Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics

Abstract   See Vowel Changes Bibliography  

La Roche, Jacob Apposition La Rosa, Vincenzo Phaistos Disc Laar, Henri, van de Causative Formation Labiano Ilundain, J. M. Interjections | Purpose Clauses labile verbs Active | Causative Formation | Voice labiovelars Boeotian | Doric | Greek and Lydian | Palatalizations | Relative Chronology Labov, William Attitudes to Language | Comparative Method | Language Change | Neogrammarians | Phonetic Law | Semantic Change Labyad phratry Transition from the Local Alphabets to the Ionic Script Labyadae inscription Northwest Greek Lachares Ancient Prose Rhythm Lachmann, Karl Greek Novel…

Abstract Linear A is an undeciphered open-syllabic and logographic script used for economic and votive purposes mainly on the island of Crete from ca 1850 to 1450 BCE. Much about the phonetic structure, ideograms, fractional signs and numerals can be understood through (a) internal analysis of the ca 1,500 preserved texts, (b) comparative analysis of the deciphered Linear B script, which was created with Linear A as a model, and (c) reconstructing the Minoan language(s) spoken on Crete in prehist…

Abstract Linear B is a syllabic writing system, which was used in the Aegean area during the Bronze Age to represent Mycenaean, an archaic variety of Greek. Arthur Evans coined this type of writing as Linear B, before the language that it represented was known. Within this nomenclature, which makes reference exclusively to the script and not to the language, ‘linear’ alludes to the linear disposition that the writing displays in the documents. The ‘B’ designates the opposition established by Evan…

Abstract One of the key issues of ancient Greek linguistic theory was determining linguistic correctness concerning both single words and word combinations. Errors that could affect the language were seen as barbarisms and solecisms. A single word form or a special construction could be accepted as correct or incorrect Greek on the basis of certain criteria, which varied slightly depending on the sources and were likely to be the object of debate. The principal criteria were analogy, usage, liter…

Abstract Classical Attic, used in literary master works of the 5th and 4th c. BCE (philosophy, tragedy, oratory), enjoyed a long-standing prestige over the other Greek dialects and a leading role in the development of the Hellenistic Koine and ultimately of Modern Greek. The expansion of Athens in both the political and cultural sphere in the 5th c. has been described in numerous historical and literary studies. Its language (= the westernmost variety of Ionic) replaced (Eastern) Ionic in its pos…

Abstract The phrase literary prose refers to Ancient Greek texts that, written in prose, have a literary purpose. The Ancient Greeks’ concern for the formal, stylistic or artistic aspects of their prose leads them to including in this definition some genres that, in modern languages, would be out of the literary sphere, such as history, philosophy or scientific prose. This entry pays attention to the literary use of the Ancient Greek language (dialectal and grammatical elements as well as, collatera…