ἅλς Ancient Greek · revision 15546

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Mycenaean (Linear B)|origins=ine-pro *sal-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /háls/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈals/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈals/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ᾰ̔́λς''' (háls) ''m'' (genitive ᾰ̔λός); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*hā́ls]], [[inh|ine-pro|*sḗh₂l|t=salt]].^(Wiktionary) It is an old word kept in most Indo-European languages.^(Frisk 1960)^(IE-CoR) The traditional reconstruction is [[m|ine-pro|*sal-]]; the Leiden school sets up a noun in /l/ instead, to avoid a Proto-Indo-European /a/.^(IE-CoR) Mycenaean has [[gmy|o-pi-a₂-ra]], read /opi-hala/ “coastal regions”.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ Cognate with [[la|sāl|t=salt]], [[xcl|աղ|tr=ał|t=salt]], [[lv|sāls|t=salt]], [[cu|соль|tr=solĭ|t=salt]] and [[txb|sālyiye|t=salt]].^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) Germanic has a form with /d/, [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄|tr=salt|t=salt]].^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Mycenaean compound already contains it.^(Beekes 2010) Homer has it for salt, “he sprinkled divine salt” (''Iliad'' 9.214), and as a feminine noun for the sea, from the first book of the ''Iliad'' (“into the bright sea”, 1.141).^(LSJ 1940)^(GLAUx)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a feminine it is a poetic word for the sea, generally the shallow water near the shore.^(LSJ 1940) Beekes suggests it followed [[θάλασσα|tr=thálassa]] or was a collective.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010) As a masculine it is salt, usually in the plural, and Herodotus speaks of salt mines and lumps of rock salt.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Salt was the cheapest household thing: “you would not even give salt” (''Odyssey'' 17.455) was said of a miser.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) It was also a token of hospitality and comradeship (Archilochus, Aeschines, Demosthenes, Aristotle), and figuratively wit.^(CGL 2021)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ From Aristotle on a neuter [[ἅλας|tr=hálas]] was formed from the accusative plural; the New Testament uses it of the disciples as the salt of the earth.^(Beekes 2010)^(CGL 2021) The diminutive [[ἁλάτιον|tr=halátion]], Byzantine ''ἁλάτιν'', became Modern Greek ''αλάτι'', and ''άλας'' survives as a learned word.^(Wiktionary) English ''halo-'' comes from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – A Linear B compound means “coastal regions”.^(Beekes 2010)

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' uses it for salt and for the sea.^(LSJ 1940)^(GLAUx)

+ * 7th century BC – Archilochus uses it as a symbol of comradeship.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus describes salt mines.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the neuter ἅλας.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament calls the disciples salt.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(masculine)'' [[m|en|salt|alt=Salt]];^(LSJ 1940) ''(plural)'' grains of salt, salt deposits.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Hospitality, comradeship; wit.^(CGL 2021)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(feminine, poetic)'' The [[m|en|sea]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # [[m|en|brine|alt=Brine]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἅλας|tr=hálas]]

+ * [[ἅλινος|tr=hálinos]]

+ * [[ἁλίζω|tr=hālízō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|sāl]]

+ * [[en|salt]]

+ * [[en|halo-]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ LSJ treats the two genders as two entries, ἅλς (A) “salt” and ἅλς (B) “sea”, but notes that both come from the same word.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}