γάλα

Forms

γᾰ́λᾰ (gála) n (genitive γᾰ́λᾰκτος or γᾰ́λᾰκος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes takes it as inherited, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *glákt (“milk”), a word found outside Greek only in Latin lac and in Armenian.^[2][1] Greek points to a stem *γαλακτ- (galakt-) or *γλακτ- (glakt-), the latter seen in γλακτοφάγος (glaktophágos, “living on milk”) in Homer.^[2] Beekes suggests that γάλα comes from *γλακτ (glakt), with loss of the final consonants and a new vowel in the nominative and accusative, as in γυνή (gunḗ), whereas the oblique cases, which would regularly begin with ⟨γλ-⟩, took ⟨γαλ-⟩ from the nominative; a stage without ⟨τ⟩ could explain γλάγος (glágos).^[2] Armenian Old Armenian կաթն (katʻn) has been explained by Kortlandt from an older *gl̥kt-m.^[2][1]

Not everyone accepts an Indo-European word.^[1][3] Wiktionary notes that the irregular sounds, the a vowel and the Mediterranean distribution cast doubt on it, and mentions the alternative of a wandering agricultural word related to Hittite galaktar (“soothing substance, nutrient”);^[1] Beekes, following Kloekhorst, rejects the link with the Hittite word.^[2] The DGE, following Szemerényi, derives the word from the root of ἀμέλγω (amélgō, “to milk”);^[3] Beekes calls this impossible, because that root had a different form, *h₂melǵ-.^[2]

Ancient writers explained it as a “good” food, from καλός (kalós) with ⟨κ⟩ changed to ⟨γ⟩ (Orion), or from γῆ (gê, “earth”), the feeder of all (the Etymologicum Gudianum).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is milk from Homer on: the Iliad speaks of milking white milk (4.434), and the Odyssey too has the word.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It was used of human milk as well as animals': to be “in milk” was to be at the breast, in Euripides and Plato.^[6][7] “Birds' milk” was a proverbial name for an impossible luxury, in Aristophanes.^[7] In an epigram of Callimachus it stands for the wet-nurse herself.^[7] In the New Testament and early Christian writings milk is food, as in Paul's question of who tends a flock and does not drink its milk (1 Corinthians 9:7), and, with honey, a sign of the fertility of the promised land.^[8]

Medieval Greek also had a form γάλας, from the 13th century.^[9] It survives as Modern Greek γάλα (gála).^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad speaks of white milk.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Works and Days mentions milk.^[12][3]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses “in milk” for a child at the breast.^[6][3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes mentions “birds' milk” as a proverbial luxury.^[7][3]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus uses it for a wet-nurse.^[7][3]
• New Testament – Paul speaks of drinking the milk of one's flock.^[8]
• 13th century – A form γάλας appears.^[9]
• Modern Greek – It survives as γάλα.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Milk, of animals or of women.^[7][6][8]
2. (proverbial) “Birds' milk”, something impossible or a rare luxury.^[7]
3. (metonymy) A wet-nurse.^[7]

Word family

• ὀξύγαλα (oxúgala)
• γαλακτικός (galaktikós)
• γαλάκτινος (galáktinos)
• γαλάκτιον (galáktion)
• γαλακτοφάγος (galaktophágos)
• γαλαξίας (galaxíās)
• γλαγάω (glagáō)

Related words

• Latin lac

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
5. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux