Ancient Greek is the language that was spoken in the broader Greek world approximately from the 9th century BC to the 4th century AD. It should be noted that this language that was consequential for the world was actually not a single, monolithic entity. The ancient Greek language did not have a single set of undebatable rules.
Rather, it was comprised of several dialects depending on the region of the Greek world at the time. Each one of these dialects had its unique elements and characteristics. Even though there were several dialects across the broader Eastern and Central Mediterranean, the main dialects of Greek were Attic, Ionic, Doric, and Aeolic. Each of these had its uniquely distinctive phonological, morphological, syntactic, and lexical features.
By learning more about the differences between the dialects, we can gain greater insight into the ways these dialects developed and better understand their diversity during ancient times.
The ancient Greek dialect of Attica
The Attic Greek dialect was spoken in the region of Attica, which included the city of Athens. It became the basis for the development of the later known Koine Greek, the common language of the Hellenistic period that spread far beyond the boundaries of the Greek mainland. Koine means ”common” and it was the language that was spoken throughout the Mediterranean region roughly from the 4th century BC to the 6th century AD, spanning a long historical time of significant changes and evolutions.
It developed not exclusively from Attic Greek but also from contact between multiple other Greek dialects and served as the lingua franca, later on, of the Eastern parts of the Roman Empire. Koine Greek was used to write the Septuagint as well as the original New Testament, becoming the vehicle for the spread of new religious ideas across the then-known world.
Attic Greek had a unique set of features that distinguished it from other contemporary Greek dialects. In terms of phonology, Attic Greek underwent a thorough process called psilosis.
In linguistics, psilosis refers to the loss of the sound /h/ in the history of the Greek language. Particularly in the Attic dialect, the loss of the /h/ sound at the beginning of words played a fundamental role in the evolution of the Greek language, something that is still the case in modern Greek, thousands of years later. Another phonological alteration that shaped the nature of the Attic dialect featured the contraction of vowels in certain contexts.
Morphologically, Attic Greek used the ending double tau -ΤΤ- in places where other Greek dialects had a double sigma -ΣΣ-, and it employed the ending -Ν in the accusative singular of certain nouns. This was another element that survived through the centuries and reached modern Greek all the way to the 20th century before it was dropped again after the adoption of the demotic in 1976.
It has to be noted, however, that the version of the Greek language that is spoken in Cyprus to this very day, still uses this final -N in the accusative singular of certain nouns. This is instantly noticed by someone who hears a native speaker from Greece and another from Cyprus.
Syntactically, the Attic Greek dialect made use of the optative mood (euktike enklisis), which expressed wishes, potentials, and other hypothetical situations. It also had a distinct form of the future infinitive, something not very common in other Greek dialects. In terms of vocabulary, Attic Greek had some uniquely distinct words.
Among the most famous ones was the way Athenians wrote the Greek word for sea. The Athenians said “thálatta” (ΘΑΛΑΤΤΑ) rather than “thálassa” (ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ) like in other Greek dialects used. In modern Greek, this particular word has survived to this day with its ”ΣΣ” rather than its Attic ”ΤΤ” version, something that we can see in English too, considering the word “thalassophobia,” for example.
Attic Greek was the language of renowned authors such as Plato, Aristotle, and the famous Athenian playwrights and orators, and this was mainly the reason why we have so many written sources about its form.
Ionic Greek
The Ionic Greek dialect was spoken primarily in the region of Ionia. Ionia was the area located on the western coast of Asia Minor, as well as on the islands of Euboea and Cyclades in the Aegean Sea.
In direct contrast to the Attic Greek dialect, Ionic Greek continued to retain the /h/ sound at the beginning of many words, the loss of which is a phenomenon known as psilosis. While Attic Greek lost this initial /h/ sound, Ionic preserved it in words like “helios” (ΗΛΙΟΣ) which is Greek for sun.
Additionally, the Ionic Greek dialect frequently featured uncontracted vowels where Attic Greek would contract them. For example, Ionic would have used “genea” (ΓΕΝΕΑ) for “family.” On the other hand, Attic contracted this to “géne” (ΓΕΝΗ). This tendency to avoid contraction was a hallmark of the Ionic dialect and is what distinguished them from other, neighboring Greek dialects.
Furthermore, the Ionic Greek dialect had a very distinct pronunciation of the long /aː/ sound, which was represented by the letter eta (Η). This was pronounced as /ɛː/ or /eː/. In contrast, Attic Greek used the letter alpha (Α) to represent the long /aː/ sound. This divergent representation and pronunciation of the long /a/ sound was one of the most crucial differences between the Ionic and Attic dialects that made them distinct from one another.
In terms of morphology, Ionic Greek used the ending -ΣΣ- whereas Attic, as we have already seen, had -ΤΤ-. At the same time, it employed the ending -ΗΝ for the accusative singular of masculine nouns of the first declension, a clear difference from other Greek dialects. In terms of syntax, Ionic Greek made less use of the optative mood compared to Attic.
Finally, the Ionic version of the Greek dialect also had some distinct vocabulary, such as the word “xeinos” (ΞΕΙΝΟΣ), meaning “guest-friend,” while Attic Greek used the word “xenos” (ΞΕΝΟΣ), as we know it today.
It is worth mentioning that the old Ionic formed the basis for Epic Greek, used in Homeric poems, including the Iliad and Odyssey.
On the other hand, the new Ionic was the language of the historians Herodotus and Hippocrates, as well as numerous famous poets. However, this Greek dialect was eventually replaced by the Attic-based Koine Greek during the Hellenistic period, and its use finally disappeared.
Doric Greek
The Doric Greek dialect was a very important dialect of Ancient Greek, spoken primarily in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece, including in Sparta and Corinth. It was also spoken in parts of the island of Crete as well as in the Greek colonies of southern Italy and Sicily. These included Syracuse and Tarentum.
It was one of the major dialects of Ancient Greek, along with Attic-Ionic, Aeolic, and Arcado-Cypriot, making it an integral part of the broader family of Greek dialects that formed the Greek language as a whole.
Phonologically, the Doric Greek dialect featured several distinctive characteristics that set it apart from its fellow Greek dialects.
It retained the long [aː] sound where Attic and Ionic had raised it to [ɛː]. For example, the word for “mother” was pronounced “mátēr” in Doric but “mḗtēr” in Attic and Ionic. The Doric form is still in use today.
Doric also preserved the archaic [w] sound, represented by the long-lost Greek digamma (Ϝ) letter, which had stopped being used in other dialects (even though it managed to reach our times as the letter ‘F’ of the Latin alphabet).
This can be seen in words like “wépos” (FΕΠΟΣ) in Doric, equivalent to “épos” (ΕΠΟΣ) in other Greek dialects. It has to be noted that the word épos translates to English as “Word” in the same sense as that of the Bible: ”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Morphologically, the Doric version of Greek exhibited some unique features, too, especially in nominal and verbal endings.
In the first declension, for example, Doric had a distinctive ending -ΑΣ for the genitive singular, as opposed to -ΗΣ in other Greek dialects. The Doric dialect also used the ending “MEN” for the athematic infinitive, while in other dialects this was -ΝΑΙ. Additionally, Doric often had -Α- where other dialects had -Η- and -Ω- where others had -ΟΥ-.
In terms of syntax, Doric Greek showed a clear preference for the particle ‘KA’ over ‘AN’ and frequently used the particle ‘TOI’ as a definite article, something that was not the case for other Greek dialects, as they were much less common or not used at all.
It has to be noted that Doric Greek was the language of several important literary works. It was used in choral lyric poetry, such as the popular compositions of Alcman and Pindar, which also incorporated many elements of Epic Greek.
The choral sections of the Attic drama, for example, especially in the plays of men like Aeschylus and Sophocles, were often written in a form of literary Doric dialect. Doric was also the dialect that was employed in the bucolic poetry of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus, giving it a character that was closer to the Greek countryside if we could use this analogy.
Unfortunately, despite its significant presence in many important Greek literary works, no complete works survive in pure Doric Greek. The dialect is known mainly from inscriptions, fragments of the works of Doric authors, and its influence on other literary dialects. This is also how we have come to know what we do about this fascinating version of the Greek language.
The continuation of the study of Doric Greek is vitally important in understanding the linguistic diversity of the ancient Greek world and the development of the Greek language over time.
Aeolic Greek
Finally, the Aeolic Greek dialect was spoken primarily in the regions of Thessaly, and Boeotia on the Greek mainland as well as on the island of Lesbos in the eastern Aegean Sea. Like Doric, the Aeolic dialect retained the [w] sound (digamma – F) which had been lost in other dialects. Aeolic also frequently featured double consonants whereas other dialects had a single consonant, a characteristic known as consonant gemination.
Morphologically, the Aeolic Greek dialect exhibited a distinctive pattern of accent called barytonesis.
Barytonesis means that the accent of the words was placed as far back as the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable of a word. In contrast, the Attic and Ionic dialects had a recessive accent. This accent refers to a stress pattern in which the accent tends to fall on one of the first syllables of a word, usually the root syllable.
Aeolic also had unique endings for many participles, such as -ΟΙΣΑ for the feminine singular, corresponding to -ΟΥΣΑ in other Greek dialects, an ending that is still used in modern Greek. Additionally, Aeolic used the ending -ΕΣΣΙ for the dative plural of consonant stems, while Attic and Ionic simply had -ΣΙ.
In terms of syntax, the Aeolic Greek dialect very often used prepositions as adverbs and employed the particle ΟΝ instead of ΑΝ. The famous poets Sappho and Alcaeus wrote in a version of the Aeolic dialect known as the Asiatic Aeolic dialect. This is considered by experts to be the most distinctive variety of Aeolic Greek. The very poetic language, which is primarily Aeolic, also incorporated Epic and Ionic elements that made it unique, proving cultural exchanges between different regions of the Greek world.
The Boeotian variety of Aeolic, on the other hand, underwent significant influence from the neighboring Northwest Greek dialects (primarily the Doric dialect). Its users adopted features such as the use of -ΕΙ- for -ΑΙ-.
Finally, the Thessalian Aeolic dialect was also influenced by Northwest Greek, albeit to a much lesser extent than Boeotian.
Compared to the other major dialects of Ancient Greek, Aeolic Greek unfortunately had a more limited presence in surviving literary texts. Apart from the well-known works of Sappho and Alcaeus and some inscriptions that have been found over the decades, few extensive samples of Aeolic Greek survive to this day.
This relative scarcity may be due to the difficulty Attic and Ionic speakers had in understanding the dialect. Another explanation could be the declining political and cultural influences of Aeolic speaking regions in the Classical period, which was dominated by Athens. Nevertheless, the study of Aeolic remains quite important for a greater and better understanding of the Ancient Greek dialects.
As is probably clear at this point, the world of ancient Greek dialects and particularly those of Attic, Ionic, Doric, and Aeolic origin, show us a great extent of diversity in a multitude of areas, including their phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary.
While the Attic Greek dialect eventually became the dominant dialect of ancient Greek, shaping Koine Greek and therefore the evolution of the Greek language as we know it today, the other main dialects maintained their distinct characteristics and were significantly consequential in the shaping of the Greek language over time. They were used in various literary genres. Therefore, some of their core elements carried over into modern Greek.
Although it is by no means an easy task to analyze the differences between the ancient Greek dialects, this offers scholars and enthusiasts a much deeper appreciation for the Greek language. It also provides for a better understanding of the richness of the ancient Greek language and its evolution over time.
