a, a[lfa
a, a[lfa , tov , indecl., first letter of the Gr. alphabet: as Numeral, aV = ei|" and prw`to" , but, Ëa = 1000. Changes of a± :
1.
Aeol
.,
a±
for
e, a[llota
for
a[llote
:—for
o, ei[kati
for
ei[kosi
:—reversely
o
for
a
,
v.
sub
o
.
2.
Dor
.,
a±
for
e, a[lloka
for -
te
:—in the body of words,
iJarov"
for
iJerov"
. 3.
Ion.
,
a±
for
e, mevgaqo"
for
mevgeqo"
:—reversely
e
for
a±
,
v.
sub
e
.
b.
a±
becomes
h
in the num. forms,
diplhvsio", pollaplhvsio"
for
diplavsio", pollaplavsio"
.
c.
in some words,
a±
represents
h
, as
mesambrivh
for
meshmbriva, ajmfi" -ba±tevw
for
ajmfi" -bhtevw
.
d.
a±
for
o
, as
ajrrwdevw
for
ojrrwdevw
.
II.
changes of
a<Eth>
:
1.
h
Ion.
becomes
a<Eth>
Aeol.
and
Dor.
in the 1st decl., as
puvla, jAtreivda"
for
puvlh, jAtreivdh"
: also when
a
is the vowel of the root, as
qnavskw
for
qnhvskw
(
QAN
); but
h
for
e
or
ei
is often retained in
Aeol.
and
Dor.
, as
hjrcovman
(
e[rcomai
), but
ajrcovman
(
a[rcomai
).
b.
reversely, in
Dor.
,
ae
and
aei
in inflexions of Verbs in
avw
are
contr.
into
h
, as
ejnivkh
for -
a<Eth>, oJrh`/"
for -
a`/"
:—so in crasis,
thjmav
for
ta; ejmav, khjgwvn
for
kai; ejgwvn
.
c.
in
Dor.
,
ao
and
aw
are contracted not into
w
, but into
a<Eth>
,
v.
W w
.
2.
in
Ion.
,
h
for
a<Eth>
is characteristic, as in 1st decl.,
sofivh, -hn, jAristagovrh", -hn
: if the
nom.
ends in
a±
, the change only takes place in
gen.
and
dat.
ajlhvqeia±, -h", -h/, -an
.
a
a- , insep. Prefix in compos.:
I.
alpha privativum,
expressing
want
or
absence,
Like
Lat.
in-
,
Engl.
un-,
sofov"
wise,
a[-sofo"
un
wise:
v.
ajn-
. This
a
rarely precedes a vowel, as in
a[-ato", aj-hqhv"
: more often before the spir. asper, as
aj-hvsshto", aj-ovrato", aj-ovristo"
: sometimes
a
coalesces with the foll. vowel, as
a[kwn
(
ajevkwn
)
, ajrgov"
(
ajergov"
): before a vowel
ajn-
is more common. Regularly, it is only compounded with nouns; for exceptions,
v.
ajboulevw
,
ajnhvdomai
,
ajtivzw
.
II.
alpha copulativum,
expressing
union, likeness,
properly with spir. asper, as in
a{-qroo", a{-pa"
, but with spir. lenis,
a[-koiti", a[-loco", aj-delfov", aj-tavlanto", aj-kovlouqo"
. It is prob. akin to the
Adv.
a{ma
.
III. alpha intensivum, said to answer to the Adv. a[gan , very. The existence of this a is doubtful: some words referred to it belong to a privativum, as aj-davkruto", aj-qevsfato", a[-xulo" ( v. sub vocc.); in others, as a[-skio", aj-tenhv", ajspergev", aj-skelev" , the a may be a copulativum.
IV. a euphonicum, as aj-blhcrov", aj-spaivrw, aj-stafiv", aj-sterophv for blhcrov", spaivrw, stafiv", sterophv . [ a± in all these cases, except by position. But Adjs. which begin with three short syllables have a<Eth> in dactylic metres, as aj-davmato", aj-qevmito", aj-kavmato", aj-pavlamo" : one Adj. aj-qavnato" , with its derivs., has a<Eth> in all metres.]
a\
a\ , exclamation, like Lat. and Engl. ah! a\ deilev, a\ deilwv, a\ deiloiv , Hom. ; doubled, a\ a\ Aesch.
a{
a{ a{ or a| a| , to express laughter, ha, ha, Eur ., Ar.