ἀλφός

Forms

ᾰ̓λφός (alphós) m (genitive ᾰ̓λφοῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰo- (“white”),^[2] and is identical with Latin albus (“white”) and Umbrian alfu (“white”).^[2][3] A form with a suffix in /d/ may be the name of the swan in Germanic and Slavic, as Old High German albiz, though this could be a substrate word.^[2][3] River names such as Ἀλφειός (Alpheiós), Latin Albula and Albis (the Elbe) are often compared, though most of them are probably not Indo-European.^[2][3] The word plays a part in the debate on a PIE vowel /a/, since Hittite alpa- (“cloud”) may belong here.^[2][1]

Chantraine notes that the ordinary word for white was λευκός (leukós), and that ἀλφός, perhaps a dull white, survived only in glosses and technical uses.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is a fragment of Hesiod, for dull-white leprosy, a loss of pigmentation of the skin.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed a name for a whitish skin disorder, especially on the face: Plato and the Hippocratic writers use it in the plural, Theophrastus in his Characters, and the Septuagint in Leviticus.^[4][5][3] Galen has the adjective ἀλφώδης “leprous”.^[3] The general sense “white” is kept only in a gloss of Hesychius, and the Thessalian ἀλφινία named the white poplar.^[3][7]

Timeline

• Before the 6th century BC – A fragment of Hesiod uses it for a whitish skin disease.^[4][5][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses the plural in the Timaeus.^[4][6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it in the Characters.^[4][5]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it in Leviticus.^[4][6]
• 2nd century AD – Galen has the derivative ἀλφώδης.^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Dull-white leprosy, a loss of skin pigmentation, especially on the face.^[4][5]

Related words

• Latin albus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 g h Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
8. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge