λάλος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Related to Ancient Greek λαλέω (laléō), itself possibly of imitative origin. It may relate to German lallen (“to babble”). Beekes lists the term as a back-formation from λαλέω (laléō).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lá.los/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈla.los/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈla.los/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈla.los/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈla.los/

Adjective

λᾰ́λος • (lắlos) m or f (neuter λᾰ́λον); second declension

talkative, babbling, loquacious
Synonyms: πολύλογος (polúlogos), στωμύλος (stōmúlos)
- 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 462
- 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 653
- 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 515e
- 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 5.75
- Orph., A. 709
- Palatine Anthology 7.417.10
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1277b.23
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 536a.24
- Palatine Anthology 7.195
- AJA 17.162
- 86 CE – 160 CE, Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1.25.8
- Anacreont. 11.7
- 230 CE – 238 CE, Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists 2.30
- 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 91
- 375 BCE – 275 BCE, Alexis 92
- 342 BCE – 290 BCE, Menander 416
- 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Cyclops 315
- 342 BCE – 290 BCE, Menander 164

Usage notes

Note that this adjective’s comparative and superlative degrees are irregularly formed, being λαλίστερος (not *λαλώτερος) and λαλίστατος (not *λαλώτατος), respectively.

Declension

Second declension of λᾰ́λος; λᾰ́λον (Attic)

Number	Singular		Dual		Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	λᾰ́λος lắlos	λᾰ́λον lắlon	λᾰ́λω lắlō	λᾰ́λω lắlō	λᾰ́λοι lắloi	λᾰ́λᾰ lắlă
Genitive	λᾰ́λου lắlou	λᾰ́λου lắlou	λᾰ́λοιν lắloin	λᾰ́λοιν lắloin	λᾰ́λων lắlōn	λᾰ́λων lắlōn
Dative	λᾰ́λῳ lắlōi	λᾰ́λῳ lắlōi	λᾰ́λοιν lắloin	λᾰ́λοιν lắloin	λᾰ́λοις lắlois	λᾰ́λοις lắlois
Accusative	λᾰ́λον lắlon	λᾰ́λον lắlon	λᾰ́λω lắlō	λᾰ́λω lắlō	λᾰ́λους lắlous	λᾰ́λᾰ lắlă
Vocative	λᾰ́λε lắle	λᾰ́λον lắlon	λᾰ́λω lắlō	λᾰ́λω lắlō	λᾰ́λοι lắloi	λᾰ́λᾰ lắlă
Derived forms	Adverb		Comparative		Superlative
Derived forms	λᾰ́λως lắlōs		λᾰλῐ́στερος lălĭ́steros		λᾰλῐ́στᾰτος lălĭ́stătos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

λᾰλῐᾱ́ (lălĭā́)
λᾰ́λον (lắlon)

References

“λάλος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 828