ἄλφα

Forms

ἄλφα (álpha) n (indeclinable)^[1] Hesychius also records ἀλφή (alphḗ).^[2]

Etymology

It is a Semitic loanword: the name of the first letter of the alphabet, borrowed from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp), whose ordinary meaning was “ox”.^[1][3][4] Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk start from the Hebrew name of the letter.^[5][6][7] The same word for cattle is Akkadian alpu (“bull, ox”) in Akkadian.^[3][8]

Most scholars take the final ⟨-α⟩ as a vowel added because Greek words could not end in such a consonant,^[3] and Chantraine compares interjections in ⟨-α⟩, and Beekes and Frisk compare βῆτα (bē̂ta).^[6][5][7] Rosół instead assumes that the Phoenician name had two syllables and that Greek moved the vowel to the end by metathesis, as in γάμμα (gámma), δέλτα (délta) and λάμβδα (lámbda); from these four the ⟨-α⟩ spread to other letter names.^[3]

Ancient writers knew it was foreign: Plutarch says Cadmus put alpha first because the Phoenicians call the ox so, and Hesychius glosses it as the head of an ox.^[8][3][9] Eusebius argued that the letter names are Hebrew, since only there does each one mean something.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The comic poet Callias, quoted by Athenaeus, has it in the 5th century BC.^[3][10][2] Chantraine gives Plato's Cratylus as the first example.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle has the plural τὰ ἄλφα, though the word is indeclinable.^[6][10] Herodas mocks someone who cannot even recognise an alpha, a phrase for complete ignorance.^[10][2] Papyri of the 2nd century AD use it of a brand on camels.^[2] In the Book of Revelation “the alpha and the omega” are the first and the last, the beginning and the end.^[10][2][11] A late writer uses it for a T-square, after the letter's shape.^[10] The compound ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos), from the first two letters, first appears in Irenaeus.^[5][6][7]

Latin borrowed it as alpha, and it passed from Greek into many languages, among them English alpha.^[1] Modern Greek has άλφα (álfa).^[1]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The comic poet Callias uses it in a play.^[3][10][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Cratylus and Xenophon use it.^[6][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the plural τὰ ἄλφα.^[10][6][2]
• 3rd century BC – Herodas speaks of a person who cannot recognise alpha.^[10][2]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch says that alpha is the Phoenician word for the ox.^[8][2]
• 2nd century AD – Papyri use it of a brand on camels.^[2]
• 3rd–4th century AD – Eusebius argues that the letter names are borrowed from Hebrew.^[8][2]
• Modern Greek – The letter is άλφα (álfa).^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. Alpha, the name of the first letter of the alphabet, Α, α.^[10][4][2]
2. (figurative) The beginning; in the phrase “the alpha and the omega”, the first and the last.^[10][2][11]
3. A brand in the shape of the letter, on cattle.^[2]
4. A T-square.^[10]
5. In Hesychius, the Phoenician word for an ox's head.^[10][9]

Word family

• ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos)
• ἀλφάριον (alphárion)

Related words

• βῆτα (bē̂ta)
• Latin alpha
• English alpha

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 g h i j k l m n o Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
4. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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
7. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
8. ^ a b c d e Rosół, Rafał, ed., Lexicon of Oriental Words in Ancient Greek, https://orientalwordsingreek.org
9. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b 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