ByHellenistic times, under theAchaean League, an Achaean Dorickoine appeared, exhibiting many peculiarities common to all Doric dialects, which delayed the spread of theAttic-basedKoine Greek to the Peloponnese until the 2nd century BC.[5] The only living descendant of Doric is theTsakonian language which is still spoken inGreece today;[6] though critically endangered, with only a few hundred – mostly elderly – fluent speakers left.[7]
It is widely accepted that Doric originated in the mountains ofEpirus in northwesternGreece, the original seat of theDorians. It then expanded to all other regions and the colonisations that followed. The presence of a Doric state (Doris) in central Greece, north of theGulf of Corinth, led to the theory that Doric had originated in northwest Greece or maybe beyond in theBalkans. The dialect's distribution towards the north extends to theMegarian colony ofByzantium and theCorinthian colonies ofPotidaea,Epidamnos,Apollonia andAmbracia; there, it further added words to what would become theAlbanian language,[8][9] probably via traders from a now-extinct "AdriaticIllyrian" intermediary.[10] In the north, local epigraphical evidence includes the decrees of theEpirote League, thePella curse tablet, three additional lesser knownMacedonian inscriptions (all of them identifiable as Doric),[11] numerous inscriptions from a number of Greek colonies. Furthermore, there is an abundance of place names used to examine features of the northern Doric dialects. Southern dialects, in addition to numerous inscriptions, coins, and names, have also provided much more literary evidence through authors such asAlcman,Pindar, andArchimedes of Syracuse, among others, all of whom wrote in Doric. There are also ancient dictionaries that have survived; notably the one byHesychius of Alexandria, whose work preserved many dialectal words from throughout the Greek-speaking world.
Where the Doric dialect group fits in the overall classification of ancient Greek dialects depends to some extent on the classification. Several views are stated underGreek dialects. The prevalent theme of most views listed there is that Doric is a subgroup ofWest Greek. Some use the termsNorthern Greek orNorthwest Greek instead. The geographic distinction is only verbal and ostensibly is misnamed: all of Doric was spoken south of "Southern Greek" or "Southeastern Greek."
Be that as it may, "Northern Greek" is based on a presumption thatDorians came from the north and on the fact that Doric is closely related toNorthwest Greek. When the distinction began is not known. All the "northerners" might have spoken one dialect at the time of the Dorian invasion; certainly, Doric could only have further differentiated into its classical dialects when the Dorians were in place in the south. ThusWest Greek is the most accurate name for the classical dialects.
Tsakonian, a descendant of Laconian Doric (Spartan), is still spoken on the southernArgolid coast of the Peloponnese, in the modern prefectures ofArcadia andLaconia. Today it is a source of considerable interest to linguists, and an endangered dialect.
Laconian is attested in inscriptions on pottery and stone from the seventh century BC. A dedication to Helen dates from the second quarter of the seventh century. Taras was founded in 706 and its founders must already have spoken Laconic.
Many documents from the state of Sparta survive, whose citizens called themselves Lacedaemonians after the name of the valley in which they lived.Homer calls it "hollow Lacedaemon", though he refers to a pre-Dorian period. The seventh century Spartan poetAlcman used a dialect that some consider to be predominantly Laconian.Philoxenus of Alexandria wrote a treatiseOn the Laconian dialect.
Corinth contradicts the prejudice that Dorians were rustic militarists, as some consider the speakers of Laconian to be. Positioned on an international trade route, Corinth played a leading part in the re-civilizing of Greece after the centuries of disorder and isolation following the collapse of Mycenaean Greece.
TheNorthwest Doric (or "Northwest Greek", with "Northwest Doric" now considered more accurate so as not to distance the group from Doric proper) group is closely related to Doric proper.[13] Whether it is to be considered a part of the southern Doric Group or the latter a part of it or the two considered subgroups of West Greek, the dialects and their grouping remain the same.West Thessalian andBoeotian had come under a strong Northwest Doric influence.
While Northwest Doric is generally seen as a dialectal group,[13] dissenting views exist, such as that of Méndez-Dosuna, who argues that Northwest Doric is not a proper dialectal group but rather merely a case of areal dialectal convergence.[14] Throughout the Northwest Doric area, most internal differences did not hinder mutual understanding, though Filos, citing Bubenik, notes that there were certain cases where a bit of accommodation may have been necessary.[15]
The earliest epigraphic texts for Northwest Doric date to the 6th–5th century BC.[13] These are thought to provide evidence for Northwest Doric features, especially the phonology and morphophonology, but most of the features thus attributed to Northwest Doric are not exclusive to it.[13] The Northwest Doric dialects differ from the main Doric Group dialects in the below features:[16]
Dative plural of thethird declension in-οις (-ois) (instead of-σι (-si)):Ἀκαρνάνοις ἱππέοιςAkarnanois hippeois forἈκαρνᾶσιν ἱππεῦσινAkarnasin hippeusin (to the Acarnanian knights).
This dialect was spoken inPhocis and in its main settlement,Delphi. Because of that it is also cited as Delphian.[citation needed]Plutarch says thatDelphians pronounceb in the place ofp (βικρὸν forπικρὸν)[17]
Most scholars maintain thatancient Macedonian was a Greek dialect,[24] probably of the Northwestern Doric group in particular.[25][26][27]Olivier Masson, in his article forThe Oxford Classical Dictionary, talks of "two schools of thought": one rejecting "the Greek affiliation of Macedonian" and preferring "to treat it as an Indo-European language of the Balkans" of contested affiliation (examples are Bonfante 1987, and Russu 1938); the other favouring "a purely Greek nature of Macedonian as a northern Greek dialect" with numerous adherents from the 19th century and on (Fick 1874; Hoffmann 1906; Hatzidakis 1897 etc.; Kalleris 1964 and 1976).[28]
Masson himself argues with the largely Greek character of the Macedonianonomastics and sees Macedonian as "a Greek dialect, characterised by its marginal position and by local pronunciations" and probably most closely related to the dialects of the Greek North-West (Locrian, Aetolian, Phocidian, Epirote). Brian D. Joseph acknowledges the closeness of Macedonian to Greek (even contemplating to group them into a "Hellenic branch" of Indo-European), but retains that "[t]he slender evidence is open to different interpretations, so that no definitive answer is really possible".[29] Johannes Engels has pointed to thePella curse tablet, written in Doric Greek: "This has been judged to be the most important ancient testimony to substantiate that Macedonian was a north-western Greek and mainly a Doric dialect".[30]Miltiades Hatzopoulos has suggested that theMacedonian dialect of the 4th century BC, as attested in thePella curse tablet, was a sort of Macedonian 'koine' resulting from the encounter of the idiom of the 'Aeolic'-speaking populations aroundMount Olympus and thePierian Mountains with the Northwest Greek-speakingArgead Macedonians hailing fromArgos Orestikon, who founded the kingdom ofLower Macedonia.[31] However, according to Hatzopoulos, B. Helly expanded and improved his own earlier suggestion and presented the hypothesis of a (North-)'Achaean' substratum extending as far north as the head of theThermaic Gulf, which had a continuous relation, in prehistoric times both inThessaly andMacedonia, with the Northwest Greek-speaking populations living on the other side of thePindus mountain range, and contacts became cohabitation when the Argead Macedonians completed their wandering fromOrestis to Lower Macedonia in the 7th c. BC.[31] According to this hypothesis, Hatzopoulos concludes that theMacedonianGreek dialect of the historical period, which is attested in inscriptions, is a sort of koine resulting from the interaction and the influences of various elements, the most important of which are the North-Achaean substratum, the Northwest Greek idiom of theArgeadMacedonians, and theThracian andPhrygian adstrata.[31]
Achaean Doric most probably belonged to the Northwest Doric group.[32] It was spoken inAchaea in the northwestern Peloponnese, on the islands ofCephalonia andZakynthos in the Ionian Sea, and in the Achaean colonies of Magna Graecia in Southern Italy (includingSybaris andCrotone). Thisstrict Doric dialect was later subject to the influence ofmild Doric spoken inCorinthia. It survived until 350 BC.[33]
ByHellenistic times, under theAchaean League, an Achaean Dorickoine appeared, exhibiting many peculiarities common to all Doric dialects, which delayed the spread of theAttic-basedKoine Greek to the Peloponnese until the 2nd century BC.[5]
Political situation in the Greek world around the time at which the Northwest Doric koine arose
The Northwest Doric koine refers to a supraregional North-West common variety that emerged in the third and second centuries BC, and was used in the official texts of theAetolian League.[34][35] Such texts have been found in W. Locris, Phocis, and Phtiotis, among other sites.[36] It contained a mix of native Northwest Doric dialectal elements and Attic forms.[37] It was apparently based on the most general features of Northwest Doric, eschewing less common local traits.[35][38]
Its rise was driven by both linguistic and non-linguistic factors, with non-linguistic motivating factors including the spread of the rival Attic-Ionic koine after it was recruited by the Macedonian state for administration, and the political unification of a vast territories by the Aetolian League and the state of Epirus. The Northwest Doric koine was thus both a linguistic and a political rival of the Attic-Ionic koine.[35]
In certain Doric dialects (Severe Doric), *e and *o lengthen by compensatory lengthening or contraction toeta oromega, in contrast to Atticei andou (spurious diphthongs).
Severe Doric-ō ~ Attic-ou (second-declension genitive singular)
-ōs ~-ous (second-declension accusative plural)
-ēn ~-ein (present, second aorist infinitive active)
λαιόςlaios (Homeric, Attic andModern Greekἀριστερόςaristeros) "left".Cretan:λαίαlaia, Atticaspis shield,Hesych.λαῖφαlaiphaλαίβαlaiba, because the shield was held with the left hand. Cf.Latin:laevus[45]
βερνώμεθαbernômetha Atticklêrôsômetha we will cast or obtain by lot (inf.berreai) (Cf.Atticmeiresthai receive portion, Doricbebramena for heimarmenê, allotted byMoirai)
ἀγχωρίξανταςanchôrixantas[85] having transferred, postponed[86]Chaonian (Attic metapherô, anaballô) (anchôrizoanchi near +horizô define and Doricx instead of Attics) (Cf. Ionicanchouros neighbouring) not to be confused with Doricanchôreô Attic ana-chôreô go back, withdraw.
ἐσκιχρέμενeskichremen lend outπὲρ τοῖἀργύρροι (Lamelles Oraculaires 8 of Eubandros) (Attic eis + inf. kichranai from chraomai use)
ϜεῖδυςWeidus knowing (DoricϜειδώς) weidôs) (Eleanϝειζός weizos) (Atticεἰδώς) eidôs) (PIE *weid- "to know, to see",Sanskrit veda I know) Cabanes, L'Épire 577,50
κάστονkaston[92] wood Athamanian (Attic xylon[93] fromxyô scrape, hencexyston);Sanskrit kāṣṭham ("wood, timber, firewood") (Dialectical kalon[94] wood, traditionally derived from kaiô[95] burn kauston[96] sth that can be burnt,kausimon fuel)
λῃτῆρεςlêïtêres Athamanian priests with garlands Hes.textἱεροὶ στεφανοφόροι. Ἀθαμᾶνες(LSJ: lêitarchoi[97] public priests ) (henceLeitourgia
μανύmanu[98] small Athamanian (Attic mikron, brachu) (Cf. manon[99] rare) (PIE *men- small, thin) (Hsch.banon thin) (manosporos thinly sownmanophullos with small leavesThphr.HP7.6.2–6.3)
ΝάϊοςNaios orNaos epithet ofDodonaeanZeus (from the spring in the oracle) (cf.Naiades andPan Naios inPydna SEG 50:622 (Homeric naô[100] flow, Atticnama spring) (PIE *sna-)
παγάομαιpagaomai 'wash in the spring' (ofDodona) (Doricpaga Atticpêgê running water, fountain)[101]
παμπασίαpampasia (to askperi pampasias cliché phrase in the oracle) (Attic pampêsia[102] full property) (Doricpaomai obtain)
^Moseley, Christopher (2007).Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. New York: Routledge. s.v. "Tsakonian".
^Çabej, E. (1961). "Die alteren Wohnsitze der Albaner auf der Balkanhalbinsel im Lichte der Sprache und der Ortsnamen".VII Congresso Internaz. Di Sciense Onomastiche:241–251.; Albanian version BUShT 1962:1.219-227
^Huld, Martin E. (1986). "Accentual Stratification of Ancient Greek Loanwords in Albanian".Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung.99 (2):245–253.
^O'Neil, James.26th Conference of the Australasian Society for Classical Studies, 2005.
^abcdPanagiotis Filos (2017). "The Dialectal Variety of Epirus". In Georgios Giannakis; Emilio Crespo; Panagiotis Filos (eds.).Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter. p. 227.The North-West group together with Doric (proper) formed the so-called 'West Greek' major dialectal group (or simply 'Doric' […]). However, the term 'North-West Doric' is considered more accurate nowadays […] since there is more emphasis on the many features that are common to both groups rather than on their less numerous and largely secondary differences.
^Los dialectos dorios del Noroeste. Gramática y estudio dialectal (in Spanish). Salamanca. 1985. p. 508.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Panagiotis Filos (2017). "The Dialectal Variety of Epirus". In Georgios Giannakis; Emilio Crespo; Panagiotis Filos (eds.).Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter. p. 230.
^Mendez Dosuna,Doric dialects, p. 452online at Google Books).
^Michael Meier-Brügger:Indo-European linguistics. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2003, p. 28 (online on Google books): "The Macedonian of the ancient kingdom of northern Greece is probably nothing other than a northern Greek dialect of Doric".
^Crespo, Emilio (2017). "The Softening of Obstruent Consonants in the Macedonian Dialect". In Giannakis, Georgios K.; Crespo, Emilio; Filos, Panagiotis (eds.).Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Walter de Gruyter. p. 329.ISBN978-3-11-053081-0.
^Brian D. Joseph: "Ancient Greek". In: J. Garry et al. (eds.):Facts about the world's major languages: an encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present.Online paperArchived 2016-10-01 at theWayback Machine, 2001.
^Johannes Engels: "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 95. In: Joseph Roisman, Ian Worthington:A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Chapter 5. John Wiley & Sons, New York 2011.
^abcPanagiotis Filos (2017). "The Dialectal Variety of Epirus". In Georgios Giannakis; Emilio Crespo; Panagiotis Filos (eds.).Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 230–233.
^Vit Bubenik (1989).Hellenistic and Roman Greece as a Sociolinguistic Area. Amsterdam. pp. 193–213.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Wojciech Sowa (2018). "The dialectology of Greek". In Matthias Fritz; Brian Joseph; Jared Klein (eds.).Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 715.ISBN978-3-11-054036-9.In different regions of Greece, however, different sorts of koinai emerged, of which the best known was the Doric Koinē, preserving general Doric features, but without local differences, and with an admixture of Attic forms. As in the case of the Doric Koinē, the Northwest Koinē (connected with the so-called Aetolian League) displayed the same mixture of native dialectal elements with Attic elements.
^S. Minon (2014). "Diffusion de l'attique et expansion deskoinai dans le Péloponnèse et en Grèce centrale".Actes de la journée internationale de dialectologie grecque du 18 mars 2011, université Paris-Ouest Nanterre. Geneva. pp. 1–18.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Bakker, Egbert J., ed. 2010.A companion to the Ancient Greek language. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Cassio, Albio Cesare. 2002. "The language of Doric comedy." InThe language of Greek comedy. Edited by Anton Willi, 51–83. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Colvin, Stephen C. 2007.A historical Greek reader: Mycenaean to the koiné. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Horrocks, Geoffrey. 2010.Greek: A history of the language and its speakers. 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Palmer, Leonard R. 1980.The Greek language. London: Faber & Faber.
_en.svg)
