 |
 |
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