Proto-Greek language

Proto-Greek
Proto-Greek
Proto-Hellenic
Reconstruction of	Hellenic languages / Ancient Greek dialects
Region	Southern Balkan Peninsula
Era	c. 2200–1900 BC (appearance in the Greek peninsula); c. 1700 BC (diversification);
Reconstructed; ancestor	Proto-Indo-European

Hypothetical Proto-Greek area of settlement (2200/2100–1900 BC) suggested by Katona (2000), Sakellariou (2016, 1980, 1975) and Phylaktopoulos (1975)

The Proto-Greek language (also known as Proto-Hellenic) is the Indo-European language which was the last common ancestor of all varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean Greek, the subsequent ancient Greek dialects (i.e., Attic, Ionic, Aeolic, Doric, Arcadocypriot, and ancient Macedonian—either a dialect or a closely related Hellenic language) and, ultimately, Koine, Byzantine and Modern Greek (along with its variants). Proto-Greek speakers entered Greece sometime between 2200 and 1900 BC,^[1]^[2]^[4] with the diversification into a southern and a northern group beginning by approximately 1700 BC.^[5]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Drews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b West, M. L. (23 October 1997). The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Clarendon Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-19-159104-4. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2020. "the arrival of the Proto-Greek -speakers took place at various sites in central and southern Greece at the beginning and end of the Early Helladic III period.
^ Filos 2014, p. 175.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference BryantPatton2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Georgiev 1981, p. 156: "The Proto-Greek region included Epirus, approximately up to Αὐλών in the north including Paravaia, Tymphaia, Athamania, Dolopia, Amphilochia, and Acarnania), west and north Thessaly (Hestiaiotis, Perrhaibia, Tripolis, and Pieria), i. e. more or less the territory of contemporary northwestern Greece)."
^ Crossland, R. A.; Birchall, Ann (1973). Bronze Age Migrations in the Aegean; Archaeological and Linguistic Problems in Greek Prehistory: Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on Aegean Prehistory, Sheffield. Duckworth. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-7156-0580-6. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11. Thus in the region defined just above, roughly northern and north-western Greece, one finds only archaic Greek place-names. Consequently, this is the proto-Hellenic area, the early homeland of the Greeks where they lived before they invaded central and southern Greece.
^ Anthony 2010, p. 82.
^ Hall, Jonathan M. (1997). Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-521-78999-8. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
^ Woodard, Roger D. (2008). The Ancient Languages of Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-139-46932-6. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
^ Horrocks, Geoffrey (2010). Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-1-4443-1892-0. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
^ Parker, Holt N. (2008). "The Linguistic Case for the Aiolian Migration Reconsidered". Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 77 (3). American School of Classical Studies at Athens: 443–444. doi:10.2972/hesp.77.3.431. ISSN 0018-098X. JSTOR 40205757. S2CID 161497388.
^ A comprehensive overview is in J. T. Hooker's Mycenaean Greece (Hooker 1976, Chapter 2: "Before the Mycenaean Age", pp. 11–33 and passim); for a different hypothesis excluding massive migrations and favoring an autochthonous scenario, see Colin Renfrew's "Problems in the General Correlation of Archaeological and Linguistic Strata in Prehistoric Greece: The Model of Autochthonous Origin" (Renfrew 1973, pp. 263–276, especially p. 267) in Bronze Age Migrations by R. A. Crossland and A. Birchall, eds. (1973).

[Drews-1] Cite error: The named reference Drews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[West-2] West, M. L. (23 October 1997). The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Clarendon Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-19-159104-4. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2020. "the arrival of the Proto-Greek -speakers took place at various sites in central and southern Greece at the beginning and end of the Early Helladic III period.

[FOOTNOTEFilos2014175-3] Filos 2014, p. 175.

[BryantPatton2005-4] Cite error: The named reference BryantPatton2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:0-5] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Georgiev156-6] Georgiev 1981, p. 156: "The Proto-Greek region included Epirus, approximately up to Αὐλών in the north including Paravaia, Tymphaia, Athamania, Dolopia, Amphilochia, and Acarnania), west and north Thessaly (Hestiaiotis, Perrhaibia, Tripolis, and Pieria), i. e. more or less the territory of contemporary northwestern Greece)."

[7] Crossland, R. A.; Birchall, Ann (1973). Bronze Age Migrations in the Aegean; Archaeological and Linguistic Problems in Greek Prehistory: Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on Aegean Prehistory, Sheffield. Duckworth. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-7156-0580-6. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11. Thus in the region defined just above, roughly northern and north-western Greece, one finds only archaic Greek place-names. Consequently, this is the proto-Hellenic area, the early homeland of the Greeks where they lived before they invaded central and southern Greece.

[Anthony82-8] Anthony 2010, p. 82.

[:1-9] Hall, Jonathan M. (1997). Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-521-78999-8. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11.

[:2-10] Woodard, Roger D. (2008). The Ancient Languages of Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-139-46932-6. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11.

[:3-11] Horrocks, Geoffrey (2010). Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-1-4443-1892-0. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-11.

[:4-12] Parker, Holt N. (2008). "The Linguistic Case for the Aiolian Migration Reconsidered". Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 77 (3). American School of Classical Studies at Athens: 443–444. doi:10.2972/hesp.77.3.431. ISSN 0018-098X. JSTOR 40205757. S2CID 161497388.

[13] A comprehensive overview is in J. T. Hooker's Mycenaean Greece (Hooker 1976, Chapter 2: "Before the Mycenaean Age", pp. 11–33 and passim); for a different hypothesis excluding massive migrations and favoring an autochthonous scenario, see Colin Renfrew's "Problems in the General Correlation of Archaeological and Linguistic Strata in Prehistoric Greece: The Model of Autochthonous Origin" (Renfrew 1973, pp. 263–276, especially p. 267) in Bronze Age Migrations by R. A. Crossland and A. Birchall, eds. (1973).

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