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Ancient Macedonian language

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This article is about the language of Ancient Macedonians; for the different modern Slavic language, see Macedonian language.

Ancient Macedonian was the Indo-European language of the ancient Macedonians. It was spoken in Macedonia during the 1st millennium BC. From the 4th century BC, it was gradually replaced by the Attic-Koine Greek dialect.[1] It was an Indo-European language which was apparently related to Greek, although its exact relationship is unclear: it may have been a dialect of Greek, or a rather divergent Greek dialect, or a sibling language to Greek, perhaps with some affinity to the neighbouring Illyrian, Thracian and Phrygian. Some linguists have proposed the term Hellenic to refer to a hypothetical subfamily uniting Macedonian and other Greek dialects.

Knowledge of the language is very limited because there are no surviving texts that are indisputably written in the language, though a body of words has been assembled from ancient sources, mainly from coin inscriptions, and from the 5th century lexicon of Hesychius of Alexandria, amounting to about 150 words and 200 proper names, though the number of considered words sometimes differs from scholar to scholar. Most of them are similar to standard Greek, while some have been interpreted as pointing to a separate lineage from Indo-European.

Classification

C. Brixhe and A. Panayotou sum up the linguistic scenarios that have been historically proposed for Macedonian as follows[2]:

  • A mixed language with an Illyrian basis (e.g. K.O. Müller, G. Bonfante)
  • A mixed language based on a Greek dialect with Illyrian and Thracian influences (e.g. P. Kretschmer, E. Schwyzer)
  • A Greek dialect, with various possible scenarios as regards its relationship to all the other Greek dialects and the possibility of a non-Greek substrate (e.g. O. Hoffmann, M. Sakellariou)
  • A non-Greek language that was very close to Greek or part of a hypothetical branch uniting Greek and "Thraco-Phrygian", the latter a disputed branching itself (e.g. A. Meillet, O. Masson early on, who had since come to consider Macedonian a Greek dialect)

Greek dialect

Those who favour a purely Greek nature of Macedonian as a northern Greek dialect are numerous and include early scholars like H. Ahrens, O. Hoffmann or A. Fick.[3] A recent proponent of this school was Professor Olivier Masson, who in his article on the ancient Macedonian language in the third edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary tentatively suggested that Macedonian was related to North-Western Greek dialects:[4]

In our view the Greek character of most names is obvious and it is difficult to think of a Hellenization due to wholesale borrowing [...]The small minority of names which do not look Greek [...] may be due to a substratum or adstratum influences (as elsewhere in Greece). Macedonian may then be seen as a Greek dialect, characterized by its marginal position and by local pronunciations. Yet in contrast with earlier views which made of it an Aeolic dialect [...] we must by now think of a link with North-West Greek [...] We must wait for new discoveries, but we may tentatively conclude that Macedonian is a dialect related to North-West Greek.

As to Macedonian Template:Polytonic = Greek Template:Polytonic, Claude Brixhe[5] suggests that it may have been a later development: The letters may already have designated not voiced stops, i.e. [b, d, g], but voiced fricatives, i.e. [β, δ, γ], due to a voicing of the voiceless fricatives [φ, θ, x] (= Classical Attic [pʰ, tʰ, ]). Brian Joseph sums up that "[t]he slender evidence is open to different interpretations, so that no definitive answer is really possible", but cautions that "most likely, Ancient Macedonian was not simply an Ancient Greek dialect on a par with Attic or Aeolic".[6] In this sense, some authors also call it a "deviant Greek dialect."

Indo-European close to Greek

Some linguists (e.g. A. Meillet) consider Macedonian an Indo-European language in its own right, close to Greek but perhaps not of unambiguously Greek stock, and treat it as other poorly attested languages as Thracian and/or Phrygian of some geographical proximity. According to O. Masson "[t]hose who look towards "Thraco-Phrygian" (as I. I. Russu, 1938) do so sometimes, at the cost of unwarranted segmentations such as that of Ἀλέξανδρος into †Ἀλε- and †ξανδ-." The name is attested as early as the Mycenaean Greek period (c. 1600 -1100 BC) next to the feminine a-re-ka-sa-da-ra (𐀀𐀩𐀏𐀭𐀅𐀨, Classical Greek Ἀλεξάνδρα).[4] Schwyzer[7] and others hypothesize that linguistically Macedonian was between Illyrian and Thracian, a kind of intermediary language linking the two, in the sense of a dialect continuum or Sprachbund, since a genetic Thraco-Illyrian unity is highly uncertain and cannot be proven on grounds of the surviving evidence. In 1999, A. Garrett has surmised that Macedonian may at an early stage have been part of a dialect continuum which spanned the ancestor dialects of all south-western Indo-European languages (including Greek), but that it then remained peripheral to later areal processes of convergence which produced Greek proper. He argues that under this perspective sound-change isoglosses such as the deaspiration of voiced stops may be of limited diagnostic value, while ultimately the question of whether Macedonian belongs or does not belong to a genetic union with Greek is moot.[8]

Vladimir I. Georgiev[9] places Greek and Macedonian on a common branch of an IE family tree; this branch he groups together with Phrygian and Armenian to form a grouping termed "Central" Indo-European. Similarly, Eric P. Hamp [10] assumes a common branch of Greek plus Macedonian, with the next larger unit formed together with Armenian and termed "Pontic South Indo-European".

Hellenic language

Some linguists have proposed the term Hellenic (used elsewhere as an adjective synonymous with Greek) to refer to the hypothetical linguistic sub-family within Indo-European that comprises Macedonian and Greek proper. Such a group is suggested as a possibility by Brian Joseph [6] and has been adopted in the classification scheme of the world's languages used by the LINGUIST List.[11]

Properties

From the few words that survive, only a little can be said about the language. A notable sound-law is that the Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirates (/bʰ, dʰ, gʰ/) appear as voiced stops /b, d, g/, (written Template:Polytonic), in contrast to all known Greek dialects, which have unvoiced them to /pʰ, tʰ, kʰ/ (Template:Polytonic) with few exceptions[12].

If Template:Polytonic gotán ('pig') is related to *gwou ('cattle'), this would indicate that the labiovelars were either intact, or merged with the velars, unlike the usual Greek treatment (Attic Template:Polytonic boûs). Such deviations, however, are not unknown in Greek dialects; compare Doric (Spartan) Template:Polytonic glep- for common Greek Template:Polytonic blep-, as well as Doric Template:Polytonic gláchōn and Ionic Template:Polytonic glēchōn for common Greek Template:Polytonic blēchōn.[14]

A number of examples suggest that voiced velar stops were devoiced, especially word-initially: Template:Polytonic kánadoi, 'jaws' (<PIE *genu-); Template:Polytonic kómbous, 'molars' (<PIE *gombh-); within words: Template:Polytonic arkón (Attic Template:Polytonic argós); the Macedonian toponym Akesamenai, from the Pierian name Akesamenos (if Akesa- is cognate to Greek agassomai, agamai, "to astonish"; cf. the Thracian name Agassamenos).

In Aristophanes' The Birds, the form Template:Polytonic keblēpyris ('red-cap bird') is found, showing a Macedonian-style voiced stop in place of a standard Greek unvoiced aspirate: Template:Polytonic keb(a)lē versus Template:Polytonic kephalē ('head').

A number of the Macedonian words, particularly in Hesychius' lexicon, are disputed (i.e., some do not consider them actual Macedonian words) and some may have been corrupted in the transmission. Thus abroutes, may be read as abrouwes (Template:Polytonic), with tau (Template:Polytonic) replacing a digamma.[15] If so, this word would perhaps be encompassable within a Greek dialect; however, others (e.g. A. Meillet) see the dental as authentic and think that this specific word would perhaps belong to an Indo-European language different from Greek.

A. Panayotou summarizes some generally identified, through ancient texts and epigraphy, features[16]:

Phonology

  • Occasional development of voiced aspirates (*bh, *dh, *gh) into voiced stops (b, d, g) (e.g. Βερενίκα, Attic Φερενίκη)
  • Retention of */a:/ (e.g. Μαχάτας)
  • [a:] as result of contraction [a:] + [ɔ:]
  • Apocope of short vowels in prepositions in synthesis (παρκαττίθεμαι, Attic παρακατατίθεμαι)
  • Syncope (hyphairesis) and diphthongization are used to avoid hiatus (e.g. Θετίμα, Attic Θεοτίμη)
  • Occasional retention of the pronunciation [u] οf /u(:}/ in local cult epithets or nicknames (Κουναγίδας = Κυναγίδας)
  • Raising of /ɔ:/ to /u:/ in proximity to nasal (e.g. Κάνουν, Attic Κάνων)
  • Simplification of the sequence /ign/ to /i:n/ (γίνομαι, Attic γίγνομαι)
  • Loss of aspiration of the consonant cluster /sth/ (> /st/) (γενέσται, Attic γενέσθαι)

Morphology

  • First-declension masculine and feminine in -ας and -α respectively (e.g. Πεύκεστας, Λαομάγα)
  • First-declension masculine genitive singular in -α (e.g. Μαχάτα)
  • First-declension genitive plural in -ᾶν
  • First person personal pronoun dative singular ἐμίν
  • Temporal conjuction ὁπόκα
  • Possibly, a non-sigmatic nominative masculine singular in the first declension (ἱππότα, Attic ἱππότης)


Onomastics

Anthroponymy

M. Hatzopoulos summarizes the Macedonian anthroponymy (that is names borne by people from Macedonia before the expansion beyond the Axius or people undoubtedly hailing from this area after the expansion) as follows:[17]

  • Epichoric Greek names that either differ from the phonology of the introduced Attic or that remained almost confined to Macedonians throughout antiquity
  • Panhellenic Greek names
  • Identifiable non-Greek (Thracian, Illyrian and "native" -- that is names generally confined to Macedonian territory that aren't identified with any language, Greek or not) names
  • Names without a clear Greek etymology that can't however be ascribed to any identifiable non-Greek linguistic group

Common in the creation of ethnics is the use of -έστης, -εστός especially when derived from sigmatic nouns (ὄρος > Ὀρέστης but also Δῖον > Διασταί).[18]

Toponymy

The toponyms of Macedonia proper are generally Greek, though some of them show a particular Macedonian phonology that might set them apart and a few others are non-Greek.

Calendar

About half or more of the Macedonian months have a clear and generally accepted Greek etymology (e.g. Dios, Apellaios, Artemisios, Loos, Daisios), though some of the remaining ones have sometimes been considered to be Greek but showing a particular Macedonian phonology (e.g. Audunaios has been connected to "Haides" and Gorpiaios to "karpos" fruit).

Epigraphy

The below list includes only those regions and elements that may be related or have been written by Macedonians before 350 BC.Early evidence from coastal cities dates back to 600-550 BC in Central Macedonia (Sane[19],Therme[20]) ~ 550 BC East Macedonia (Neapolis)[21] and 5th c.BC West (Pydna)[22].There is also a Carian inscription found in Therme 6th c. BC[23].

Macedonian words in epigraphy

  • Macedonian onomasticon : the earliest massive epigraphical documents are, the second Athenian alliance decree with Perdiccas II (~417-413 BC), the decree of Kalindoia,~335-300 BC) and seven curse tablets of the 4th c.BC bearing mostly names[25][26].
  • Macedonian sound-law : it is restricted to names and one epithet of Artemis.
    • Berenika priestess of Demetra ca. 350 BC is the oldest evidence.However it never turned into Pherenike in Macedon or Egypt.On the contrary Attic Pherenik- became Berenik- ; hence popular Athenian name Berenikides after 3rd c.BC[27].
    • Bila Brateadou (Attic Phile , Doric Phila Prateadou or Phrateadou (Aigai ca. 350-300 BC[28].
    • Phylomaga (Attic Phylomache) (Methone,Pieria ca. 350-300 BC)[29].
    • Lamaga , Laomaga (Attic Laomache)[30]

Glossary

The Pella curse tablet

The Pella curse tablet, a text written in a distinct Doric Greek idiom, found in 1986, dated to between mid to early 4th century BC, has been forwarded as an argument that the ancient Macedonian language was a dialect of North-Western Greek, part of the Doric dialects.[51] Before the discovery it was proposed that the Macedonian dialect was an early form of Greek, spoken alongside Doric proper at that time.[52]

The Pella curse tablet (Greek katadesmos): from Prof. Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, Bryn Mawr College.

Hesychius Glossary

The below words of unknown date, out of the single Hesychius manuscript, are marked as Macedonian.For the words of Macedonian Amerias, see Glossary of Amerias. Terms that occur in epigraphy are transferred above.

(Template:Polytonic , Crasis) kai and,together,simultaneously + anô up (anôchmon hortatory password)

Other Sources

Proposed

A number of Hesychius words are listed orphan; some of them have been proposed as Macedonian[71]

Macedonian in Classical sources

Among the references that have been discussed as possibly bearing some witness to the linguistic situation in Macedonia, there is a sentence from a fragmentary dialogue, apparently between an Athenian and a Macedonian, in an extant fragment of the 5th century BC comedy 'Macedonians' by the Athenian poet Strattis (fr. 28), where a stranger is portrayed as speaking in a rural Greek dialect. His language contains expressions such as ὕμμες ὡττικοί for ὑμείς αττικοί "you Athenians", ὕμμες being also attested in Homer, Sappho (Lesbian) and Theocritus (Doric), while ὡττικοί appears only in "funny country bumpkin" contexts of Attic comedy.[72]

Another text that has been quoted as evidence is a passage from Livy (lived 59 BC-14 AD) in his Ab urbe condita (31.29). Describing political negotiations between Macedonians and Aetolians in the late 3rd century BC, Livy has a Macedonian ambassador argue that Aetolians, Acarnanians and Macedonians were "men of the same language".[73] This has been interpreted as referring to a shared North-West Greek speech (as opposed to Attic Koiné).[74]

Quintus Curtius Rufus, Philotas's trial[75].

Over time, "Macedonian" (μακεδονικός), when referring to language (and related expressions such as μακεδονίζειν; to speak in the Macedonian fashion) acquired the meaning of Koine Greek.[76]

Contributions to the Koine

Despite the Macedonians' important role in the formation of the Koine, Macedonian itself contributed few elements to the dialect, such as military terminology (διμοιριτης, ταξιαρχος, υπασπισται etc.) and, possibly, the suffix "-issa" which became productive in Medieval Greek.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Oxford English Dictionary (1989), Macedonian, Simpson J. A. & Weiner E. S. C. (eds), Oxford: Oxford University Press, Vol. IX, ISBN 0-19-861186-2 (set) ISBN 0-19-861221-4 (vol. IX) p. 153
  2. ^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged (1976), Macedonian, USA:Merriam-Webster, G. & C. Merriam Co., vol. II (H - R) ISBN 0-87779-101-5

References

  1. ^ In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon - Eugene N. Borza, p.94 (citing Hammond); G. Horrocks, Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers (1993), ch.4.1.
  2. ^ Brixhe C., Panayotou A. (1994) Le Macédonien in Bader, F. (ed.) Langues indo-européennes, Paris:CNRS éditions, 1994, pp 207
  3. ^ H. Ahrens, De Graecae linguae dialectis, Göttingen, 1843; O. Hoffmann, Die Makedonen. Ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum, Göttingen 1906.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference OxfordCD1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Claude Brixhe, "Un «nouveau» champ de la dialectologie grecque: le macédonien", in: A. C. Cassio (ed.), Katà diálekton. Atti del III Colloquio Internazionale di Dialettologia Greca (A.I.O.N., XIX), Napoli 1996, 35-71.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Joseph was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Griechische Grammatik, Munich 1939, vol. 1, 69-71.
  8. ^ Andrew Garrett (1999): "A new model of Indo-European subgrouping and dispersal". In: Chang, S. S, Liaw, L. and Ruppenhofer, J, Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, February 12-15, Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society, 146-56, 1999. Online paper (PDF)
  9. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir (1981), Introduction to the history of the Indo-European languages. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Cited in Blažek, Václav (2007) "From August Schleicher to Sergei Starostin. On the development of the tree-diagram models of the Indo-European languages", Journal of Indo-European Studies 35: 82-109
  10. ^ Hamp, Eric P. (1990) "The Pre-Indo-European Language of Northern (Central) Europe". In: When Worlds Collide: The Indo-Europeans and the Pre-Indo-Europeans, eds. T.L. Markey & J.A.C. Greppin. Ann Arbor: Karoma, 291-309. Cited in Blažek, op.cit.
  11. ^ Linguist List
  12. ^ Exceptions to the rule:
  13. ^ Greek Questions 292e - Question 9 - Why do Delphians call one of their months Bysios[1].
  14. ^ Albrecht von Blumenthal, Hesychstudien, Stuttgart, 1930, 21.
  15. ^ Olivier Masson, "Sur la notation occasionnelle du digamma grec par d'autres consonnes et la glose macédonienne abroutes", Bulletin de la Société de linguistique de Paris, 90 (1995) 231-239. Also proposed by O. Hoffmann and J. Kalleris.
  16. ^ A history of ancient Greek: from the beginnings to late antiquity, Maria Chritē, Maria Arapopoulou, Cambridge University Press (2007), p. 439-441
  17. ^ Greek Personal Names: Their Value as Evidence, Elaine Matthews, Simon Hornblower, Peter Marshall Fraser, British Academy, Oxford University Press (2000), p. 103
  18. ^ A history of ancient Greek: from the beginnings to late antiquity, Maria Chritē, Maria Arapopoulou, Cambridge University Press (2007), p. 439-441
  19. ^ Epigraphical Database: SEG 42:624,1
  20. ^ Epigraphical Database: SEG 50:636
  21. ^ Epigraphical Database: SEG 24:622
  22. ^ Epigraphical Database: SEG 46:801
  23. ^ Epigraphical Database: SEG 48:847
  24. ^ Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian Poetry [2] by Simon Hornblower
  25. ^ Athens,bottom-IG I³ 89 -- Kalindoia-Meletemata 11 K31 -- Pydna-SEG 52:617,I (6) till SEG 52:617,VI - Mygdonia-SEG 49:750
  26. ^ Greek Personal Names: Their Value as Evidence [3] by Simon Hornblower, Elaine Matthews
  27. ^ Google [4] -http://epigraphy.packhum.org Βερενικ- Athens:190 Egypt:155 Northern Greece:5 Syria: 1
  28. ^ Bila Brateadou[5]
  29. ^ Phylomaga [6]
  30. ^ Beroia — ca. 150-100 BC Laomaga[7] - Pydna early 2nd c. BC Lamaga[8]
  31. ^ Amphipolis SEG 49:855 B (2.8.)[9] -- Kassandreia SEG 49:722 (17.20.)[10] cf. Polybius, Histories, 5.65.2
  32. ^ A Thessalonian in Thasos Aliki — ca. 2nd c.AD[11]
  33. ^ Skydra Epigraphical Database
  34. ^ Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology > v. 1, page 83[12]
  35. ^ The Learned Banqueters III.106e-V III.106e-V
  36. ^ Delos[13]-Cyprus [14]-Alexandria[15]
  37. ^ Lete— ca. 350-300 BC[16] -- Amphipolis late 3rd/early 2nd c. BC B, 26 -- Amphipolis — ca. 300-275 BCAntigonos of Kallas
  38. ^ Amphipolis Epigraphical Database frg B.col I,2
  39. ^ Beroia Kynagidas Epigraphical Database
  40. ^ Thessalian Template:Polytonic[17]
  41. ^ Lete ca. 150 BC[18]
  42. ^ William Nickerson Bates, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 34, pp. 44-46
  43. ^ late 3rd/early 2nd c. BC Amphipolis SEG 49:855 (A.11.17.23.27)[19] -- Kassandreia SEG 49:722 (12.37.50.54)[20]
  44. ^ Amphipolis Epigraphical Database frg B.col I,3
  45. ^ a b Blumenthal, Hesychstudien, Stuttgart, 1930.
  46. ^ Elimeia,skoidou [21] [22] -- Skoidia Roman-era Naxian fem.name hapax[23]
  47. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  48. ^ Beroia and a Thessalonian in Philippopolis — 2nd/3rd century AD[24]-[25]
  49. ^ line 4 Mygdonia — ca. 357-350 BC Meletemata 22, Epig. App. 4[26] -- Mt. Cholomon — 294-287 BC SEG 46:738 [27]
  50. ^ Eordea ~180 BC [28],12 Amphipolis-SEG 49:855 B,6 Meletemata 22, Epig. App. 12 ,col II 3,8[29])(Kassandreia-SEG 49:722 ,18)
  51. ^ O. Masson (1996).
  52. ^ Rhomiopoulou (1980).
  53. ^ Les anciens Macedoniens. Etude linguistique et historique by J. N. Kalleris
  54. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  55. ^ ARAE : Greek goddesses or spirits of curses ; mythology : ARAI
  56. ^ Pokorny[30]
  57. ^ Poetae scenici graeci, accedunt perditarum fabularum fragmenta[31]
  58. ^ Pokorny Query madh[32]
  59. ^ Pokorny's dictionary [33]
  60. ^ (Izela) Die Makedonen, Ihre Sprache und Ihr Volkstum[34] by Otto Hoffmann
  61. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  62. ^ Deipnosophists 14.663-4 (pp.1059-1062) [35]
  63. ^ Alexandre le Grand dans Athénée de Naucratis (livre IV)[36]
  64. ^ Athenaeus Deipnosophists 3.114b.
  65. ^ Deipnosophists 10.455e.
  66. ^ Pokorny[37],Gerhard Köbler[38]
  67. ^ Pokorny,Pudna[39]
  68. ^ Zeitschrift der Deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft[40]
  69. ^ The Dorians in Archaeology by Theodore Cressy Skeat[41]
  70. ^ Poetics (Aristotle)-XXI [42]
  71. ^ Otto Hoffmann ,Page 270 (bottom)[43]
  72. ^ Steven Colvin, Dialect in Aristophanes and the politics of language in Ancient Greek, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. 279.
  73. ^ Livy 31.29.15 (in Latin).
  74. ^ A. Panayotou: The position of the Macedonian dialect. In: Maria Arapopoulou, Maria Chritē, Anastasios-Phoivos Christides (eds.), A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2007. 433-458 (Google Books).
  75. ^ E. Kapetanopoulos, "Alexander’s patrius sermo in the Philotas affair", The ancient world 30 (1999) 117-128. PdforHtm
  76. ^ C. Brixhe, A. Panayotou, 1994, «Le Macédonien» in Langues indo-européennes, p. 208

Further reading

  • Brixhe C., Panayotou A. (1994) Le Macédonien in Bader, F. (ed.) Langues indo-européennes, Paris:CNRS éditions, 1994, pp 205–220. ISBN 227105043-X
  • Chadwick, J. The Prehistory of the Greek Language. Cambridge, 1963.
  • Hammond, Nicholas G.L. "Literary Evidence for Macedonian Speech", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 43, No. 2. (1994), pp. 131–142.
  • Kalleris, Jean. Les Anciens Macédoniens, étude linguistique et historique. Institut Francais d'Athénes, 1988
  • Katičić, Radoslav. Ancient Languages of the Balkans. The Hague; Paris: Mouton, 1976.
  • Neroznak, V. Paleo-Balkan languages. Moscow, 1978.
  • Rhomiopoulou, Katerina. An Outline of Macedonian History and Art. Greek Ministry of Culture and Science, 1980.
  • Die Makedonen: Ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum by Otto Hoffmann