ἄλφα 1 <Semitic; Classical period>
👉 ἄλφα n. – ‘name of the letter Α’ (Plat., Crat. 393e, 399b etc.; Callias in Ath. 10.79/453d (once with a lacuna) and 453f; Arist., Metaph. 1086b, 1087a; etc.).
⚠ Eus., PE 10.5.3-12: ἕκαστον γοῦν τῶν στοιχείων παρ' αὐτοῖς (scil. ῾Εβραίοις) κατά τινος σημαντικῆς διανοίας τὴν προσηγορίαν φέρει, ὅπερ οὐκ ἔνεστιν εὑρεῖν παρὰ τοῖς ῞Ελλησι· διὸ καὶ μάλιστα μὴ ὄντα ἴδια ῾Ελλήνων ὁμολογεῖται. ἔστι δὲ τὰ πάντα παρ' ῾Εβραίοις στοιχεῖα δύο καὶ εἴκοσιν, ὧν τὸ μὲν πρῶτόν ἐστιν ῎Αλφ, ὃ μεταληφθὲν εἰς τὴν ῾Ελλάδα φωνὴν λέγοιτ' ἂν ‘μάθησις’· τὸ δὲ δεύτερον Βήθ, ὃ μεθερμηνεύεται ‘οἴκου’· τὸ τρίτον Γίμελ, ὅ ἐστι ‘πλήρωσις’· (...) καὶ παρὰ μὲν ῾Εβραίοις τοιάδε τίς ἐστιν ἡ τῶν στοιχείων μετάφρασις καὶ ἑρμηνεία, λόγου διάνοιαν ἀπαρτίζουσα τῇ τῶν στοιχείων μαθήσει τε καὶ ἐπαγγελίᾳ προσήκουσαν. τὸ ὅμοιον δ' οὐκ ἂν εὕροις καὶ παρ' ῞Ελλησιν, ὅθεν, ὡς ἔφην, ὁμολογεῖν ἀνάγκη μὴ ὄντα οἰκεῖα ῾Ελλήνων, παραπεποιημένα δὲ ἄντικρυς ἀπὸ τῆς βαρβάρου φωνῆς. καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς δὲ ἐλέγχεται τῆς καθ' ἕκαστον στοιχεῖον ἐπωνυμίας. τί γὰρ τοῦ ῎Αλφ τὸ ῎Αλφα διενήνοχεν; ἢ τοῦ Βὴθ τὸ Βῆτα; ἢ τοῦ Γάμμα τὸ Γίμελ; ἢ τοῦ Δὲλθ τὸ Δέλτα; ἢ τοῦ Η τὸ Ε; ἢ τοῦ Ζαῒ τὸ Ζῆτα; ἢ τοῦ Τὴθ τὸ Θῆτα; καὶ ὅσα τούτοις παραπλήσια. ὥστε ἀναμφίλεκτον εἶναι τὸ μὴ ῾Ελλήνων οἰκείας εἶναι τὰς τοιάσδε φωνάς· ῾Εβραίων ἄρα, παρ' οἷς καὶ σημαῖνόν τι ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἀποδείκνυται. παρὰ δὲ τούτοις πρώτοις ἀρξάμενα προῆλθεν εἴς τε ἄλλους καὶ δὴ καὶ εἰς ῞Ελληνας. – “For example, each letter among the Hebrews has its name from some significant idea, a circumstance which it is not possible to trace among the Greeks: on which account especially it is admitted that the letters are not originally Greek. Now the Hebrews have in all twenty-two letters: of which the first is ‘Alph,’ which translated into the Greek language would mean ‘learning’: and the second ‘Beth,’ which is interpreted ‘of a house’; the third is ‘Gimel,’ which is ‘fullness’; (...) Among the Hebrews such is the paraphrase and interpretation of the letters, making up a meaning in words appropriate to the learning and promise of the letters. But the like you cannot find among the Greeks, whence, as I said, it must be acknowledged that they do not belong originally to the Greeks, but have been imitated directly from the language of the Barbarians. This is also proved from the very name of each letter. For in what does ‘Alpha’ differ from ‘Alph’? Or ‘Beta’ from ‘Beth’? Or ‘Gamma’ from ‘Gimel’? Or: ‘Delta’ from ‘Delth’? Or ‘E’ (corr. R.R.) from ‘He’? Or ‘Zeta’ from ‘Zai’? Or ‘Theta’ from ‘Teth’? And all the like cases. So that it is indisputable that these names belong not originally to the Greeks: therefore they belong to the Hebrews, among whom each of them shows some signification. And having originated with them the letters passed on to other nations, and so to the Greeks.” (trans. E.H. Gifford).
🅔 Probably a Phoenician loanword – cf. Jewish Aramaic ʾālap̄, ʾlp ‘name of the letter א’, Syriac ʾālap̄ ‘name of the letter ܐ’, etc. The letter name goes back eventually to the Semitic word for ‘bull, ox’: Akkadian alpu(m) ‘bull, ox; cattle; beef’, Ugaritic ảlp ‘bull, ox; cattle; yearling calf, young cattle’, Phoenician and Punic ʾlp ‘ox’, Biblical Hebrew ʾelep̄ ‘cattle, head of cattle’ etc. Cf. αλφ and ἄλφα 2. The final -α occurring in many Greek letter names seems to have resulted in the metathesis -C1V̆C2 > -C1C2V̆ (where C1 is a sonorant), which initially took place in four letter names: *ἄλαφ or *ἄλεφ > ἄλφα, *γάμαλ or *γάμελ > *γάμλα > γάμμα, *δέλατ or *δέλετ > δέλτα, *λάμαδ or *λάμεδ > *λάμδα > λάμβδα > λάβδα; by analogy with these letter names, the vowel -α was added to some other names: βῆτα, ἦτα, θῆτα, ἰῶτα, κάππα and κόππα (cf. also ζῆτα, σίγμα). According to other views, the final -α is simply a prothesis added by the Greeks or a Semitic case ending (but without any proof).
📖 Data: CAD: A.1, 364-372; CDA: 13; DCH: I, 299; DJBA: 136; DJPA: 60; DNWSI: 64; DUL: 58f.; HALOT: 59; PhPD: 55; SL: 50. Ref.: Krebernik 2007: 149 (cf. 146); Rosół 2013: 113-115; cf. Nöldeke 1904: 134f.; Powell 1991: 36; Ruijgh 1997: 557f.; Segert 1963: 52; Tropper 2000: 317-319; Tropper 2001: 358; Willi 2008: 413.