ἄσφαλτος

See also: άσφαλτος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Generally taken as deriving from ἀ- (a-, “not”) +‎ σφάλλω (sphállō, “to fall, cast down”), under the assumption that it denoted the material that protects walls from tumbling down. However, according to Beekes, the word is rather Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ás.pʰal.tos/ → /ˈas.ɸal.tos/ → /ˈas.fal.tos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ás.pʰal.tos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈas.pʰal.tos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈas.ɸal.tos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈas.fal.tos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈas.fal.tos/

Noun

ἄσφᾰλτος • (ásphaltos) f or m (genitive ἀσφᾰ́λτου); second declension

1. asphalt, bitumen

Declension

Second declension of ὁ, ἡ ἄσφᾰλτος; τοῦ, τῆς ἀσφᾰ́λτου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ ἄσφᾰλτος ho, hē ásphaltos	τὼ ἀσφᾰ́λτω tṑ aspháltō	οἱ, αἱ ἄσφᾰλτοι hoi, hai ásphaltoi
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς ἀσφᾰ́λτου toû, tês aspháltou	τοῖν ἀσφᾰ́λτοιν toîn aspháltoin	τῶν ἀσφᾰ́λτων tôn aspháltōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ ἀσφᾰ́λτῳ tôi, têi aspháltōi	τοῖν ἀσφᾰ́λτοιν toîn aspháltoin	τοῖς, ταῖς ἀσφᾰ́λτοις toîs, taîs aspháltois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν ἄσφᾰλτον tòn, tḕn ásphalton	τὼ ἀσφᾰ́λτω tṑ aspháltō	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ἀσφᾰ́λτους toùs, tā̀s aspháltous
Vocative	ἄσφᾰλτε ásphalte	ἀσφᾰ́λτω aspháltō	ἄσφᾰλτοι ásphaltoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀσφαλτίζω (asphaltízō)
• ἀσφάλτιον (aspháltion)
• ἀσφαλτίτης (asphaltítēs)
• ἀσφαλτόπισσα (asphaltópissa)
• ἀσφαλτοφόρος (asphaltophóros)
• ἀσφαλτόω (asphaltóō)
• ἀσφαλτώδης (asphaltṓdēs)
• ἀσφάλτωσις (aspháltōsis)

 

Descendants

• → Latin: asphaltum
  • → Catalan: asfalt
  • → English: asphalt
  • → French: asphalte
    • → German: Asphalt
    • → Ottoman Turkish: آسفالت (asfalt)
      • Turkish: asfalt
      • → Laz: ასჶალთი (asfalti)
    • → Romanian: asfalt
    • → Russian: асфальт (asfalʹt), асфа́льтъ (asfálʹt) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
      • → Armenian: ասֆալտ (asfalt)
      • → Georgian: ასფალტი (aspalṭi)
      • → Iranian Persian: آسْفالْت (âsfâlt)
  • → Italian: asfalto
  • → Portuguese: asfalto
  • → Spanish: asfalto

References

• “ἄσφαλτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄσφαλτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἄσφαλτος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἄσφαλτος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• ἄσφαλτος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bitumen idem, page 80.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN