πλάγος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Apparently from a Proto-Indo-European *plag-, and cognate with πλάξ (pláx, “flat broad tablet”), Latin plaga (“tract, region”), Proto-Germanic *flakaz (“flat, smooth”) (see also English flake), though the existence of such a root and its potential relation to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”) raises formal issues.^[1]

Beekes, who considers πλάγιος (plágios, “oblique, athwart”) to be the original term and πλάγος (plágos) a derivative, finds the semantic connection with the word's cognates opaque, and tentatively prefers a Pre-Greek origin, relating it to πλᾰ́ζω (plắzō, “to lead astray”).^[2]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /plá.ɡos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpla.ɡos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpla.ɣos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpla.ɣos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpla.ɣos/

Noun

πλάγος • (plágos) n (genitive πλάγεος); third declension

side

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ πλᾰ́γος; τοῦ πλᾰ́γεος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ πλᾰ́γος tò plắgos	τὼ πλᾰ́γεε tṑ plắgee	τᾰ̀ πλᾰ́γεᾰ tằ plắgeă
Genitive	τοῦ πλᾰ́γεος toû plắgeos	τοῖν πλᾰγέοιν toîn plăgéoin	τῶν πλᾰγέων tôn plăgéōn
Dative	τῷ πλᾰ́γεῐ̈ tōî plắgeĭ̈	τοῖν πλᾰγέοιν toîn plăgéoin	τοῖς πλᾰ́γεσῐ / πλᾰ́γεσῐν toîs plắgesĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ πλᾰ́γος tò plắgos	τὼ πλᾰ́γεε tṑ plắgee	τᾰ̀ πλᾰ́γεᾰ tằ plắgeă
Vocative	πλᾰ́γος plắgos	πλᾰ́γεε plắgee	πλᾰ́γεᾰ plắgeă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

πλάγιος (plágios)

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “plaga”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 469
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “πλάγιος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1200: “DER > line 3 > πλάγος”