ἄλφι
Ancient Greek
Etymology
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
- (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
ᾰ̓́λφῐ • (ắlphĭ) n (indeclinable)
Usage notes
- Particularly differentiated from ᾰ̓́λειᾰρ (ắleiăr, “wheat flour”) and ᾰ̓́λευρον (ắleuron, “wheat flour”).[2]
Related terms
References
- ^ 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
- ^ Chantraine (1968) pp. 66–67
Further reading
- 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