Dialects and Distribution of Ancient Greek
- Ancient Greek was divided into many dialects, including Attic, Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, and Doric.
- Some dialects were used in standardised literary forms, while others were only found in inscriptions.
- Homeric Greek, derived from Ionic and Aeolic, was used in epic poems like the Iliad and the Odyssey.
- Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation compared to Classical Attic and other dialects.
- Koine Greek, which followed Ancient Greek, closely resembled Attic Greek and eventually developed into Medieval Greek.
- The dialects of ancient Greek can be divided into Western, Central, and Eastern groups.
- Arcadocypriot descended from Mycenaean Greek, while Boeotian and Thessalian were influenced by Northwest Greek.
- Western Greek dialects include Doric proper, Northwest Doric, and Achaean Doric.
- Central Greek dialects include Aeolic and Arcado-Cypriot.
- Eastern Greek dialects include Attic and Ionic.
- Non-West Greek is often called East Greek and includes Ionic-Attic and Aeolic vs. Arcadocypriot.
- Pamphylian Greek, spoken in Anatolia, may be a fifth major dialect group or influenced by non-Greek languages.
- The speech of ancient Macedonians has been a subject of debate.
- Some suggest that ancient Macedonian was a Northwest Doric dialect, similar to Thessalian.
- Others propose an Aeolic Greek classification.
- The Lesbian dialect from the island of Lesbos was Aeolic.
- Macedonian inscriptions, such as the Pella curse tablet, provide evidence of the Macedonian language.
Phonology and Differences from Proto-Indo-European
- Ancient Greek words could end only in a vowel or /n s r/.
- Final stops were lost in ancient Greek.
- PIE *s became /h/ at the beginning of a word.
- PIE *s was elided between vowels after debuccalization.
- PIE *y /j/ became /h/ or /(d)z/ in ancient Greek.
- Ancient Greek differs from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) and other Indo-European languages in certain ways.
- Ancient Greek had different phonotactics compared to PIE.
- Ancient Greek had different inventory and distribution of original PIE phonemes.
- PIE *w was lost in ancient Greek.
- PIE labiovelars changed to plain stops in later Greek dialects.
- Ancient Greek pronunciation was very different from Modern Greek.
- Ancient Greek had long and short vowels, diphthongs, and double and single consonants.
- Ancient Greek had voiced, voiceless, and aspirated stops.
- Ancient Greek had a pitch accent, while Modern Greek has a stress accent.
- Many pronunciation changes occurred during the Koine Greek period.
Morphology and Augment
- Ancient Greek is highly inflected.
- Nouns have five cases, three genders, and three numbers.
- Verbs have four moods, three voices, and three persons.
- Verbs are conjugated through seven combinations of tenses and aspect.
- Koine Greek period saw the most changes in morphology.
- The augment is a prefix /e-/ added to the indicative of past tenses.
- Verbs with a preposition as a prefix place the augment between the preposition and the original verb.
- The augment is not made in poetry, especially epic poetry.
- The augment sometimes substitutes for reduplication.
- The augment is not added to other forms of the aorist.
- Forms of the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect reduplicate the initial syllable of the verb stem.
- There are three types of reduplication: syllabic reduplication, augment, and Attic reduplication.
- Reduplication can be irregular in certain verbs.
- Reduplication is also visible in the present tense stems of certain verbs.
- Reduplication is a characteristic feature of ancient Greek verbs.
Modern Use of Ancient Greek
- Ancient Greek was an important part of the education system in European countries and the United States until the 20th century.
- It is still taught as a compulsory or optional subject in traditional or elite schools throughout Europe.
- Ancient Greek is taught at most major universities worldwide, often combined with Latin as part of the study of classics.
- In some countries, such as Germany and Italy, a significant number of students study ancient Greek.
- It is also taught as a compulsory subject in gymnasiums and lyceums in Greece.
- Latin was emphasised in American colleges, but Greek was also required during the Colonial and Early National eras.
- The study of ancient Greece became popular in the 19th century, especially among female intellectuals.
- Ancient Greek is still taught as a compulsory or optional subject in European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Croatia, and Belgium.
- In Germany, it is usually taught as a third language after Latin and English, from the age of 14 to 18.
- In Spain, it is a compulsory subject alongside Latin in the humanities branch of the bachillerato.
- Modern authors rarely write in ancient Greek, but there have been exceptions, such as Jan Křesadlo.
- Some popular books, like 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' and volumes of Asterix, have been translated into ancient Greek.
- There is a magazine called 'Onomata Kechiasmena' that publishes crosswords and puzzles in ancient Greek.
- Ancient Greek is used by organizations and individuals, mainly Greek, to show respect, admiration, or preference for the language.
- It is often used in the coinage of modern technical terms in European languages and in scientific names of species.
Historical Significance
- Ancient Greek played a significant role in the development of Western civilization, particularly in philosophy, literature, and democracy.
- It was the language of famous philosophers and writers,
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2019) |
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (c. 1400–1200 BC), Dark Ages (c. 1200–800 BC), the Archaic or Epic period (c. 800–500 BC), and the Classical period (c. 500–300 BC).
| Ancient Greek | |
|---|---|
| Ἑλληνική Hellēnikḗ | |
 An inscription about the construction of the statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon, 440/439 BC | |
| Region | eastern Mediterranean |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | |
| Greek alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | grc |
| ISO 639-3 | grc (includes all pre-modern stages) |
| Glottolog | anci1242 |
 Map of Ancient (Homeric) Greece | |
Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical periods of the language, which are the best-attested periods and considered most typical of Ancient Greek.
From the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BC), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regarded as a separate historical stage, though its earliest form closely resembles Attic Greek, and its latest form approaches Medieval Greek. There were several regional dialects of Ancient Greek; Attic Greek developed into Koine.
