ἀλφός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (“white”). Cognates include Latin albus (“white”), Hittite 𒀠𒉺𒀸 (alpas, “cloud”), Umbrian 𐌀𐌋𐌚𐌖 (alfu, “white”) and Middle Welsh elbid (“world”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /al.pʰós/ → /alˈɸos/ → /alˈfos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /al.pʰós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /alˈpʰos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /alˈɸos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /alˈfos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /alˈfos/

Noun

ᾰ̓λφός • (alphós) m (genitive ᾰ̓λφοῦ); second declension

1. a type of skin disease, typified by dull white lesions.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ᾰ̓λφός; τοῦ ᾰ̓λφοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ᾰ̓λφός ho alphós	τὼ ᾰ̓λφώ tṑ alphṓ	οἱ ᾰ̓λφοί hoi alphoí
Genitive	τοῦ ᾰ̓λφοῦ toû alphoû	τοῖν ᾰ̓λφοῖν toîn alphoîn	τῶν ᾰ̓λφῶν tôn alphôn
Dative	τῷ ᾰ̓λφῷ tôi alphôi	τοῖν ᾰ̓λφοῖν toîn alphoîn	τοῖς ᾰ̓λφοῖς toîs alphoîs
Accusative	τὸν ᾰ̓λφόν tòn alphón	τὼ ᾰ̓λφώ tṑ alphṓ	τοὺς ᾰ̓λφούς toùs alphoús
Vocative	ᾰ̓λφέ alphé	ᾰ̓λφώ alphṓ	ᾰ̓λφοί alphoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Further reading

• “ἀλφός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀλφός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀλφός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀλφός in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)