Appendix V. On the Doric Dialect.
1. The ancient grammarians divided the Greek language into four distinct branches—the Doric, Ionic, Attic, and Æolic; the latter including all dialects not comprised under the other three heads, because only one branch of it, the Lesbian, was the written language of one species of poetry: and yet this latter division must unquestionably have contained different species less connected with each other than with some branches of the other three dialects. It is, however, pretty well agreed that the several Æolic dialects together contained more remains of the primitive Grecian or (if we will so call it) Pelasgic language, than either the Doric, Ionic, or Attic; and that at the same time many forms of the latter were preserved with great fidelity in the Latin tongue; partly because the life of the Italian husbandmen bore a nearer resemblance to that of the ancient Greeks than that of the later Greeks themselves, and because neither their literature, nor any fastidious sense of euphony and rhythm, induced them to soften and refine their language. But of the more polished dialects, that of Homer, though differing in many points, yet in others doubtless closely resembled the original language, which must once have been spoken from Thessaly to Peloponnesus, and was variously metamorphosed in the Doric, Ionic, and Attic dialects. Thus, for example, the genitive case of the second declension, in the ancient form, was ΟΙΟ, which was preserved in the Thessalian dialect,[1907] perhaps also in the Bœotian,[1908] and in Latin I or EI is also perceivable; [pg 418] whilst in the Doric Ω and the Attic ΟΥ this vowel was entirely lost. The nominative of masculines of the first declension in Α belongs to the Latin, Homeric, Dryopian, Thessalian, Bœotian, Macedonian, and Elean dialects. In the Doric it was probably of rare occurrence, and more accidental.[1909] The Æolic dialect, which was spoken in Bœotia, likewise contains remarkable traces of an ancient Pelasgic language, and has striking coincidences with the Latin: thus in the ancient Bœotian inscriptions the dative of the first declension ends in ΑΕ. Gradually, however, it departed from this language, as the diphthongs ΑΙ and ΟΙ, which anciently were written ΑΕ and ΟΕ, were changed into Η and Υ: and thus almost all the vowels and diphthongs received a new form. On the other hand, we must be cautious of supposing the Latin to be the ancient form, in cases where a transmutation of letters has already taken place. The following is a remarkable example to this effect. ΟΠΩ, from whence “the eye,” ὄππα in the Æolic dialect,[1910] ὄφθος in the Elean,[1911] ὄπτιλος in the Spartan. In other dialect, ὄκκος, hence ὄκταλλος in the Bœotian, in the Latin oculus, where Π and Κ bear the same relation to each other as in the words πέτυρες (Æolic) quatuor, πέμπτος, quintus, ποῖ, quo, πόθι, alicubi. Moreover the Latin has a very large number of words derived from the Campanian and Doric Greeks, which must be distinguished from the primitive Greek dialect.
2. These remarks are merely premised in order to point out the authorities upon which all investigations into the form of the most ancient language of the Greeks should be founded. We have already intimated our dissent from those who, in opposition to Pausanias,[1912] suppose the Doric to have been the native dialect of Peloponnesus, not only disallowing the claim of the Dorians to its introduction, but even denying that they were the first to adopt it. This supposition would leave us without any means of explaining how the dialect of the Dorians of Peloponnesus agreed [pg 419] in so many peculiar idioms with that of their fellow-countrymen in Crete, the close and general connexion between the two being of an earlier date than the Doric invasion of Peloponnesus. The ancient Peloponnesian dialect was certainly that language which may be recognized in the Latin and in Homer, many of the peculiarities of which occur indeed, but many of the most essential are not found, in the Doric dialect. This latter dialect was, however, very widely diffused over that peninsula by the preponderance of the Dorians, being not merely adopted by the Helots (who even at Naupactus spoke Doric), the Orneatæ,[1913] the Laconian Periœci, and the Attic inhabitants of Colonides;[1914] but even by the independent Arcadians, who, according to Strabo, used indeed the Æolic dialect, but were generally supposed to adopt the Doric (δωρίζειν), as also did Philopœmen.[1915] Unfortunately we have little information respecting the dialect of the Arcadians, our chief guide being the names of their towns, in which several Dorisms occur; as, for instance, Καφυαὶ (from Κηφεὺς), Νᾶσοι, Ἀνεμῶσα (ἀνεμόεσσα), and some anomalous forms, such as Λαδοκέα for Λαοδικέα, Θελποῦσα for Τιλφοῦσσα, Dor. Τιλφῶσσα, Κραρεῶτις, a tribe of Tegea, for Κλαρεῶτις.[1916] The Eleans, on the other hand, spoke nearly pure Doric; which is shown indeed by their use of the digamma,[1917] by their broad accent, and the Ω in the genitive case; but chiefly by the frequent use of Ρ, which, besides the ΤΟΙΡ, ΤΙΡ in the well-known treaty of the Eleans,[1918] is also proved by the Elean forms δίκαρ (for δίκας or δικαστὴς), οὗτορ, ἵππορ and similar forms, whence the Eleans were called βαρβαρόφωνοι.[1919] Moreover, the Apollo Θέρμιος of the Eleans was the same as Apollo Θέσμιος, in Attic Greek.[1920] Eretria was founded by Eleans in conjunction with other Greeks, whence the frequent use of the Ρ in that town;[1921] and from this city the neighbouring [pg 420] Chalcideans also adopted it;[1922] whilst among the Carystians another peculiarity of the Spartan Elean dialect prevailed, in the change of Θ into Σ.[1923] The Eretrians, however, received from the Eleans another peculiarity of the pure Doric, viz. the use of the aspirate in the place of Σ; and imparted it to the Oropians, their neighbours, and sometimes their subjects, on the other side of the strait.[1924] Thus it is evident that the dialect of the Eleans was very similar, nay, almost akin, to the Spartan. Now it is very improbable that this strict observance of the Doric dialect should have been learnt by mere intercourse, since on no side were they in immediate contact with Dorians. It is much more probable that the Ætolians, who conquered Elis, used, from their vicinity to the Dorians, the same dialect: that they spoke Doric in later times, is proved by the testimony of ancient authors and monuments extant;[1925] and the same was also the language of the inhabitants of the ancient Epirus Proper.[1926] It seems, therefore, that this dialect was formed in the northern and mountainous districts of Greece, particularly in the vicinity of mount Pindus, from whence the Dorians brought it in their migration to the more southern parts of the country, where they were in consequence commonly regarded as the race with whom it first originated.
3. To determine with any degree of precision how much climate and the nature of the soil contributed to the formation of this dialect, would be a matter of extreme difficulty; although the comparison of the corresponding dialects of different languages with the various localities in which each was formed may lead to several interesting observations. There can be no doubt that a mountain life is favourable to the formation of the pure, broad, and long vowels, such as Α and Ω; as also that a residence in the lowlands and on [pg 421] the coast produces rather modifications of the long vowels[1927] and short syllables. It should, however, be borne in mind, that the influence of these causes upon language was in full operation at one period only, when the organs generally evinced greater pliancy in adapting themselves to the various peculiarities of situation. In later times, Doric was spoken in maritime towns, as low German is now in mountains and highlands. We must likewise remember, that not only the country, but also the people, bore a distinct national character, the influence of which upon their language must have been full as great as of the former. The hypothesis that the ancient dialects were determined more by internal than external influence, more by the nature of the men than the influence of place, is confirmed by a remarkable passage of Jamblichus,[1928] who had probably derived this sentiment from the schools of the early Pythagoreans: he pronounces the Doric dialect to be the most ancient and best, comparing it, on account of the sounding vowels with which it abounded, to the enharmonic style of music, as he does the Ionic and Æolic dialects to the chromatic style. The only meaning of this remark can be, that the long vowels Α and Ω were pronounced in as clear and marked a manner (particularly when, as was often the case, they were circumflexed) as a bar separated by a double bar in the tetrachord strung to the enharmonic pitch, so much used for music of the Doric style.[1929] Otherwise a manly character is always attributed to the Doric dialect:[1930] its fitness for solemn occasions and simple expression is shown by the literary remains which have come down to us.
4. It cannot be expected that we should here enter into a minute examination of all the peculiarities of the Doric dialect: the following brief remarks will, it is hoped, be received as an attempt rather to set forth the most remarkable features of the spoken language, than to explain the niceties [pg 422] of the polished style used in writing and poetry. The frequent use of Α prevailed indeed partially in the ancient dialect, and in most cases the use of Η originated in the Ionic, which in this respect bore nearly the same relation to the ancient Greek as the English language does to the German.[1931] The broad pronunciation (πλατειασμὸς) of the Dorians frequently, however, exceeded that of the ancient language, as may be seen from the Latin. Thus φαγὸς, fagus—φάμα, fama—μᾶλον, malum—ἀρχᾶς, terras (genit.) κᾶρυξ, (caduceus), and the like, are clearly the genuine ancient forms. On the other hand, the change from Α to Η in the temporal augment existed in the most ancient Greek, as is evident from ago, ēgi, ἦγον, capio, cēpi, &c. The Doric dialect, however, here also used Α in the place of Η. I am not aware whether another change very nearly coinciding with the latter has ever been noticed, viz. the frequent use of the short Α for Η, especially in the enclitics, as κᾶ (which however is long) for κε or ἂν, a form common to all the Dorians, and in the same manner γα for γε,[1932] κα for the correlative τε in τόκα, πόκα, ὅκα in Sophron, Theocritus, and others, to which corresponds θα in πρόσθα, ἐξύπισθα (Alcman), ἔμπροσθα, ἄνωθα.[1933] The same change is also observable in ἅτερος for ἕτερος, τράφω for τρέπω,[1934] Αρταμις[1935] for Αρτεμις, τάως, παραιτέρω, in the Cretan dialect,[1936] τάμνω in the Heraclean Tables and elsewhere, σκιαρὸς, φρασὶν, in Pindar; and innumerable examples of a similar kind. Η, either as a contraction of ΕΕ, or a lengthening of Ε, occurs in many instances in the place of ΕΙ in the other dialects (the reverse took place among the Bœotians), as in ποίη, πλήων, μήων,[1937] ὄρηος, Λύκηος (Alcman), κοσμῆν, κατοικῆν (Theocritus, and the Byzantine Decree in Demosthenes[1938]), δήρας for δείρας in [pg 423] the treaty of the Latians in Crete,[1939] χῆρες in Cretan, and also used by Alcman, κῆνος or τῆνος in Alcman and others; πεπόνθης, ἀπολώλη Theocritus and the Heraclean tables: and thus in contractions from ΑΕΙ, Η has frequently preponderated over Α, as in the pure Doric form ὁρῆν,[1940] ἡ καρδία παδῆ Sophron;[1941] although it must also be allowed that the diphthong ΑΕ was contracted into Η, as in ὅρη, &c. ἦραι for ἆραι,[1942] and ἐνίκη for ἐνίκαε in a Laconian inscription in Leake's Morea, vol. III. Inscript. n. 71.:[1943] to which instances we should probably add the following cases of crasis, κἠν, κἠπὶ, κἠκ. The reverse of this, which we find in the words πει in Sophron,[1944] and ὅπει in a Corcyrean inscription[1945] for πῆ and ὄπη, is a remarkable variety. The Dorians, consistently with their love for the pure and long Α, were equally partial to the Ω. This letter frequently forms the original sound, as in the accusative case Ἀργείως, Argivos; and hence the abbreviated form θεὸς for θεὼς in Cretan and Coan[1946] inscriptions, and in Theocritus, was probably formed by an elision of the characteristic vowel, as δεσποτᾶς in the first declension. We frequently also find use made of the vowel Ω as a prolongation of Ο, instead of the common form ΟΥ, produced by the elision of consonants: thus in the form of the participle [pg 424] feminine in ωσα, used in Crete and Peloponnesus, and also in the Heraclean Tables, whilst the softer form in οισα, where οι was also derived from οντ (as in the third person plural ναίοισιν, and in the masculine participle τύψαις), was perhaps peculiar to Sicily. Ο also, when followed by Ε, overpowers the latter letter, and is changed into Ω, as for instance in Κοιλῶσσα (a mountain near Phlius), λωτρὸν, ὑπνῶν for ὑπνόεν, Laconian forms in Aristophanes, παμῶχος, and similar words in the Heraclean Tables; though whether this is the case when the Ε precedes the Ο is doubtful, for in εὐορκῶσι and similar forms in Cretan inscriptions, it is ΕΩ, not ΕΟ, which is contracted into Ω. In this case ΕΟ is generally contracted into ΕΥ, or it is changed into ΙΟ, as ΕΩ into ΙΩ; thus μογίομες, λυχνοφορίοντες in the Lysistrata of Aristophanes (according to the old reading), ἐπαινιῶ, ὀμιώμεθα ib., ανιοχιων for ἡνιοχέων in the Laconian inscription in Leake, No. 71. with which compare ἐμμενιῶ in the oath of the Latians, πραξίομεν in the decree of the Istionians, and παμωχιῶ in the Heraclean Tables.[1947] In the above cases there is no reason for assuming any other changes, than from ΕΟ into ΙΟ and ΕΩ into ΙΩ, as the Dorians appear to have been very unwilling to tolerate Ε with Ο; the short Ι, however, before the lengthened Ο must have been particularly suited to their ears. The long Α in Ἀλκμὰν, Ἀτρείδα, Ἀγησίλας, πρᾶτος was without doubt a thick sound between Α and Ο, for which there was no distinct character. The Spartan dialect frequently has ΟΥ for Υ (which change regularly occurs in the Bœotian dialect), as δίφουρα for γέφυρα (Hesychius in v.), φούἱξ for φυσίγξ (Valck. ad Adoniaz, p. 276.), μουσίδδω for μυθίζω (ibid. p. 279.), φούαξιρ (vol. I. p. 384. note f.), μοῦκορ for μυχὸς (Koen p. 343.), καμπούληρ, a species of olive-tree (in Hesychius), derived, I believe, from κάμπτων ὕλην, κάρουα for κάρυα (Hesych. in v.); οὐδραίνει, περικαθαίρει according to Hesych. for ὑδραίνει, τούνη for σὺ (Hesych.), ἀπεσσούα for ἀπεσύν in the letter of Hippocrates (compare Coray ad Plut. Alcib. 28.). ΟΙ for Υ is only found in Ποίθιοι, according to Photius.
5. The consonants in the Doric dialect were in some cases so brought together as to give the words a roughness which was avoided in other dialects, and consequently it possessed more of that ancient fulness of consonants which was preserved with greater fidelity in the Latin language than in the Greek; partly from the neglect of that law, which was so constantly observed by all the dialects of the Greek, that every word should end either with a vowel or semi-vowel. The Doric has at least the ancient form of the participle τιθὲνς (Lat. ns, in ancient Gothic ants), which is quoted as a Cretan and Argive form;[1948] and the preposition ἐνς for in with the accusative (into), which in other dialects was changed into εἰς; but in the Doric it became, by the omission of the final Σ, ἐν in the sense of into, as in Crete and in Pindar,[1949] although Cretan inscriptions of considerable antiquity have εἰς, which appears to have been the usual Laconian form. Thus also the Cretans and Argives formed the future in σπένσω, merely throwing out δ, as a τ is properly omitted in τιθένς.[1950] The Rhegians adopted the same usage from the Messenians.[1951] It is clear that the organs of the ancient Doric race were better fitted for this rough pronunciation than the more delicate ones of the other Greeks, who even changed the Roman Hortensius into Ὁρτήσιος. The same remark may be applied to the word μάκαρς in Alcman (fragm. 66.), and some similar forms.
Another more striking characteristic of the Doric dialect is the aversion to Σ, the σὰν κίβδαλον; hence the Doric lyric poets, Lasus and others, wrote poems without that letter; a practice in direct contradiction with the partiality shown by the Ionians for that sound. To this principle may be traced various other peculiarities: first, the interchange of Σ and Τ, which, however, is on the whole merely a relic of the original dialect, as in the adjectives ἐνιαύτιος and πλούτιος,[1952] [pg 426] in τὺ or τοὺ, tu, in τέσσαρες, quatuor, in the third persons δίδωτι, φατὶ, which still retain this form in Sanscrit (while in the Latin and German languages T is always the last letter of this third person). Also in the name of Neptune the Doric was doubtless the original form, having the same root as πόντος, ποταμός; the original form was Ποτίδας (in Epicharmus and Sophron[1953]), and the Megarian in Aristophanes says Ποτείδας; so also the Corinthians; and hence their colony Ποτειδαία,[1954] Ποτειδᾶν (from Ποτειδάων) was the Spartan and the Rhodian form.[1955] It is singular that in some cases the Dorians also used Σ for Τ, as σᾶτες for τῆτες,[1956] corresponding to which we find σάμερον in Pindar, Theocritus, and the Tarentine dialect (a word, according to Hesychius, synonymous with νῦν); the σὰ for τὰ of the Megarians, and this latter for τίνα is the same change.[1957] It was this aversion to Σ, noticed above, which led the Spartans in the double consonants ΣΤ, ΣΚ, ΣΠ, to reject the Σ and double the other consonant; hence the Laconian forms κτίτταρ for κτίστης, ἐττὰν for ἐς τὰν, ἀμπίτταρ for ἀμφιστὰς,[1958] ἀκκὸρ for ἀσκὸς.[1959] Valckenær lays down the following rule: “literam Σ Lacones in sequentem consonantem non liquidam mutant;” and of this change he finds traces in the Tarentine dialect, to which we may add, that Hecate, according to Hesychius, was there called ἄφραττος, i.e. ἄφραστος. The most interesting example of this change in the Spartan dialect is the form ἄττασι for ἀνάστηθι (derived from ΑΝΤΤΑΣΙ), in which word more than three Laconisms are discernible. With this point is immediately connected the change of Ζ, i.e. ΣΔ into ΔΔ, for instance in verbs in ζω, Laconice—δδω, many instances of which occur in the Lysistrata and Acharneans of Aristophanes. There is no evidence of the same change occurring in verbs whose [pg 427] characteristic is Γ; although the Dorians were induced by analogy and a partiality to the letter Ξ to introduce the termination ξω, where the characteristic letter was not Γ but Δ, which is evident by the formation of the substantive καθίππαξις (as should be read in Hesychius for καθίπταξις), δεικηλίκτας, &c.[1960] Even in the Laconian dialect, however, the soft sound of ΣΔ is used instead of ΔΔ, as ἀγίσδεο, μελισδόμενος, τράπεσδα in Alcman, and in the pretended apophthegm of Lycurgus, ἂν πτωχοὶ μένητε καὶ μὴ μέσδω (i.e. μείζω) ἅτερος θατέρω ἐράῃ κτῆμεν.[1961] It would however be erroneous to suppose, with regard to the mode in which this transition was effected, that the sound of Ζ, when already formed, passed into ΔΔ or ΣΔ. The ancient dialect appears to have had a separate Δ, pronounced with a peculiar compression of the mouth; the Dorians in several cases, agreeing with the Ionians, added the Σ, and formed either Ζ, where the sounds were more combined, or ΣΔ. In other cases the Dorians merely gave additional force to the Δ. With the Æolians there was scarce any distinction between the harsh and the common Δ, as in Δεὺς for Ζεὺς, δυγὸς for ζυγὸς &c.; in the same manner Ζεὺς in the Latin became Deus, ῥίζα radix, ὄζω odor,[1962] and hence the long Ζ was wanting in that language; but the peculiarity of the original sounds of this consonant is evident from the circumstance that the Latins substituted for it I; for example in jugum from ζυγὸς, major from μείζων, &c.; in like manner the Æolic dialect interchanged δια and ζα, καρζὰ, καρδία.[1963] The change of the last letters of verbs ending in -σσω into -ζω in the Tarentine dialect, instead of ττω like the other Dorians, as ἀνάζω for ἀνάσσω, is quite peculiar to that town.[1964]
6. Another mode of avoiding the sound of Σ was to omit it altogether. This suppression was made at an early date in the third person plural, which consequently retained a nearer resemblance to the original form in the Doric than in the Ionico-Attic dialect, in which the preservation of Σ soon caused the ΝΤ to be dropped. Examples of this, as πεινῶντι, ἀποδίδωντι, κεχάναντι, αἰνέοντι (bhavanti, in Sanscrit, corresponding to the ancient high German ant; the Bœotians wrote -ωνθι, -ανθι) are found in all the Doric inscriptions; yet Alcman uses the termination -ουσι as well as the ancient form. Sometimes this elision of σ lengthened the preceding vowel, as in Πηρεφονεία Lacon. for Περσεφονεία, according to Hesychius, with which we may compare πῆριξ for πέρδιξ in the Cretan dialect (ibid.); also πρειγεύτας, πρείγιστος, πρειγηία in Cretan inscriptions for πρεσβεύτης, &c.; the Argives also used Γ for Β in πέργεις. (See Hesychius.) Concerning the omission of Σ before Φ, e.g., φὶν for σφὶν, in the Laconic dialect, see Koen p. 254.; the Syracusans changed the place of the Σ, and converted ΣΦΙΝ into ΦΣΙΝ, i.e. ψίν. This aversion to Σ also appeared in the substitution of the aspirate for this consonant, in which change the pure Doric dialect is directly at variance with the Latin, in which the aspirate was often replaced by Σ, for example, ἅλς, sal, ἡμι, semi, ὕλϜη, sylva,[1965] &c. The Laconians, on the other hand, used μῶἁ, instead of μῶσα, and on the same principle μωἱκὰ, music, as also in the participles κλεῶἁ, ἐκλιπῶἁ, &c, to which we may add ὅρμαὁν for ὅρμησον, as in Aristophanes; also ποιῆἁς, πᾶἁ, βίὡρ for ἵσως,[1966] βουὅα for βουσόα;[1967] the same usage also prevailed among the Argives, as we learn from Dercyllus, among the Eretrians, who borrowed it from the Eleans, and also among the Pamphylians; with whom several Argive and Rhodian peculiarities of dialect appear to have been preserved.[1968] Lastly, with this aversion to Σ is [pg 429] connected the rhotacismus, which we have already observed in the Spartan and Elean dialect, and of which the interpreters of the decree against Timotheus,[1969] particularly Casaubon, have collected many examples. Of these I will only cite ἐπιγελαστὴρ, the mocker; καλλίαρ, an ape (Hesych. in vv. comp. Boeckh Exp. Pind. Pyth. II. p. 251); κιλλακτὴρ, an ass-driver (Pollux VII. 13. 56.); σάριρ, a palm-branch (Hesych.); τίρ, τίς, (ib. and in the Elean Rhetra), παλαιὸρ (Aristoph. Lys. 988.), σιὸρ θεὸς, πὸρ ποῦς, νέκυρ νέκυς, βόμβυρ a kind of flute (Hesych. in vv.). Whether in the oblique cases Σ could always be changed into Ρ is uncertain, since, besides the Elean Rhetra, no genuine monument, and only a few and obscure glosses, afford any information on the point. However, ἀμ᾽ ἀρκᾶρ for ἀπ᾽ ἀρχᾶς (according to Koen's conjecture ad Gregor. p. 283.) is an instance, as also the Cretan τέορ for σοῦ (Hesych.), where the pronoun is declined, as ἐμοῦς, ἐμέος, ἐμεῦς in Epicharmus.[1970] We may observe that generally the Latin is in this respect very different from the pure Doric; though it resembles it in some words. Thus the Laconian ἀκτὴρ is the Latin actor, and in gubernator we see the Doric form κυβερνατὴρ, and so in other instances.[1971]
7. Notwithstanding this fuga sibili—this aversion to the Σ—to which almost all the changes mentioned in the last two sections may be traced—yet the Doric dialects always retained in the first person plural the final Σ from the ancient language (as is proved by the Latin -mus);[1972] and Laconians, Megarians, and Doric Sicilians said ἥκομες, ἀπορέομες, &c. It does not appear that in the Doric dialect any original consonant passed into Σ, except Θ; and this change probably arose from a desire to soften the harsh sound of the aspirate. Instances of this Laconism in Alcman (Ἀσᾶναι, ἔσηκε, σάλλεν, σαλασσομέδοισαν), in the Lysistrata (ἤνσε, [pg 430] ἔλση, σιγεῖν, μουσίδδειν, &c.), and the grammarians (e.g. σὶνκασεύδει, κασαίρηὁν, for καθαίρησον, according to Koen, κασαρεύειν, according to Valckenær) are well known, and particularly σεῖος ἀνήρ; comp. Valckenær, p. 277, sqq. who has treated this point with great ability. Also in Hesychius, συμβουαδεῖ, ὑπερμαχεῖ (for συμβοηθεῖ) we should probably write συμβουασεῖ (otherwise Hemsterhuis), and κασελατίσαι, καθίσαι, ibid. is from ἕλλα, ἕλα, κάθεδρα, sella; whence ἑλατίζειν, καθελατίζειν, sedere facio. In this respect the colonists of Sparta at Tarentum did not follow the idiom of their mother city; as they said θυλακίζειν, not συλακίζειν, to beg:[1973] the Rhodians also retained the original Θ in ἐρυθίβη (Strabo XIII. p. 613. Eustath. ad Il. α. 34.): in Cretan this change only occurs in σεῖναι for θεῖναι in Hesychius, and in σίος in the treaty of the Olontians: for Corinth may be cited Σίσυφος for Θεόσοφος, according to Phavorinus, p. 403. Dindorf; for Sicyon perhaps σειρὸν, θέριστρον, Hesych. and also στίαι for θριαὶ, Schol. Apoll. R.h. II. 1172. That the Eleans were acquainted with this variety has been shown above.
8. In general the Dorians had less inclination to aspirated consonants than the other tribes of Greece, and therefore in many respects their dialect remained nearer to the primitive language. Thus the Lacedæmonians and Cretans said ἀμπὶ for ἀμφὶ (Koen ad Greg. p. 344), the latter in the derivative ἀμπέτιξ, the former in ἀμπέσαι, (above, p. [332], note f. [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote to “orthography,” starting “For instance, ΜΟΥΣΩ.”]) in ἀμπίτταρ (p. [35], note a. [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote to “ἀμπίτταρες,” starting “I. q. ἀμφιστάντες.”]) ἀμπίθυρον in Hesychius; ἀμφαρμένη, δίκελλα, Hesych. utrinque aptata, makes an exception. So also the Thessalians called the river Ἀμφίρρυσος, Ἀμβίρρυσος (Schol. Apoll. Rh. I. 51); and the same, according to the general rule (vol. I. p. 3, note g.), must be Macedonian and Latin. Some instances of Κ for Χ in the Cretan, Laconian, and Sicilian dialect, see in Koen p. 340, sqq.; Pindar's δέκεσθαι is probably also Doric, as well as in the Heraclean Tables. According to Hesychius in εὔπλουτον, the Dorians called the baskets in which the οὐλοχύται were carried ὀλβακήια, where ὀλβὰ is οὐλὴ, and the termination -κήια is probably formed from χέω, unless (as is probable) [pg 431] we should correct -χήια here and in the word ὀλβάχιον, where Deinolochus (the Sicilian) is quoted as authority. (Compare Suidas in δερβιστήρ.) The aspirate by itself is absent from the words ἀγέομαι,[1974] ἀγησίχορος and the names Ἆγις, Ἀγήσανδρος, Ἀγησίπολις, and Ἀγησίλαος (Ion. Ἡγησίλεως); originally perhaps all these names had the digamma, as Βαγὸς, a general Lacon. in Hesychius. The aspirate was also neglected by the Lacedæmonians in the pronoun ἀμὲς, ἀμῶν;[1975] as well as by the Cretans, as is evident from the words ΠΟΡΤΑΜΕ, i.e. πορτὶ ἀμὲ, in an inscription (Chishull, p. 115. 10.), and by the Dorians. In the word ἰάλλω likewise the lene breathing is Doric, as is shown by ἀπιάλλειν in Thucyd. V. 77: and the Syracusan name Ἐπιάλης (Demetrius περὶ Ἑρμηνείας, § 157. Eustath. ad Il. ε᾽. p. 571. Rom.). On the other hand the digamma was retained nearly as much among the Lacedæmonians and other Dorians, as by most of the Æolians; among the Dorians, however, it generally assumed the form of Β. See Etymol. M. p. 308. 26. Gudian. p. 104. 12. I will only cite a few examples. The Laconian word for “splendour” was βέλα, Ϝέλα (Hesychius), i.e. ἕλη, whence by the prefix α, signifying an union or number, the word ἀβελιος (ΑϜΕΛΙΟΣ) was formed, literally “a collection or mass of brightness;” the Cretan and Pamphylian name for the sun (Hesychius; compare Hemsterhuis ad Hesych. in θάβακον).[1976] The Greek or Æolic word for the “ear” was αὖας, in Latin auris, in Doric ὦϜας (like καππώτας for καταπαύτης), whence the Laconian word ἐξωβάδια (i.e. ἐξωϜάτια) ἐνώτια, in Hesychius. In ὠατωθήσω, ἀκούσομαι, Doric according to Photius, the digamma is lost, as well as in the Tarentine contraction ἆτα, Hesychius. From the root [pg 432] ΔΑΙϜΩ, to burn, are derived the Laconian forms δάβει, καύεται (vulg. κάθηται, otherwise Hemsterhuis), ἐκδάβη, ἐκαύθε; δάβελος, δαλὸς in Hesychius; also τῦρ δάϜιον in Alcman, fragm. 76. ed. Welcker. In Crete also we find the forms ἀβηδὼν for ἀηδὼν, βαλικιώτης for ἡλικιώτης, βαίκα for αἴκα or ἐὰν (Hesychius and Koen ad Greg. p. 251.); according to the same grammarian the Cretans called their shields λαῖβαι, i.e. lævæ, the left; thus by a reverse analogy the Greeks said παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα for “to the left.” The Laconian word for “the dawn,” was ΑϜΩΣ (also retained in μιργάβωρ, λυκόφως, Hesych. i.e. μισγ-άϜως), among the other Greeks ΗΩΣ: and as from the latter form the name of the east-wind εὖρος was derived (answering to ζέφυρος, ὃς ἐκ ζόφου πνεῖ), so from the Doric ἄϜως came the word αὖρα, which had in this dialect the peculiar sense of “morning;” hence ἐναύρω πρωῒ, Κρῆτες, and ἀβὼ, Λάκωνες, Hesychius. At Argos the digamma occurs in ὤβεα for ᾠὰ (ova) Hesych.; at Hermione a double digamma in βεῦδος for ἕδος, ἄγαλμα, Etymol. M. p. 195. 52.; at Syracuse in ἔβασον for ἔασον, which was also a Laconian form, ib. p. 308. 26. Hesych.
9. If we except the changes of the vowels, semivowels, and aspirates, there are not many others peculiar to the Doric dialect, since the mediæ and tenues were seldom inverted, and not often letters which are not cognate. It is worthy of remark that the Dorians frequently changed both Β and Γ into Δ, the former in δέλτον, good, compared with βέλτιον, and ὀδελὸς for ὀβελός;[1977] the latter in δᾶ for γᾶ, δένος for γένος, δίφουρα for γέφυρα in Laconian, δεῦκος for γλυκὺς in Ætolian, which likewise was preserved in the Latin dulcis.[1978] I should also remark that πέδα for μετὰ is pure Doric, as is proved by Alcman ap. Athen. X. p. 416 A. the Laconian word πέδευρα, ὕτερον, in Hesychius, πεδάϜοικοι for μέτοικοι in an Argive inscription (Boeckh. No. 14.), and the [pg 433] Corcyræan inscription in Mustoxidi, tom. II. p. 70. (as it appears.)
The Doric dialect is also marked by a strong tendency to the omission of letters both in composition and flexion. In composition the prepositions κατὰ, ἀνὰ, ποτὶ become monosyllables by the suppression of the last vowel: and even with the first syllable short in καβαίνων, Alcman. fragm. 34. κάπετον, Pindar. Olymp. VIII. 48. compare Hesychius in κάβλημα and κάβασι. The Venus ἀμβολογήρα of Sparta (Pausan. III. 18. 1.) has been already explained from ἀναβάλλειν τὸ γῆρας, as also Ζεὺς καππώτας (ib. III. 22. 1.) as Ζεὺς καταπαύτης. Κάκκη, κάθευδε, Laconice in Hesychius, shortened by apocope from κάκκησι, i.e. κατάκειθι, as ἔμβη for ἔμβησι in Aristoph. Lys. 1303. In conjugation the Dorians frequently shortened the ancient longer forms by apocope, and not, like the other cases, by contraction; as in the infinitives δόμεν for δόμεμαι, εἶμεν or ἦμεν for ἤμμενκι, &c. the uncontracted form being seldom used, as ἤμεναι Aristoph. Ach. 775., ἀλεξέμεναι, Thucyd. V. 77., or the contracted, as σκιρωθῆναι in Sophron. ap. Etym. M. p. 717, ext. and in Alcman. fragm. 23, Welcker is probably right in changing χαρῆθαι into χαρῆναι. Also the shortened third persons of the aorists, διέγνον in the Heraclean Tables, ἔδον (Corp. Inscript. No. 1511.), ἀνέθεν (ib. No. 29.), διελέγεν in the decree of the Oaxians, διελέγην in that of the Istronians; as well as the infinitives in εν and the second persons in ες, for ειν and εις, and many other similar changes. The forms εἴμειν, γεγόνειν are not merely Agrigentine; the former also occurs in an inscription (probably of Rhodes) in Chandler, p. 14. No. 38: the Sicilian adverbs τῶ, τουτῶ (τουτῶ θάμεθα Sophron. fragm. 34. Mus. Crit. vol. II. p. 347.) for πόθεν, τουτόθεν, also come under this head. Ammonius adds πῦς for πόσε and ποῖ for πόθε.
10. With regard to the differences of syntax, we may remark that the article was much used by the Dorians; as is evident from several passages in the Spartan choruses in the Lysistrata of Aristophanes.[1979] It may be also observed [pg 434] that the article occurs very frequently in all the early monuments of Doric nations;[1980] and that in the Doric poetry, particularly of Alcman, it was first introduced into the literature of Greece: the earlier language having been quite destitute of it. Hence perhaps it may be inferred that it was the Dorians who introduced the general use of the article; which would afford some idea of the changes which the Greek language experienced in consequence of the revolution caused by the Doric invasion.
Every dialect has peculiar words; but it is remarkable when these are radical forms, expressing very common ideas, and when they are quite foreign to the other dialects of the same language. This at least is true of the Laconian word χάος, χάϊος, ἀχαῖος, “good” (Aristoph. Lys. 90, 1157. Hesychius in ἀχαία, where Heinsius would without reason omit the α, Theocrit. VII. 4.), of κόος, “large” (Etymol. M. p. 396. 29.), which words stand quite isolated in the common language: also λῆν, “to wish” (Koen. p. 252. Maittaire p. 278.), and μάω, “I think,” “I seek,” are pure Doric forms; the latter a Laconian and Sicilian word, see Toup Emend, in Suid. vol. I. p. 462. Meineke Euphorion. p. 162.[1981]
11. As yet we have considered the Doric dialect in general, as spoken by the whole race, only marking out the Laconian as its purest variety; we will now annex a brief list of those shades of difference which can be perceived in the language of the several states. The broad peculiarities of the Doric dialect of Laconia are partly known from the remains of Alcman (who however avoided in his poetry such harsh forms as μῶἁ for μῶσα, λιπῶἁ for λιπῶσα or [pg 435] λιποῖσα, and never uses Σ for Ρ, &c.); and more fully from the Spartans in the Lysistrata. On comparing these with the Spartan and Argive treaty in Thucydides V. 77., there is indeed a general agreement; yet in this document the contractions ἀναιροῦντας, πεντηκονταέτη, δοκῇ, πόλει (but πολίεσι and αὐτοπόλιες), also ἐρίζοι and δικάζεσθαι, together with ως in the accusative of the substantives, but ους of the adjectives, can hardly be considered as pure Doric; nor is there any instance of the change of Σ into the aspirate, and Σ for Θ only in the word σιῶ. With regard to the indiscriminate use of Ω and ΟΥ our copies of Thucydides are not much authority: for these two sounds were not distinguished in the writing of the time, being both expressed by Ο; and it is probable that some forms have been modified either by Thucydides or his copyists, or both. On the whole, however, it is probable that the popular dialect of Peloponnesus, which is preserved in all its harshness in the famous treaty of the Eleans, was about the time of the Peloponnesian war softened down in public documents and treaties. Thus in a Lacedæmonian inscription of later date, we still find the ancient forms στατερας, αιγιναιος, αργυριο, Ϝικατι, δαρικος οκτακατιος, from a restoration, but also χιλιους δαρ[ικους], Corp. Inscript. No. 1511. In the Spartan decree preserved by Plutarch in his Life of Lysander c. 14., we should probably write, ταῦτα ΚΑ δρῶντες τὰν εἰράναν ἔχοιτε, ἃ χρὴ ΔΟΝΤΕΣ καὶ τὼς φυγάδας ἀνέντες. περὶ τᾶν ναῶν τῶ πλήθεος ὁκοῖόν τι ΚΑΤΗΝΕΙ δοκέοι, ταῦτα ποιέετε, as has been partly emended by Haitinger Act. Monac. vol. III. p. 311. In the time of Pyrrhus much of the ancient peculiarity of the dialect was still in existence, although in the following saying all the forms are not those of the ancient Laconian language, αἂ μὲν ἔσσι τύ γε θεὸς, οὐδὲν μὴ πάθωμεν, οὐ γὰρ, ἀδικεῦμεν; αἂ δ᾽ ἄνθρωπος, ἔσεται καὶ τεῦ κάρρων ἄλλος, Plutarch. Pyrrh. 26. The remains of it in the decrees of the Eleutherolacones and Spartans in the time of the emperors are less considerable. That the Messenians retained the ancient idiom, from ancient recollections, or perhaps from affectation, was remarked above, p. [414], note c. [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote to “Messenians of Sicily,” starting “The coins.”] The Argive [pg 436] dialect has been more than once observed to agree with the Cretan, a correspondence which may be even traced in unimportant particulars; thus the name of the Argive βαλλαχράδαι (above, p. [355]. note n [Transcriber's Note: There is no such footnote on that page.]), was derived from ἀχρὰς, which Hermonax ap. Schol. Nicand. Ther. 512. calls a Cretan, and Hesychius a Laconian word. The grammarians likewise particularly remark that in the Argive dialect Ι was frequently changed into Ν, as in μέντον for μέντοι (Argive and Cretan, Maittaire p. 255), αἰὲν, ἔννατος (Etymol. M. p. 402, 2.) φαεννὸς (see Boeckh Not. crit. ad Pind. Olymp. I. 6.); the Sicilians in many cases made the contrary change—the Rhegini, however, the same as the Argives (Etymol. M. p. 135, 45. Gud. 73, 44.); which peculiarity they had evidently borrowed from the Messenians. Dercyllus wrote in the ancient Argive dialect; see Etymol. M. p. 391, 20. above, p. [385], note c. [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote to “Ionians and Athenians,” starting “This is only true.”] The Cretan has a singularity which does not appear to have been observed in any other dialect of Greece, viz. of changing λ before a consonant and after ε or α into υ (analogous to the French forms aumóne, haubergeon, &c. from the German Almosen, Halsberge, &c.); thus αὖσος for ἄλσος, αὖμα for ἅλμα, likewise αὐκυόνα, αὔκαν; θεύγεσθαι and εὐθεῖν for θέλγεσθαι and ἐλθεῖν, according to Hesychius, Koen. p. 354. The Ætolian word δεῦκος also shows the same formation, as it comes from the ancient root δέλκυς, dulcis. There is an analogous change in the Cretan forms Πραῖσος from Πρῖανσος, and γεροίταν, πάππον (Hesych.) i.e. for γέροντας from γέρων, and directly the reverse of that observed above in the termination of the participles τιθὲνς, &c. where the Cretans retained the ancient form τιθὲνς, which other Greeks softened into τιθεὶς, &c. The Cretan βέντιον for βέλτιον is paralleled by the Sicilian forms ἦνθον and φίντατος. The words peculiar to the Cretan town Polyrrhenia, such as σέρτης “a crane,” ἅμαλλα “a partridge,” κόμβα “a crow,” (see also Hesychius in κάρα and λάττα) are probably remains of an ancient Cydonian language, having no affinity with the Greek. See Hoeck's Kreta, vol. I. p. 146, note b. In the Cretan inscriptions of the beginning of the second century before Christ, the ancient dialect is still preserved [pg 437] in some words, but not regularly and constantly; peculiarities such as αὖσος no longer appear: and if they were found in a writer named Cypselas, he must have been of a much earlier date (Joann. Gramm. ad calc. H. Steph. Thes. Gr. p. 13.). Some peculiarities of the Doric dialect of Corinth and Sicyon have been noticed above; in general, however, we know little of these dialects; but of the Megarian we are better informed by means of the Acharneans of Aristophanes, and this probably gives a tolerably correct notion of the Doric of Peloponnesus, except Sparta. The Dryopians of Hermione also spoke Doric; at least an Hermionean inscription contains such Dorisms as ἐπιδαμῶντι, ποττὰν πόλιν, τοὺς δὲ λαΐναν δόμεν στάλαν, Boeckh No. 1193. and see others cited vol. I. p. 399, note y. The Rhodians still spoke Doric in the time of Tiberius (Sueton. Tiber. 56.), and indeed, as Aristides de Conc. boasts, in great purity (see Meurs. Rhod. II. 3.). Inscriptions of Cos (in Spon), Calymna (Chandler. Inscript. p. 21. No. 58.), Astypalæa, and Anaphæ (in Villoison's papers) are written in a Doric style, common in such monuments. The same was also adopted by the Æginetans after their re-establishment; see the inscription in Æginetica, p. 136, and the remarks on it in p. 160. Among the inscriptions of Corcyra, collected by Mustoxidi, a series might be arranged according to the greater and less traces of the Doric dialect; the large one in Boeckh's Staatshaushaltung, vol. II. p. 400. contains several peculiarities, as, e.g. the imperative δόντω. In a Theræan inscription, containing the will of a certain Epicteta (Boeckh, No. 2448.), several pure Dorisms occur, as e.g. the accusative plural in ος, the infinitives ἀγαγὲν, θύεν, (Eustathius ad Od. τ᾽. p. 706. 49. quotes λέγες for λέγεις as Theræan); at the same time several peculiar forms, such as ἐστάκεια, συναγαγόχεια; and upon the whole there is little archaic in the language. But the Byzantine dialect was in the time of Philip, as we know from the decree in Demosthenes, rich in Dorisms: not so many occur in the more recent inscription in Chandler Inscript. App. p. 95. No. 10. How much of the language of the surrounding nations had [pg 438] been introduced into the Cyrenæan dialect cannot be determined: according to Hesychius βρίκος was the Cyrenæan word for “ass;” which resembles the Spanish word borrico; both probably were derived from Africans. All that we know of the Tarentine dialect appears to have been taken from the Phlyaces of Rhinthon, who lived in the time of Ptolemy the First; although very different from the ancient Laconian dialect, it has many peculiarities:[1982] but besides the vulgar language of Tarentum there was also spoken a polished (Attic) dialect, which was alone used in public transactions. See Dionys. Hal. Exc. p. 2239. ed. Reiske. With regard to the exchange of words with the neighbouring Italian nations (above, p. [413], note z [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote to “the Siculians,” starting “E.g. besides.”]), it is sometimes doubtful which party borrowed from the other. Thus Alcman uses πόλτος for puls; are we to suppose that this word was so early brought over from Italy? Κάρκαρον is used for “prison” by Sophron, for “stall” by Rhinthon: it is the same word as the Latin carcer; but possibly both are derived from the Laconian word γέργυρα in Alcman. That the Italian Heracleans should have preserved the ancient language and writing to the fifth century after the building of Rome so faithfully as the famous Heraclean Tables show us, is very remarkable. At Syracuse the dialect was nearly the same as that in which Epicharmus and Sophron wrote: the laws of Diocles too were probably drawn up in this dialect, but the circumstance of their requiring an interpreter in the time of Timoleon is a proof of the rapid preponderance of the Attic language in this city ([B. III. ch. 9. § 7].). The language of Sophron is also nearer to the common dialect, and less strictly Doric than that spoken in Peloponnesus in his time; e.g., he always says τοὺς and not τώς. On the spreading of the Doric dialect in Sicily see Castelli Proleg. p. 25. We have not as yet touched on the Delphic dialect, the strong Doric character of which is proved [pg 439] by an inscription (Boeckh No. 1690.) in which ὀδελοὶ and τέτορες occur, and still more, as I believe, by a monument of Olymp. 100. 1, which has futures such as ὀρκεξέω &c., the infinitives ἀπογράψεν, φέρεν, and θύεν, αἴκα for ἐὰν, πάντεσσι, ἱερομναμόνεσσι, διακάτιοι, ἐπικοσμήσωντι, ἐν for ἐς adverbialiter, καττὰν, ἐνιαύτιος, πέμπωντι, ποττὸν (Boeckh No. 1688.). Besides this, all the prose oracles given at Delphi were doubtless written in Doric; as e.g. that in Demosth. in Mid. p. 531, and in Macart. p. 1072, that in Thuc. V. 16. (—ἀργυρέᾳ εὐλάκᾳ εὐλάξειν, is, according to the scholiast, a Laconian expression), and the oracle quoted in vol. I. p. 199. note p, ποῖ τὺ λαβὼν καὶ ποῖ τὺ καθίξων καὶ ποῖ τὺ οἴκησιν (here the sense requires ἀσφαλέως ἕξεις, ἐρωτᾷς, κελεύω...) ἁλιέα τε κεκλῆσθαι, which, however, was probably written in hexameters, since the epic oracles sometimes show traces of Dorisms (Herod. IV. 155, 157; compare that given to the Lacedæmonians, ἁ φιλοχρηματία &c.). Plutarch (Pyth. Orac. 24. p. 289.) quotes from ancient oracles the expression πυρίκαοι (i.e. πυρκέοι, as the Delphians themselves were called, vol. I. p. 254. note b), ὀρεάνας for ἄνδρας,[1983] ὀρεμπότας for ποτάμους; likewise κραταίπους (Schol. Pind. Olymp. XIII. 114.) is probably from an oracle: from the Dorisms of the vulgar dialect we have Γυγάδας for the treasure of Gyges, Herod. I. 14, a half-adjective form in -ας, which occurs frequently in Doric, and ἅρμα for ἀρμὴ, “love,” Plutarch Amator, 23. The name of the month Βύσιος (ap. Plutarch Quæst. Gr. 9. and in Delphian inscriptions) was derived by some from Φύσιος, as being a spring-month; it is, however, far more probable that this sacred oracular month received its name from Pytho, as Πύθιος. In that case the change of θ into σ corresponds with the Laconian dialect; but that of π into β is peculiar to the Delphians, among whom, according to Plutarch, it also occurred in βικρὸς for πικρὸς, and other words. A newly discovered honorary decree of Delphi (Ross, Inscript. Græc. ined. Fasc. I. No. 57.) points to a closer affinity of the Delphian and Ætolian [pg 440] dialects. We find in it the datives ἀγώνοις, ἐντυγχανόντοις, and therefore the same metaplasm of declination as among the Ætolians, to whom the grammarians attribute such forms as γερόντοις, παθημάτοις. The Phoceans appear from the inscriptions to have spoken an Æolic dialect, nearly akin to the Doric. A remarkable peculiarity, which occurs in inscriptions both of Steiris and Daulis, in the territory of the Phoceans, is that the radical vowel of τίθημι and ἵημι remains unlengthened in the active and passive perfect; as in ἀνατεθέκαντι, ἀνατεθεμένους, ἀφεμένα for ἀνατεθείνασι, ἀνατεθειμένους, ἀφειμένη.