Aeolian () or Aeolic Greek (), also known as Lesbic or Lesbian dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek in Greek linguistics, that was 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 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.V = vowel, R = sonorant, s is itself. VV = long vowel, RR = doubled or long sonorant. 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.Smyth, Greek Grammar, par. 30 and note, 31: Attic long e, long a 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.Smyth, par. 162 note: (Lesbian) Aeolic recessive accent Attic/Ionic potamós ~ Lesbian pótamos "river"
Morphology Contracted or vowel-stem verbs that are thematic in Attic/Ionic are often athematic (-mi) in Aeolic.Smyth, Greek Grammar, par. 656: contract verbs 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).Smyth, par. 214 note 9: first declension in dialectsSmyth, par. 230 note: second declension in dialects
Dative plural -aisi and -oisi ~ Attic/Ionic -ais and -ois.
The participle has -ois and -ais for Attic -ōs (-ους), -ās.Smyth, par. 305 note
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 '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' Cretan/Boeotian 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 agōn; Elean dat. pl. agōnois for agōsi) 'gifts sent by kin to Lesbian brides' (Sappho fr.) (cf. Homeric hedna, eedna) Aiolíōnes "Aeolians" (Attic Aioleîs) ( "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 (Attic akladeutoi ampeloi 'unpruned vineyards') 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 rhatany' 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 thyein 'to sacrifice') eide (Attic ὕλη 'forest') (also Ionian εἴδη) 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' (also Arcadocypriot) 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 also means '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 sarx '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, 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'. karouxBoiotia — Orchomenos — early 1st century BC 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)