Aeolic Greek

In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (Template:IPAc-en), also known as Aeolian (Template:IPAc-en), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anatolia and adjoining islands; and possibly in Lower Macedonia.

The Aeolic dialect shows many archaisms in comparison to the other Ancient Greek dialects (Arcadocypriot, Attic, Ionic, and Doric), as well as many innovations; it is, consequently, considered to be—for the modern reader—perhaps the most difficult of the dialects.

Aeolic Greek is widely known as the language of Sappho and of Alcaeus of Mytilene. Aeolic poetry, which is exemplified in the works of Sappho, mostly uses four classical meters known as the Aeolics: Glyconic (the most basic form of Aeolic line), hendecasyllabic verse, Sapphic stanza, and Alcaic stanza (the latter two are respectively named for Sappho and Alcaeus).

Additionally, based on the conclusions drawn by several studies and findings such as Pella curse tablet, Emilio Crespo and other scholars suggest that the Ancient Macedonian dialect was a Northwest Doric dialect, that shared isoglosses with its neighboring Thessalian (Aeolic) dialects spoken in northeastern Thessaly. Other scholars have suggested an Aeolic Greek classification with strong Northwest Greek influence for the ancient Macedonian dialect. Hellanicus of Lesbos considered Makedon to be a son of Aeolus (son of Hellen).

Phonology

Consonants

Labiovelars

Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Greek *kʷ changed to Aeolic p everywhere. By contrast, PIE changed to Attic/Ionic, Arcadocypriot, and Doric t before e and i.

• PIE → Lesbian písures, Boeotian péttares ~ Attic téttares, Ionic tésseres, Doric tétores "four"

Similarly PIE/PGk always became b and PIE > PGk always became ph (whereas in other dialects they became alternating b/d and ph/th before back/front vowels).

Labiovelars were treated the same way in the P-Celtic languages and the Sabellic languages.

Sonorant clusters

A Proto-Greek consonant cluster with h (from Indo-European ) and a sonorant (r, l, n, m, w, y) changed to the double sonorant (rr, ll, nn, mm, ww, yy) in Lesbian and Thessalian (sub-dialects of Aeolic) by assimilation. In Attic/Ionic, Doric, and Boeotian Aeolic, the h assimilated to the vowel before the consonant cluster, causing the vowel to lengthen by compensatory lengthening.

PIE VsR or VRs → Attic/Ionic-Doric-Boeotian VVR.

PIE VsR or VRs → Lesbian-Thessalian VRR.

• PIE → Proto-Greek *ehmi → Lesbian-Thessalian emmi ~ Attic/Ionic ēmi (= ) "I am"

Loss of h

Lesbian Aeolic lost initial h- (psilosis "stripping") from Proto-Indo-European *s- or *y-. By contrast, Ionic sometimes retains it, and Attic always retains it.

• PIE → Proto-Greek *hāwélios → Lesbian āélios, Ionic ēélios ~ Attic hēlios "sun"

Retention of w

In Thessalian and Boeotian (sub-dialects of Aeolic) and Doric, the Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Greek semi-vowel w (digamma) was retained at the beginning of a word.

• PIE → Boeotian, Doric wépos ~ Attic-Ionic épos "word", "epic" (compare Latin vōx "voice")

Vowels

Long a

In Aeolic and Doric, Proto-Greek long ā remains. By contrast, in Attic, long ā changes to long ē in most cases; in Ionic, it changes everywhere.

• PIE → Aeolic, Doric mātēr ~ Attic/Ionic mētēr "mother"

Compensatory lengthening

Compensatory lengthening of a, e, o in Lesbian gives ai, ei, oi (in Attic, it would be ā, ei, ou) for example in the accusative plural of a and o stem nouns, or in many 3 Pl verb conjugations.

Boeotian

In Boeotian, the vowel-system was, in many cases, changed in a way reminiscent of the modern Greek pronunciation.

• Attic/Ionic ~ Boeotian ~ Modern Greek
• Attic/Ionic ~ Boeotian ~ Modern Greek
• Attic/Ionic ~ Boeotian ~ Mediaeval Greek and Old Athenaean ~ Modern Greek

Accent

In Lesbian Aeolic, the accent of all words is recessive (barytonesis), as is typical only in the verbs of other dialects.

• Attic/Ionic potamós ~ Lesbian pótamos "river"

Morphology

Contracted or vowel-stem verbs that are thematic in Attic/Ionic are often athematic (-mi) in Aeolic.

• Ionic philéō, Attic philô ~ Aeolic phílēmi "I love"

Aeolic athematic infinitive active ends in -men or (Lesbian) -menai. ~ Attic/Ionic has -enai.

• Lesbian émmen, émmenai; Thessalian, Boeotian eîmen ~ Attic/Ionic eînai (spurious diphthong) "to be"

In the Lesbian dialect this ending also extends to the thematic conjugation, where Attic/Ionic has -ein. All three of these Aeolic endings occur in Homer.

• Homeric agémen

Proto-Greek -ans and -ons → -ais and -ois (first- and second declension accusative plural) ~ Attic/Ionic -ās and -ōs (-ους).

Dative plural -aisi and -oisi ~ Attic/Ionic -ais and -ois.

The participle has -ois and -ais for Attic -ōs (-ους), -ās.

Glossary

Below is a list of several words in the Aeolian dialect, written in the Greek alphabet, along with a transcription in the Latin alphabet. Each word is followed by its meaning and compared to similar words in other ancient Greek dialects. The "notes" section provides additional information, and if applicable, an etymology is given.

Aeolian

Aeolian lemma	Transcription	Meaning	Correspondence to other Greek dialects	Notes
	Template:LSJ	'sun'	* Doric āélios * Attic hēlios * Cretan abelios * Laconian bela * Pamphylian babelios	Derives from PIE 'sun'.
	bama		* Doric βᾶμα bama * Attic βῆμα bema 'walking, step'	Per Beekes, both forms derive from root βῆ-, itself from PIE . Corresponds to Avestan gā-man- 'step, pace'.
	belphin Belphoi	dolphin Delphi	Attic delphis	Per Beekes, βέλφινες occurs in Lesbian, while Βελφοί is Aeolic.
	bradinos	'slender, soft'	Attic rhadinos	Attested in Sapph. 90,104.
	brakos	'expensive garment'	* Homeric ῥάκος rhakos 'rag, shred, wrinkles, remnants' * ϝράκος wrakos	Attested in Sapph. 70. Per Beekes, of uncertain etymology.
	briza	'root'	Attic rhiza
	brodon	'rose'	Attic ῥόδον rhodon 'rose'	Possible Eastern borrowing (cf. Arm vard 'rose' < Old Iranian *u̯ṛda 'id'). Also means vagina metaphorically in Erotic Glossary
	dnophos	'darkness'	Also appears in Ionic; Attic zophos	Per Beekes, the word "recalls" zóphos, knéphas and pséphas.
	Ennesiades	Lesbian Nymphs
ήπιάλης	epialtēs epialēs	'nightmare'	Attic ephialtēs	Epialtēs attested in Alcaeus. Cf. Ephialtes, one of the Aloadae.
	iron	'holy'	* Attic hierón * Doric hiarón * Ionic hirón	Derives from PIE 'holy'.
	klaides		* Doric klaides * Attic kleides 'bars, bolts, keys'	Derives from PIE 'lock', although Beekes suggests the original meaning must have been 'nail, pin, hook', as in, instruments to lock a door.
	messui messos		* Attic ἐν μέσῳ 'in the middle' * Cret./Boet.	Identical to Sanskrit mádhya-, Latin medius, Gothic midjis, all from PIE 'in the middle'.
	pempe	'five'	* Attic pente * Pamphylian pede	From PIE 'five'.
	pésdos	'pedestrian', 'infantry' (as a collective)	Attic pezós	Per Beekes, formally identical to Sanskrit pád-ya 'regarding the foot' < PIE .
	pesson	'plain'	* Attic pedion 'surface, plain, field' * Cypriot 'plain'.	From PIE 'foot'.
	pessyres	'four'	* Lesbian pisyres * Boeotian pettares * Attic tessares * Doric tetores	Derives from PIE 'four'.
	xennos	'foreigner, guest-friend, strange'	Attic xenos; Ionic xeinos	Beekes supposes it could be Pre-Greek.
	strótos	'army, troop'	Attic stratós	Per Beekes, exact correspondence to Sanskrit str̩ta- 'thrown down', Avestan stərəta- 'spread out'.
	usdos	'branch, twig, bough, offshoot'	Attic ozos 'twig, branch'	Derives from PIE > *Hosdo-.
	phēria	'wild animal'	Attic thēria 'beasts'	Derives from PIE .
	Psapphō		Attic Sapphō

• ágōnos "struggle" (Attic Template:LSJ agōn; Elean dat. pl. agōnois for agōsi)
• Template:LSJ gifts sent by kin to Lesbian brides (Sappho fr.) (compare Homeric hedna, eedna)
• Aiolíōnes "Aeolians" (Attic Aioleîs) (Template:LSJ "speak Aeolic, compose in the Aeolian mode, trick out with false words" Sophocles Fr.912 ) (aioleō vary, adorn, diversify (aiolos quick-moving, glittering, shifty)
• aklades (unpruned vineyards) (Attic akladeutoi ampeloi)
• akontion (part of troops) (Attic spear) (Macedonian rhachis, spine or backbone, anything ridged like the backbone)
• -τος amenēs -tos (Attic ὑμήν humēn) thin skin, membrane.
• amōnes (Attic ἀνεμώνες anemones
• aoros (Attic ἄϋπνος aypnos, without sleep) Μηθυμναῖοι
• arpys (Attic ἔρως Eros, Love) attested in Crinagoras, ἁρπάζειν harpazein to snatch. Homeric harpaleos attractive, devouring
• asphe to them (Attic sphe, sphi)
• bakchoa (Attic βόθρος bothros sacred dungeon, pit)
• balla threshold (Attic bēlos) (Doric balos)
• blēr incitement (Attic delear)
• bradanizō brandish, shake off. (Cf.Elean bratana Common rhatane)
• braidion (Attic ῥᾴδιον rhaidion easy)
• brakein to understand (dysbrakanon imprehensible)
• brodopachus with pink, rosy forearms (Attic rhodopechys) ( brodopachun Sappho) and brododaktulos with rosy fingers
• brocheos or βρουκέων broukeon (Attic βραχύ brachy short) (Sapph.fr. 2,7)
• drasein (Attic θύειν to sacrifice)
• eide (Attic ὕλη, forest) (εἴδη Ionian also)
• zadelon with holes in it, open (Attic diadelon obvious) (Alcaeus 30 D 148P)
• imbēris eel (Attic enchelys) Μηθυμναῖοι
• Issa old name of Lesbos Island Cf. Antissa
• issasthai (Attic klerousthai to take sth by lot)
• kankulē (Attic kēkis wet, vapour, mordant dyeing)
• kammarpsis dry Measure (Attic hemimedimnon, one half of a medimnos)
• karabides (Attic graes) Μηθυμναῖοι
• kaualeon Hsch (Attic aithos fire, burning heat) (Cf.kaiō burn)
• Mesostrophonia Lesbian festival
• molsos (Attic , fat)
• ximbra (Attic ῥοιά rhoia pomegranate-tree) (Boeotian sida)
• othmata (Attic ommata eyes)
• ón óna (Attic aná) upon, through, again (Arcadocypriot also)
• passyrion (Attic passydia 'totally, all together, with the whole army')
• pedameivō (Attic metameivo exchange) (πεδέχω pedecho μετέχω metecho), pedoikos metoikos peda for meta
• Perrhamos Priamus (Alcaeus 74D, 111P (it means also king)
• saōmi save (Attic sōizō ) (Homeric saoō)
• siglai ear-rings (Attic enōtia, Laconian exōbadia)
• skiphos Attic xiphos sword (skiptō, given as etym. of skiphos and xiphos, Sch.Il.1.220; cf. skipei: nussei, it pricks, pierces)
• spóla(Attic stolē) equipment, garment (spaleis, the sent one, for staleis)
• syrx (Attic σάρξ flesh) (dative plural σύρκεσιν syrkesi Attic σαρξίν sarxin)
• tenekounti (Attic enoikounti dative singular of enoikōn inhabiting)
• tragais you break, grow rough and hoarse and smell like a goat
• tude tudai and tuide here) (Ionic tēde)
• phauophoros priestess (Attic hiereia) (light-keeper) (Aeolic phauō for Homeric phaō shine) (Homeric phaos light, Attic phōs and phōtophoros)

Boeotian

Boeotian lemma	Transcription	Meaning	Correspondence to other Greek dialects	Notes
	aas aestēton	'tomorrow'	Attic aurion	cf. Attic ēōs 'dawn'
	bana banēkes	'woman' 'women' (pl.)	Attic gunē Attic gunaikes	Derived from PIE .
	Deus	Zeus	Also attested in: * Laconian Δεύς Deús * Rhodian Δεύς Deús	Derived from PIE *Dyeus ('sky-god').
	gadou wadou	'sweet, pleasant'	* Attic hēdú 'sweet, tasteful, pleasant, pleasing'	Attested in Corinna.17. Derived from PIE 'sweet'.
	karoux		* Attic κήρυξ kēryx 'herald, messenger' * Doric káryx	Per Beekes, probably Pre-Greek.

• amillakas wine Theban (Attic oinos)
• anōdorkas a fish
• baidumēn (Attic arotrian to plough)
• bana ( balara) woman (Attic gunē); , banēkes battikes women ( Attic gunaikes )
• bastrax or bastax (Attic τράχηλος trachēlos neck) pl. bastraches
• bleerei (Attic οἰκτείρει he feels pity) Cf. eleairei
• empyria divination (Attic manteia) (Hsch. public oath, Koine ordeal by fire)
• zekeltides gourds Amerias zakeltides (Phrygian zelkia vegetables)
• idephin sweet-voiced. Hsch.: (Attic hēduphōnon) ( Aeolic wad-, ad- )
• istake scythe (Attic drepanon)
• iugodromein (Attic , ekboēthein, and boēdromein, run to help) ()(Iungios Thessalian month)
• iō and hiōn (Attic egō, I) (hiōnga iōga for egōge)
• Karaios Boeotian epithet for Zeus meaning tall, head. Boeotian eponym Karaidas
• kriddemen (Attic gelan to laugh) (Strattis fr. 47) Cf. (Cf.Attic krizō creak, screech)
• korilla little girl (Koine korasion from Attic korasis girl) (Aetolian korudion)
• mēlatas (Attic poimen shepherd) (homeric mēlon sheep) (Attic mēlon apple, Aeolic-Doric malon)
• mnarion (Attic kallyntron broom, brush)
• opisthotila (Attic sēpia cuttlefish) (Strattis. fr. 47,3) (squirts its liquor from behind)
• opittomai (homeric opizomai I care, respect) (Laconian opiddomai)
• ophrygnai (Attic ophryazei he winks raising the eyebrow, is haughty)
• seia I persecuted (Attic edioxa) (Cf.Homeric seuō move quickly, chase)
• syoboiōtoi Hog-Boeotians (Cratinus.310)
• tripeza (Attic trapeza, table)(from tetrapeza four-footed) (tripeza three-footed) (in Aeolic it would-be tripesda)
• psōsmata Boeotian word

Thessalian

Thessalian lemma	Transcription	Meaning	Correspondence to other Greek dialects	Notes
	Aploun	Apollo (Olympic deity; brother to Artemis)	* Attic Apollōn * Doric/Pamphylian Apelon
	dámossos	public	Attic dēmósios	See iddioûstikos below.
	despoina	'woman'		Feminine form of despotes. In Attic gunē, in Doric guna mean 'woman'. See also Despoina.
	iddioûstikos	privative	Attic idiōtikós
	kis	'who, anyone'	* Attic tis * Laconian tir * Arcadocypriot sis	Derived from PIE (interrogative/relative pronoun).
	kyrrhos or kyrros	'sir, master'	Attic kyrios
	Maketoun	'Macedonian man'	Attic Makedōn 'id'	Thessalian suffix '-oun' parallels Attic suffix ōn in both nominative and genitive of participles, pronouns and nouns.
	mattuē	a meat-dessert of Macedonian or Thessalian origin (in Athenaeus)		Cf. Macedonian mattuēs 'a kind of bird'.
	Pétthalos	'Thessalian man'	* Boeotian Phéttalos * Attic Thettalós * Ionic/Koine Thessalós 'id'	Per Beekes, a Pre-Greek word derived from *Kʷettʸal-.

• abremēs (Attic ablepēs unworthy seeing, despicable (Cypriotic also) (Hes. text
• agora (Attic limen port, harbour) (Hes. text
• alphinia white poplar (PIE 'white') (Attic leukē, PIE 'bright, light') (Macedonian aliza)
• aspaleia safeness (Attic asphaleia)
• astralos (Attic ψάρ -ος psar Starling)
• bebukousthai to be swollen (Homeric buktaon blowing)
• bousia (Attic γογγυλίδι gongylidi turnip)
• daratos Thessalian bread (Macedonian dramis) (Athamanian dramix) (PIE 'cut, split')
• enormos (agora, assembly, market and chōra) (Attic enormeō get in a harbour, hormos bay, anchorage
• ereas children (Hsch.Attic tekna) (Homeric ernos young sprout, scion) (Neo-Phrygian eiroi children)
• theanoustai (Attic xysters)
• itheiē (Attic hamaxitos chariot-road) (Homeric Ψ 580) (Attic ithys, eytheia straight line)
• impsas past participle of impto (Attic ζεύξας zeuxas zeugnymi join together) (Ἴμψιος Impsios Ποσειδῶν ὁ ζύγιος Poseidon Zygius on horses)
• kalaphos (Attic ἀσκάλαφος, Ascalaphus a bird (Magnesian)
• kapanē chariot (Attic apēnē) also, a helmet(kapanikos plenteous
• karpaia Thessalo-Macedonian mimic military dance (see also Carpaea) Homeric karpalimos swift (for foot) eager, ravenous.
• nealeis new-comers, newly caught ones (Cf. nealeis, neēludes)
• nebeuō pray (Macedonian neuō) (Attic euchomai, neuō 'wink')
• onala, onalouma (Attic analōma expense cost) (on- in the place of Attic prefix ana-, ongrapsantas SEG 27:202
• Petthalia 'Thessalia'; Petthaloi 'Thessalians'; Koine thessalisti 'the Thessalian way'. Cf. Attic entethettalizomai become a Thessalian, i.e. wear the large Thessalian cloak (Thettalika ptera feathers), Eupolis.201.)
• tageuō to be tagos archon in Thessaly

See also

• Aeolus
• Hesychius of Alexandria

Further reading

General studies

• Bakker, Egbert J., ed. 2010. A companion to the Ancient Greek language. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
• 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.

On the Boeotian dialect

• Pantelidis, Nikolaos. "Boeotian and its Neighbors: A Central Helladic Dialect Continuum?" In: Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Edited by Georgios Giannakis, Emilio Crespo and Panagiotis Filos. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2018. pp. 167–188.
• Page, Denis L. 1953. Corinna. London: Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies.
• West, Martin L. 1990. "Dating Corinna." Classical Quarterly 40 (2): 553–557.

On the Lesbian dialect

• Bowie, Angus M. 1981. The poetic dialect of Sappho and Alcaeus. New York: Arno.
• Finkelberg, Margalit. "Lesbian and Mainland Greece". In: Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Edited by Georgios Giannakis, Emilio Crespo and Panagiotis Filos. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2018. pp. 447–456.

On the Thessalian dialect

• Accessed 23 Mar. 2024.
• Helly, Bruno. "Some Materials for a Historical Grammar of the Thessalian Dialect". In: Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Edited by Georgios Giannakis, Emilio Crespo and Panagiotis Filos. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2018. pp. 351–374.