Alpha purum
As Alpha purum ( lat. "Pure alpha ") refers to the ancient Greek one a-sound, which a e ( Epsilon ), i ( iota ) or r ( rho ) precedes. Correspondingly, an a for which this is not the case is called Alpha impurum ("impure alpha").
This term plays in flexion of nouns and verbs a role as a short Alpha purum [in classical Greek to a long Å ] is stretched, the short Alpha impurum from said historical reasons, however, to Eta [ .eta ] . For example, the noun γέφυρα géphyra ("bridge", with Alpha purum) forms the genitive γεφύρᾱς gephýrās . The word δόξα dóxa (“fame”; “view”), on the other hand, has an alpha impurum and therefore reads δόξης dóxēs in the genitive . Likewise, the short alpha purum of the verb μιαίνω miaínō ("stain", "defile") in the aorist is extended to ἐμίᾱνα emíāna , the short alpha impurum in καθαίρω kathaírō ("cleanse") but to ἐκάθηρα ekáthēra .
The distinction between alpha purum and impurum is the result of a sound change in the Attic dialect , the classical form of Greek. The original [ aː ] sound was preserved in most of the ancient Greek dialects . In the Ionian dialect , however, it had become [ ɛː ] throughout . In Attic the [ aː ] was retained after an e, i or r, otherwise it became [ ɛː ].
This rule does not apply to stretches after this sound change. This is the accusative plural of δόξα dóxa δόξᾱς dóxās , because in this case the long [ aː ] emerged as a replacement for the original n in * δόξανς * dóxans .
Remarks
- ↑ The Greek alphabet does not distinguish between long and short alpha; in this case a macron has been set for clarity .