Bosphorus

Name

The English spelling with -ph- (Bosphor) is not justified by the ancient Greek name, and dictionaries prefer the spelling with -p-. However, -ph- occurs as a variant in medieval Latin (as Bosphor, and occasionally Bosphorus or Bospherus), and in medieval Greek sometimes as Βόσφορος, giving rise to the French Bosphore, the Spanish Bósforo, the Italian Bosforo and the Russian Босфор. The 12th-century Greek scholar John Tzetzes calls it Damaliten Bosporon (after Damalis), but he also reports that in popular usage the strait was known as Prosphorion during his day, the name of the most ancient northern harbour of Constantinople. In English, the preferred spelling tends to be Bosphorus.