Ἄλφα
alpha
Translated by Jennifer Benedict12 Jun 2000Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
Indeclinables, such as alpha, give a nominative sense [when] without an article; if with an article [it is that] of an oblique case.1
The sound of the alpha, the first and chief letter, took its name from the Hebrew aleph; so that the sacred letters are discoveries of Abraham, even if Greeks amused themselves by forming the letters differently.2
The sound of the alpha, the first and chief letter, took its name from the Hebrew aleph; so that the sacred letters are discoveries of Abraham, even if Greeks amused themselves by forming the letters differently.2
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἄλφα· ὅτι τὰ ἄκλιτα, οἷον τὸ ἄλφα, χωρὶς ἄρθρου δίδωσιν ὑπόνοιαν εὐθείας, εἰ δὲ σὺν ἄρθρῳ πλαγίας πτώσεως. ὅτι ἡ τοῦ ἄλφα φωνή, τοῦ πρώτου στοιχείου καὶ ἄρχοντος, ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἄλεφ Ἑβραίου τὴν ἐπίκλησιν ἔλαβεν· ὥστε τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα εὑρήματα εἶναι τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, κἂν ἄλλως καὶ ἄλλως ἑαυτοὺς διαπαίζοντες ἀναγράφωσιν Ἕλληνες.