Furnée argues for a Pre-Greek origin, but the word might also be of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂s-, itself of imitative origin; βήξ (bḗx) could point to a protoform *gʷeh₂(s)-gʰ-.
βήξ • (bḗx) m or f (genitive βηχός); third declension
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ὁ, ἡ βήξ ho, hē bḗx |
τὼ βῆχε tṑ bêkhe |
οἱ, αἱ βῆχες hoi, hai bêkhes | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τοῦ, τῆς βηχός toû, tês bēkhós |
τοῖν βηχοῖν toîn bēkhoîn |
τῶν βηχῶν tôn bēkhôn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῷ, τῇ βηχῐ́ tôi, têi bēkhí |
τοῖν βηχοῖν toîn bēkhoîn |
τοῖς, ταῖς βηξῐ́ / βηξῐ́ν toîs, taîs bēxí(n) | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὸν, τὴν βῆχᾰ tòn, tḕn bêkha |
τὼ βῆχε tṑ bêkhe |
τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς βῆχᾰς toùs, tā̀s bêkhas | ||||||||||
| Vocative | βήξ bḗx |
βῆχε bêkhe |
βῆχες bêkhes | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
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