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Dialect Convergence and Linguistic Change: The Dodona Tablets Corpus and its Significance for the Study of the History of the Greek Language

  • Georgios K. Giannakis
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Postclassical Greek
This chapter is in the book Postclassical Greek

Abstract

Based on 187 tablets of the Dodona corpus that involve the Koine dialect, an explanation is attempted of a process of dialect convergence in the Dodona sanctuary. This process seems to be better explained by applying the theory of accommodation whereby in multilingual or multidialectal contexts one linguistic idiom (language or dialect), for a series of reasons, plays a dominant or progressively dominating role by infiltrating into the linguistic map of the area. In Dodona, this role is played by Koine, as indicated by the progressive infiltration of this dialect in the function of the oracle. This evolution may also provide a model for language change in ancient Greece and the history of the Greek language in general, with the expansion of Koine in most of the Greek-speaking world during the Hellenistic and Postclassical periods.

Abstract

Based on 187 tablets of the Dodona corpus that involve the Koine dialect, an explanation is attempted of a process of dialect convergence in the Dodona sanctuary. This process seems to be better explained by applying the theory of accommodation whereby in multilingual or multidialectal contexts one linguistic idiom (language or dialect), for a series of reasons, plays a dominant or progressively dominating role by infiltrating into the linguistic map of the area. In Dodona, this role is played by Koine, as indicated by the progressive infiltration of this dialect in the function of the oracle. This evolution may also provide a model for language change in ancient Greece and the history of the Greek language in general, with the expansion of Koine in most of the Greek-speaking world during the Hellenistic and Postclassical periods.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. List of Figures IX
  5. List of Tables XI
  6. Problems and Perspectives of Postclassical Greek 1
  7. Part I: Periodization and Greek Diachrony
  8. How ‘Post’ is Postclassical? Lessons from the Augment throughout the History of Greek 13
  9. Part II: Greek Dialects and Postclassical Greek
  10. Dialect Convergence and Linguistic Change: The Dodona Tablets Corpus and its Significance for the Study of the History of the Greek Language 29
  11. Part III: Homer and Hellenistic Greek
  12. ‘Late’ Linguistic Innovations and Elimination of Hiatus in the Homeric Text 65
  13. Notes on aemulatio in Hellenistic Epic: Apollonius of Rhodes and the Homeric Language 77
  14. Part IV: Language Standardization
  15. Atticist Views on Linguistic Variation: The Case of Phrynichus’ Eclogue and its Use of Ancient Sources 103
  16. In the Mood? – Some Thoughts on the Use of the Optative in Postclassical Literary Greek 135
  17. Part V: Historical Semantics
  18. Postclassical ‘shame’: ἐντρέπομαι and ἐντροπή 157
  19. Part VI: Morphosyntax and Biblical Greek
  20. Negative Concord and Word Order in the Greek Bible and New Testament 187
  21. Multiverb Constructions in Postclassical Greek: Pseudo-coordination and Participial Constructions in the Apophthegmata Patrum 225
  22. Part VII: The Syntax-Pragmatics Interface
  23. Double Conjunction Usages in Postclassical Greek 271
  24. Word Order in Byzantine Literary Greek 293
  25. List of Contributors 309
  26. Index Rerum 311
  27. Index Verborum 313
  28. Index Locorum 315
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111079172-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. List of Figures IX
  5. List of Tables XI
  6. Problems and Perspectives of Postclassical Greek 1
  7. Part I: Periodization and Greek Diachrony
  8. How ‘Post’ is Postclassical? Lessons from the Augment throughout the History of Greek 13
  9. Part II: Greek Dialects and Postclassical Greek
  10. Dialect Convergence and Linguistic Change: The Dodona Tablets Corpus and its Significance for the Study of the History of the Greek Language 29
  11. Part III: Homer and Hellenistic Greek
  12. ‘Late’ Linguistic Innovations and Elimination of Hiatus in the Homeric Text 65
  13. Notes on aemulatio in Hellenistic Epic: Apollonius of Rhodes and the Homeric Language 77
  14. Part IV: Language Standardization
  15. Atticist Views on Linguistic Variation: The Case of Phrynichus’ Eclogue and its Use of Ancient Sources 103
  16. In the Mood? – Some Thoughts on the Use of the Optative in Postclassical Literary Greek 135
  17. Part V: Historical Semantics
  18. Postclassical ‘shame’: ἐντρέπομαι and ἐντροπή 157
  19. Part VI: Morphosyntax and Biblical Greek
  20. Negative Concord and Word Order in the Greek Bible and New Testament 187
  21. Multiverb Constructions in Postclassical Greek: Pseudo-coordination and Participial Constructions in the Apophthegmata Patrum 225
  22. Part VII: The Syntax-Pragmatics Interface
  23. Double Conjunction Usages in Postclassical Greek 271
  24. Word Order in Byzantine Literary Greek 293
  25. List of Contributors 309
  26. Index Rerum 311
  27. Index Verborum 313
  28. Index Locorum 315
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