A Greek delocutive noun? Some notes on ποίφυγμα and its alleged cognates

Abstract

Delocutives are formed with an utterance (x) as a radical. Common in Greek are verbs meaning "say x" (e.g., πατερίζω); nominal formations denote for instance a person saying x or the utterance x per se. The latter type would explain the hapax ποίφυγμα in A. Th. 280, where Eteocles says, upbraiding a group of women for their hysteria: "do not pray in ποιφύγμασιν". If ποίφυγμα is taken as a delocutive nominal formation from ποῖ φύγω (a Greek cliché), the sense would fit the context as well as Aeschylus' propensity for wordplay.