from σάλος (sálos, “earthquake; movement of the sea”) with a velar suffix. Kölligan (2017) compares Hesychian σαίνεται· κινεῖται (saínetai; kineîtai, “shake”) and the root of Ancient Greek κινεῖται (kineîtai), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey(h₂)- (compare Latin cieō; IEW 538, LIV², de Vaan), thus reconstructing *ḱi-n̥-h₂-, *ḱih₂-(e)lo-.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sá.laks/ → /ˈsa.laks/ → /ˈsa.laks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sá.laks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.laks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.laks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.laks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.laks/

Noun

σάλαξ • (sálax) m (genitive σάλακος); third declension

1. miner's sieve or riddle

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ σάλαξ; τοῦ σάλακος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ σάλαξ ho sálax	τὼ σάλακε tṑ sálake	οἱ σάλακες hoi sálakes
Genitive	τοῦ σάλακος toû sálakos	τοῖν σαλάκοιν toîn salákoin	τῶν σαλάκων tôn salákōn
Dative	τῷ σάλακῐ tôi sálaki	τοῖν σαλάκοιν toîn salákoin	τοῖς σάλαξῐ / σάλαξῐν toîs sálaxi(n)
Accusative	τὸν σάλακᾰ tòn sálaka	τὼ σάλακε tṑ sálake	τοὺς σάλακᾰς toùs sálakas
Vocative	σάλαξ sálax	σάλακε sálake	σάλακες sálakes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σαλάκων (salákōn)
• σαλάσσω (salássō)

 

Further reading

• “σάλαξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σάλαξ 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
• Kölligan, D. (2017) “Gr. σάλαξ, σκύθραξ und die griechischen Nomina auf -ak-”, in Miscellanea Indogermanica, →ISBN, pages 369-381