Sphingine

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Sphingine

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:55 pm

• sphingine •


Pronunciation: sfin-jeen, sfin-jên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Sphinxlike, resembling or otherwise pertaining to a sphinx or sphinxes. 2. Enigmatic, inscrutable.

Notes: Today's Good Word is good at concealing its source. This concealment results from a spelling peculiarity and a common phonetic rule. The phonetic rule is that voiced sounds (involving vibration of the vocal cords) [b, d, z, zh, j, g] become voiceless [p, t, s, sh, ch, k], respectively, before other voiceless consonants. So, [g] was replaced by [k] in the original word (sphing-s became sphink-s) . The spelling peculiarity is that [ks] is represented in English by the single letter X. Hence, this word is the adjective for sphinx.

In Play: Sphinxes were first and foremost a symbol of power: "Emperors loved sphingine statues because they represented the sort of power they perceived themselves to have." But any characteristic of sphinxes allows the figurative use of today's word: "Lil Wormser-Goode loves to test those she meets with a sphingine verbal test which, only if they pass, are allowed into the embrace of her friendship."

Word History: In Greek mythology the sphinx was represented as a winged lion with a woman's head who waylaid travelers, and strangled then consumed those who failed to solve her riddle: What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening? Sphinx means "strangler" in Greek, a reference to the means the Sphinx used to kill her victims. This noun is based on the verb sphingein "to squeeze, strangle", source also of sphincter "band, cord, sphincter", first used in the last sense by Galen, physician to kings and emperors, and borrowed by the Romans strictly in that sense. (Now a word to remember Wordmaster Rob Towart's long-standing contribution to our series, including today's rare but lovely Good Word.)
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Slava
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Re: Sphingine

Postby Slava » Mon Jun 26, 2023 8:02 pm

While I like the word and am glad I know it now, I expect I'll personally stick to the simpler sphinx-like, should I ever have to speak of things being like a sphinx in the first place.
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Re: Sphingine

Postby David Myer » Thu Jun 29, 2023 3:03 am

Yes, Slava. You can get yourself into trouble using some of the more arcane Words of the Day. I attended a meeting in a large hall, not long ago. I sat next to the right end in the second row. We were all required to register attendance by signing a piece of paper on a clipboard. It was started in the front row to my left. I watched it pass along the front row. The person on the right end turned round and passed it to the person on my right. She signed and then turned around to pass it to the person behind her in the third row. I intervened "No, no. We are passing it boustrophedonically." Perhaps I used too much passion, but my neighbour appeared horrified and turned again to pass it to the person behind her. I decided to push the point no further and slunk back into the bottom of my seat.

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Re: Sphingine

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Jun 29, 2023 10:11 pm

I suppose there was no dictionary that the woman could run to. I like to think of my arcane words sending people to their dictionaries. That might be expecting too much.
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Re: Sphingine

Postby George Kovac » Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:11 pm

David,

Perhaps your recalcitrant fellow attendee understood you perfectly and was merely demonstrating for you her knowledge of “boustrophedon.”

According to an etymology I consulted, the word comes from a combination of Greek words originally meaning “behaving like an ox.”
"Every battle of ideas is fought on the terrain of language." Zia Haider Rahman, New York Times 4/8/2016

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Re: Sphingine

Postby Slava » Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:49 pm

For any who wish to consult our own Good Doctor, he's treated boustrophedon thrice, and each time it's even earned comment from the Agorans: here, here, and here.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.


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