ἄλφιτον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂élbʰit. Cognates include Albanian elb.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ál.pʰi.ton/ → /ˈal.ɸi.ton/ → /ˈal.fi.ton/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ál.pʰi.ton/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈal.pʰi.ton/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ɸi.ton/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈal.fi.ton/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈal.fi.ton/

Noun

ἄλφιτον • (álphiton) n (genitive ἀλφίτου); second declension (chiefly in the plural)

1. barley-groats, barley flour
   • c. 8th century BCE, Homer, “Rhapsody υ”, in Odyssey, 107-8:

     δώδεκα πᾶσαι ἐπεῤῥώοντο γυναῖκες ἄλφιτα τεύχουσαι καὶ ἀλείατα, μυελὸν ἀνδρῶν

     dṓdeka pâsai eperrhṓonto gunaîkes álphita teúkhousai kaì aleíata, muelòn andrôn

     twelve maidens, day by day, toiled grinding barleymeal and wheatmeal, the marrow of man

   • 430 BCE, Herodotus, “Book VII, Polyymnia”, in Histories, section 119:

     οἱ ἀστοὶ ἄλευρά τε καὶ ἄλφιτα ἐποίευν πάντες ἐπὶ μῆνας συχνούς

     hoi astoì áleurá te kaì álphita epoíeun pántes epì mênas sukhnoús

     the citizens continued to make wheatmeal and barleymeal for many months

2. meal, groats
3. (figuratively) one's daily bread, bread and cheese

Usage notes

Particularly differentiated from ἀλείατα (aleíata, “wheat flour”) and ἄλευρον (áleuron, “wheat flour”) (see quotes).

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ἄλφιτον; τοῦ ἀλφίτου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἄλφιτον tò álphiton	τὼ ἀλφίτω tṑ alphítō	τᾰ̀ ἄλφιτᾰ tà álphita
Genitive	τοῦ ἀλφίτου toû alphítou	τοῖν ἀλφίτοιν toîn alphítoin	τῶν ἀλφίτων tôn alphítōn
Dative	τῷ ἀλφίτῳ tôi alphítōi	τοῖν ἀλφίτοιν toîn alphítoin	τοῖς ἀλφίτοις toîs alphítois
Accusative	τὸ ἄλφιτον tò álphiton	τὼ ἀλφίτω tṑ alphítō	τᾰ̀ ἄλφιτᾰ tà álphita
Vocative	ἄλφιτον álphiton	ἀλφίτω alphítō	ἄλφιτᾰ álphita
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

See also

• ἄλφι (álphi)

References

• “ἄλφιτον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄλφιτον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἄλφιτον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἄλφιτον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • barley idem, page 63.
  • corn idem, page 174.
  • meal idem, page 519.