ἀλάβης

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἀλλάβης (allábēs)
λεβίος (lebíos)

Etymology

Unclear. Perhaps from Coptic ⲗⲉⲓϥⲓ (leifi, “fish of the Nile”). However, Furnée connects this word with similar names for fish, like ἔλλοψ (éllops) and ἀλλοπίᾱς (allopíās) and concludes that it is a Pre-Greek word.

Demotic lbs (“fish of the Nile”), and its successor Coptic ⲗⲁⲃⲏⲥ (labēs), is certainly a reborrowing from Greek.[1]

Pronunciation

(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈla.be̝s/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈla.βis/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈla.vis/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈla.vis/

Noun

ἀλάβης • (alábēs) f (genitive ἀλάβητος); third declension

A kind of fish that lives in the Nile (possibly Labeo niloticus)

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ ἀλάβης; τῆς ἀλάβητος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀλάβης hē alábēs	τὼ ἀλάβητε tṑ alábēte	αἱ ἀλάβητες hai alábētes
Genitive	τῆς ἀλάβητος tês alábētos	τοῖν ἀλαβήτοιν toîn alabḗtoin	τῶν ἀλαβήτων tôn alabḗtōn
Dative	τῇ ἀλάβητῐ têi alábēti	τοῖν ἀλαβήτοιν toîn alabḗtoin	ταῖς ἀλάβησῐ / ἀλάβησῐν taîs alábēsi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ἀλάβητᾰ tḕn alábēta	τὼ ἀλάβητε tṑ alábēte	τᾱ̀ς ἀλάβητᾰς tā̀s alábētas
Vocative	ἀλάβης alábēs	ἀλάβητε alábēte	ἀλάβητες alábētes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Descendants

→ Demotic: lbs
- → Coptic: ⲗⲁⲃⲏⲥ (labēs) (Sahidic)
  - → Arabic: لَبِيس (labīs)

References

Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 75

“ἀλάβης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
ἀλάβης in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἀλάβης in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
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 71

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[1] Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 75