διφθέρα

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 4 August 2018

Etymology

The origin is uncertain, possibly from Proto-Hellenic *dipʰtʰérā. Related to διψάρα (dipsára, “writing-tablet; piece of leather”) and Mycenaean Greek 𐀇𐁇𐀨 (di-pte-ra).

Since de Saussure, connected with δέφω (déphō) or δέψω (dépsō, “to soften (with the hand)”). Beekes argues that this connection and the alternation between φ (ph) and ψ (ps) point to a Pre-Greek origin.

Compare also Old Persian 𐎮𐎡𐎱𐎡 (di-i-p-i /⁠dipi⁠/), Akkadian 𒁾 (ṭuppu, “tablet, document, letter”) and Sumerian 𒁾 (dub, “tablet”), Sumerian 𒁾𒊬 (dub-sar, “writer, scribe”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /dipʰ.tʰé.raː/ → /ðiɸˈθe.ra/ → /ðifˈθe.ra/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dipʰ.tʰé.raː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /dipʰˈtʰe.ra/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ðiɸˈθe.ra/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ðifˈθe.ra/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ðifˈθe.ra/

Noun

διφθέρᾱ • (diphthérā) f (genitive διφθέρᾱς); first declension

1. prepared hide, piece of leather; especially as writing material
   • 60-30 BC, Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, book 2, chapter 32:

     τῶν βασιλικῶν διφθερῶν

     tôn basilikôn diphtherôn

     of the [Persian] Royal Archives

2. anything made of leather
   1. wallet, bag
   2. (in the plural) skins used as tents
      • 4th century BC, Xenophon, Anabasis, book 1, chapter 5 (Greek, English):

        διφθέρας ἃς εἶχον στεγάσματα ἐπίμπλασαν χόρτου κούφου, εἶτα συνῆγον καὶ συνέσπων, ὡς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι τῆς κάρφης τὸ ὕδωρ

        diphthéras hàs eîkhon stegásmata epímplasan khórtou koúphou, eîta sunêgon kaì sunéspōn, hōs mḕ háptesthai tês kárphēs tò húdōr

        they took skins which they had for tent covers, filled them with hay, and then brought the edges together and sewed them up, so that the water could not touch the hay.

Declension

First declension of ἡ διφθέρᾱ; τῆς διφθέρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ διφθέρᾱ hē diphthérā	τὼ διφθέρᾱ tṑ diphthérā	αἱ διφθέραι hai diphthérai
Genitive	τῆς διφθέρᾱς tês diphthérās	τοῖν διφθέραιν toîn diphthérain	τῶν διφθερῶν tôn diphtherôn
Dative	τῇ διφθέρᾳ têi diphthérāi	τοῖν διφθέραιν toîn diphthérain	ταῖς διφθέραις taîs diphthérais
Accusative	τὴν διφθέρᾱν tḕn diphthérān	τὼ διφθέρᾱ tṑ diphthérā	τᾱ̀ς διφθέρᾱς tā̀s diphthérās
Vocative	διφθέρᾱ diphthérā	διφθέρᾱ diphthérā	διφθέραι diphthérai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• διφθέρινος (diphthérinos)
• διφθέριον (diphthérion)

 

Descendants

• Greek: διφθέρα (difthéra)
• → Etruscan:
  • → Latin: littera (see there for further descendants)
    • → English: letter
• → French: diphtérie
  • → English: diphtheria
  • → Galician: difteria
  • → Georgian: დიფთერია (dipteria)
  • → Persian: دیفتری (difteri)
  • → Portuguese: difteria
  • → Spanish: difteria
• → Aramaic:
  • Classical Syriac: ܕܦܬܪܐ (dptrʾ, “hide; account book”)
  • Jewish Palestinian Aramaic: דפתר (dptr), דפתרא (dptrʾ, “record book”)
  • → Hebrew: דִּפְתָּר (diftar)
  • → Middle Persian: [script needed] (dptl /⁠daftar⁠/, “register, account book”)
    • Persian: دفتر (daftar, “account book; notebook; office”)
      • → Bengali: দফতর (dophtor)
      • → Azerbaijani: dəftər
      • → Baluchi: دپتر (daptar)
      • → Central Kurdish: دەفتەر (defter) (or from Arabic)
      • → Hindustani:

        Hindi: दफ़्तर (daftar)

        Urdu: دفتر (daftar)

      • → Kalmyk: девтр (devtr) (via Turkic)
      • → Kazakh: дәптер (däpter)
      • → Kyrgyz: дептер (depter)
      • → Manchu: ᡩ᠋ᡝ᠋ᠪᡨᡝ᠋ᠯᡳ᠍ᠨ (debtelin)
      • → Mongolian: дэвтэр (devter)
      • → Nogai: тептер (tepter)
      • → Old East Slavic: дефтерь (defterĭ) (via Turkic)
      • → Ottoman Turkish: دفتر (defter)
        • Turkish: defter, (dialectal) tefter
        • → Bulgarian: тефте́р (teftér)
        • → Crimean Tatar: defter
        • → English: defter
        • → Greek: τεφτέρι (teftéri)
        • → Ladino: tefter
        • → Macedonian: тефтер (tefter)
        • → Romanian: tefter
        • → Serbo-Croatian: dȅfter / де̏фтер, tȅfter / те̏фтер
      • → Tibetan: དེབ་ཐེར (deb ther)
      • → Turkmen: depder
      • → Uyghur: دەپتەر (depter)
      • → Uzbek: daftar
    • → Arabic: دَفْتَر (daftar, “register; notebook”)
      • → Bashkir: дәфтәр (dəftər) (or from Persian)
      • → Indonesian: daftar (“register; list”)
      • → Georgian: დავთარი (davtari) (or from Persian)
      • → Middle Armenian: տաւթար (tawtʻar), դաւթար (dawtʻar), տֆթար (tftʻar) (or from Persian)
        • Armenian: դավթար (davtʻar)
    • → Zoroastrian Dari: daptar (“book”)

Further reading

• “διφθέρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “διφθέρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• διφθέρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• διφθέρα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• διφθέρα in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • dressed skin idem, page 252.
  • leather idem, page 483.
  • leather garment idem, page 483.
  • skin idem, page 781.
  • vellum idem, page 946.
• Ferdinand de Saussure (1892), Varia. In: MSL, 7, page 91
• Chantraine, Pierre (1968) “διφθέρα”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), volume I, Paris: Klincksieck, pages 287–288
• Frisk, Hjalmar (1960) “διφθέρα”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume I, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 400a
• Bailey, H. W. (1933) “Western Iranian Dialects”, in Transactions of the Philological Society, volume 32, number 1, page 50
• Krauss, Samuel (1899) Griechische und lateinische Lehnwörter in Talmud, Midrasch und Targum (in German), volume II, Berlin: S. Calvary, page 211a
• “dptr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/daftar-mid
• “διφθέρα”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011