ἄλφι
Ancient Greek edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Hellenic *álpʰi, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élbʰi(t) (“barley”),[1] thus the original meaning may have been “barley-flour”; this word may itself be derived from the root *h₂elbʰ- (“white”). Compare Proto-Albanian *albi (“barley”) (whence modern Albanian elb) and Proto-Iranian *arpacyaH (“barley”).
Pronunciation edit
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /ál.pʰi/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈal.pʰi/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈal.ɸi/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈal.fi/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈal.fi/
Noun edit
ἄλφῐ • (álphi) n (indeclinable)
Usage notes edit
Plural: ἄλφιτα (álphita) (Homeric), used in opposition to ἀλείατα (aleíata, “wheat flour”).[2]
This is a frequent word in Attic and Ionic dialects, and opposed to ἄλευρον (áleuron, “wheat flour”).[2]
Related terms edit
References edit
- ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἄλφι”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 77
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chantraine (1968) pp. 66–67
Further reading edit
- Chantraine, Pierre (1968) Dictionnaire Etymologique De La Langue Grecque pp.66-7
- DGE en línea
- ἄλφι in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette