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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Diogenes gives the following: narthex, ēcis, m., = ὁ νάρθηξ, the shrub ferula, Plin. 13, 22, 42, § 123. Cyprian Rosen > -----Original Message----- > From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious > culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John > Dillon > Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 2:11 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [M-R] Narthex (WAS Re: [M-R] saints of the day 28. December) > > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and > culture > > As it happens, _narthex_ although spelled similarly to such other Latin > words of more than one syllable ending in "ex" as _index_, _culex_, > _pulex_, _pontifex_ is phonetically distinct from them in that in these > latter words (all of which -- unlike _narthex_ -- are of Latin origin) > the "e" before the "x" is short and becomes a short "i" in oblique > cases. But in _narthex_ the "e" preceding the "x" is long and should > remain a long "e" in oblique cases (cf. Pliny, _N. H._. 13. 123: > _nartheca_, a Latinized Greek accusative form). > > EXCURSUS: _narthex_ is a loan word from the Greek and signifies, both > in Greek and in Latin, one or more fairly long-stalked species of > fennel. The architectural use is an extended meaning. Procopius, _De > aedificiis_ 1. 2. 4 says it's because of these porches' great length. > I think it may be a combination of that and of the plant's arrangement > of knobby flower heads along the central stalk-- the porches to which > Procopius refers were colonnaded. Herewith a view from nature: > http://tinyurl.com/7eyqzu > > I can't find the genitive singular of _narthex_ attested in ancient > Latin (it isn't attested pre-classically or classically; it _might_ be > attested from Late Antiquity but I don't have remote access to the > online _Thesaurus Linguae Latinae_). Nonetheless, normative Latin > orthography routinely represents by the letter "e" that long "e" in > loan words from Greek. Which is why we have as standard forms e.g. > _ecclesia_ and _bibliotheca_, with _ecclisia_ and _bibliothica_ > occurring from late antiquity into the early modern period as > pronunciation spellings. The early seventeenth-century papal secretary > Leone Allacci, a native speaker of Greek, wrote a little treatise in > Latin on the narthex in ecclesiastical buildings (_De narthece > ecclesiae veteris, epistola_) in which he quite properly uses _narthec- > _ in oblique cases: > http://tinyurl.com/a6msxu > > By the same token, the standard Latinate plural of English "narthex" is > "nartheces" not "narthices". The standard non-Latinate plural is of > course "narthexes". > > Hope this helps. > > Best, > John Dillon > > On Sunday, December 28, 2008, at 5:04 pm, Marjorie Greene wrote: > > > Jim Bugslag wrote: the narthexes (nartheces?) > > > > Jim, Your query sent me straight to two dictionaries, neither of > which > > had a response to your ? If "narthex" follows the usual Latin > pattern, > > the plural would be "narthices." However "indexes" and "indices" are > > both accepted as the plural of "index," so I suppose "narthexes" is > > OK. I'd love a response from one of our resident specialists on the > subject. > > MG > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html