-α

See also: ἁ, ἆ, ἅ, ἀ-, ά, ά-, and α-

Ancient Greek

From Proto-Hellenic *-ā́, from Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂. Cognate with Latin feminine -a, from Old Latin and Proto-Italic *-ā (both in names and adjectives).

-ᾱ • (-ā) f (genitive -ᾱς); first declension

Earlier form of -η (-ē).
‎ᾰ̓γείρω (ăgeírō, “to gather”) + ‎-α (-a) → ‎ᾰ̓γορᾱ́ (ăgorā́)

Earlier -ᾱ (-ā) is retained in certain dialects, and in Attic after ε, ι and ρ, whence -εā (-eā), -ιā (-iā) and -ρā (-rā).

Ancient Greek terms suffixed with -α (o-grade)

Uncertain. Some proposals have been:

Or from a combination of those.

-ᾰ • (-ă)

Added to adjectival roots to form an adverb: -ly
‎σᾰφ-ής (săph-ḗs, “clear”) + ‎-ᾰ (-ă) → ‎σᾰ́φᾰ (sắphă, “clearly”)

Ancient Greek terms suffixed with -α (adverb)

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Schwyzer, Eduard (1939, 1950), Griechische Grammatik: auf der Grundlage von Karl Brugmanns Griechischer Grammatik (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft; 1, part 1) (in German), München: C. H. Beck, pages 622-3
^ Dunkel, George E. (2014), Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (in German), volume 1: Einleitung, Terminologie, Lautgesetze, Adverbialendungen, Nominalsuffixe, Anhänge und Indices, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, →ISBN, pages 110-5

-α • (-a)

used with a noun to form an augmentative:
‎μπουκάλι (boukáli, “bottle”) + ‎-α (-a) → ‎μπουκάλα (boukála, “large bottle”)
added to adjectival roots to form an adverb:
‎γρήγορος (grígoros, “quick”) + ‎-α (-a) → ‎γρήγορα (grígora, “quickly”)
to form the feminine:
‎δούλος (doúlos, “male slave”) + ‎-α (-a) → ‎δούλα (doúla, “female slave”)
an inflectional ending, some examples:
‎καρότο (karóto, “carrot”) + ‎-α (-a) → ‎καρότα (karóta, “carrots”, plural case forms)

‎φύλακας (fýlakas, “guard”) + ‎-α (-a) → ‎φύλακα (fýlaka, single case forms)