ἐλέφας

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

  • ἐλέφαις (eléphais) — Aeolic

Etymology

    Probably borrowed from Egyptian ꜣbw

    (reconstructed as earlier /ˈʀuːbaw/, later /ˈjuːbə/).[1] Cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀩𐀞 (e-re-pa /⁠elephās⁠/); compare also Hittite 𒆷𒄴𒉺𒀸 (laḫpaš, “ivory”), Proto-Berber *eḷu, and Sanskrit इभ (íbha).

    Pronunciation

     

    Noun

    ἐλέφᾱς • (eléphās) m or f (genitive ἐλέφαντος); third declension

    1. elephant
    2. (masculine) ivory

    Usage notes

    • Two irregular forms are attested:
      • A genitive singular ἐλεφάντου in an inscription found in Delos from the 2nd cent. BCE:
        • Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 35.286:
          ἐλεφάντου λεπτοῦ τάλαντον δαψιλές
          elephántou leptoû tálanton dapsilés
          a full talent of finely worked ivory
      • A dative plural ἐλεφάντοις in the Septuagint, 1 Maccabees 1.17, as a variant reading for regular ἐλέφασι(ν).

    Inflection

    Third declension of ὁ, ἡ ἐλέφᾱς; τοῦ, τῆς ἐλέφᾰντος (Attic)
    Case / # Singular Plural
    Nominative ὁ, ἡ ἐλέφᾱς
    ho, hē eléphās     		οἱ, αἱ ἐλέφᾰντες
    hoi, hai eléphăntes
    Genitive τοῦ, τῆς ἐλέφᾰντος / ἐλεφᾰ́ντου
    toû, tês eléphăntos / elephắntou     		τῶν ἐλεφᾰ́ντων
    tôn elephắntōn
    Dative τῷ, τῇ ἐλέφᾰντῐ
    tōî, tēî eléphăntĭ     		τοῖς, ταῖς ἐλέφᾱσῐ / ἐλέφᾱσῐν / ἐλεφᾰ́ντοις
    toîs, taîs eléphāsĭ / eléphāsĭn / elephắntois
    Accusative τὸν, τὴν ἐλέφᾰντᾰ
    tòn, tḕn eléphăntă     		τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ἐλέφᾰντᾰς
    toùs, tā̀s eléphăntăs
    Vocative ἐλέφᾰν
    eléphăn     		ἐλέφᾰντες
    eléphăntes
    Notes:
    • This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Greek: ελέφας (eléfas), ελέφαντας (eléfantas)
    • → Old Church Slavonic: е҆лефа́нтъ (elefántŭ), е҆лефа́нтесъ (elefántesŭ)
      • → Old Ruthenian: елефа́нтъ (elefánt)
      • → Russian: элефа́нт (elefánt) (archaic)
    • → Latin: elephās (see there for further descendants)

    References

    1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐλέφας, -αντος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 409–410

    Further reading

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