Ethnolinguistic vitality

Irish, Welsh, etc. and Yiddish and Hebrew in The Economist.

A half-Greek community speaking Greek among the Parthians

Plutarch, Life of Crassus 31.1:

Οὐ μὴν ἔμειναν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ὀκτάβιον, ἀλλὰ συγκατέβαινον ἀπὸ τοῦ λόφου· τοὺς δὲ ῥαβδούχους ἑπομένους ὁ Κράσσος ἀπήλλασσε. πρῶτοι δὲ τῶν βαρβάρων ἀπήντησαν αὐτοῖς δύο μειξέλληνες, οἳ καὶ προσεκύνησαν τὸν Κράσσον, ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων ἁλάμενοι, καὶ προσαγορεύσαντες ἑλλάδι φωνῇ παρεκάλουν προπέμψαι τινάς, οἷς ἐπιδείξεται Σουρήνας ἑαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὑτὸν ἀνόπλους καὶ ἀσιδήρους προσερχομένους.

The Loeb translation reads: "Octavius, however, and those about him, did not remain, but went down from the hill with Crassus; the lictors, who were following him, Crassus drove back. The first of the Barbarians to meet him were two half-breed Greeks, who leaped from their horses and made obeisance to him; then addressing him in the Greek tongue, they urged him to send a party forward to assure themselves that Surena and those about him were advancing to the conference without armour and without weapons."

Thayer notes simply, 'Descendants no doubt of Alexander's army, which had briefly held the region in the 4c: these Asian Greeks are known to have maintained their identity for many generations'.

Chaque mot a son histoire

The statement "Each word has its own history" - a reaction to the Neogrammarian Regularity Hypothesis - is attributed to Jules Gilliéron.

According to William A. Kretzschmar, Jr., this statement is not found in that scholar's published works ('Dialectology and the history of the English language' at p. 84, in Donka Minkova and Robert P. Stockwell (eds) Studies in the History of the English Language: A Millennial Perspective, Volume 1, Walter de Gruyter, 2002.

Quintilian on masters of multiple languages and of several varieties of Greek

Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria XI.2.50-51:

Ceterum quantum natura studioque valeat memoria vel Themistocles testis, quem unum intra annum optime locutum esse Persice constat, vel Mithridates, cui duas et viginti linguas, quot nationibus imperabat, traditur notas fuisse, vel Crassus ille dives, qui cum Asiae praeesset quinque Graeci sermonis differentias sic tenuit ut qua quisque apud eum lingua postulasset eadem ius sibi redditum ferret, vel Cyrus, quem omnium militum tenuisse creditum est nomina: quin semel auditos quamlibet multos versus protinus dicitur reddidisse Theodectes. Dicebantur etiam nunc esse qui facerent, sed mihi numquam ut ipse interessem contigit: habenda tamen fides est vel in hoc, ut qui crediderit et speret.

For the rest there are many historical examples of the power to which memory may be developed by natural aptitude and application. Themistocles is said to have spoken excellently in Persian after a year's study; Mithridates is recorded to have known twenty-two languages, that being the number of the different nations included in his empire [cf. Pliny the Elder, Natural History VII 24]; Crassus, surnamed the Rich [cos. 131 BC, was the commander in the war against Aristonicus of Pergamum, was defeated and was killed], when commanding in Asia had such a complete mastery of five different Greek dialects, that he would give judgement in the dialect employed by the plaintiff in putting forward his suit; Cyrus is believed to have known the name of every soldier in his army, [51] while Theodectes is actually said to have been able to repeat any number of verses after only a single hearing. I remember that it used to be alleged that there were persons still living who could do the same, though I never had the good fortune to be present at such a performance. Still, we shall do well to have faith in such miracles, if only that he who believes may also hope to achieve the like. (Loeb: H.E. Butler, 1922)

For Mithridates VI of Pontus as a polyglot, see: Aulus Gellius 17.17, Pliny the Elder 7.24.88-90 and 25.3.6-7, Valerius Maximus 8.7, and, for a claim to knowledge of fifty languages, Aurelius Victor '(AD 360)'. These references are from Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King:The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy (Princeton University Press: 2009) 254 and 408n. 36.

The reference to Aurelius Victor is probably de viribus illustribus 76.1 ('incerti auctoris'): Mithridates rex Ponti oriundus a septem Persis, magna ui animi et corporis, ut sexiuges equos regeret quinquaginta gentium ore loqueretur.

Xenophon Cyrus 5 is cited for Cyrus the Great's knowledge of the names of his officers and satraps. This must be Cyropedia 5.3.47.

OLD s.v. differentia -ae f. 2 b a different kind, quotes only this passage and explains '-as (i.e. dialects)'. Quintilian, Inst.IX.4.18 uses dialectos -i f. (OLD s.v. also cites Suet.Tib.56 and Maur.649 but no other instances): "As regards Herodotus, while his flow, in my opinion, is always gentle, his dialect has such a sweetness of its own that it even seems to contain a certain rhythmical power hidden within itself."

Terentianus Maurus (GL vi) line 649 reads: Aeolica dialectos autem mixta ferme est Italae. The context is a discussion of the digammon and ensuing Greek and Latin cognates.

An Arab(-ian/-ic) Proverb

In relation to learning languages: every language makes you a new person.

φωνή in Heracl(e)ides Criticus 294-220 BC (369A New Jacoby)

The translations are by Jeremy McInerney.

Fragment 1, section 20 (Boeotian women):
Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ταῖς ὁμιλίαις οὐ λίαν Βοιώτιαι, μᾶλλον δὲ Σικυώνιαι. Καὶ ἡ φωνὴ δ’ αὐτῶν ἐστὶν ἐπίχαρις· τῶν δ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀτερπὴς καὶ βαρεῖα.
In their social behaviour the women are scarcely Boiotian, but rather Sikyonian. Their speech is delightful, while their men’s is harsh and overbearing.

 

1.30 (Chalcis):

Ἡ δὲ χώρα πᾶσα αὐτῶν ἐλαιόφυτος, ἀγαθὴ δὲ καὶ ἡ θάλαττα. Οἱ δ’ ἐνοικοῦντες Ἕλληνες οὐ τῷ γένει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ φωνῇ· τῶν μαθημάτων ἐντός· φιλαπόδημοι· γραμματικοί· τὰ προσπίπτοντα ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος δυσχερῆ γενναίως φέροντες· δουλεύοντες γὰρ πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον, τοῖς δὲ τρόποις ὄντες ἐλεύθεροι, μεγάλην εἰλήφασιν ἕξιν τοῦ φέρειν ῥᾳθύμως τὰ προσπίπτοντα.

Their entire territory is planted with olives, and the sea is good to them as well. The inhabitants are Greek not only by descent but also in speech. In their lessons, they are well travelled and well read. The misfortunes they have suffered, such as banishment and other disasters, they bear nobly. For though they have long been enslaved, by maintaining the manners of free men, they have acquired the habit of bearing misfortune lightly.

 

3.2:

Ἕλληνες μὲν γάρ εἰσι τῷ γένει, καὶ ταῖς φωναῖς ἑλληνίζουσιν οἱ ἀφ’ Ἕλληνος· Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ οἱ τὴν Ἀττικὴν κατοικοῦντες Ἀττικοὶ μέν εἰσι τῷ γένει, ταῖς δὲ διαλέκτοις ἀττικίζουσιν, ὥσπερ Δωριεῖς μὲν οἱ ἀπὸ Δώρου τῇ φωνῇ δωρίζουσιν· αἰολίζουσι δὲ οἱ ἀπὸ Αἰόλου, ἰάζουσι δὲ οἱ ἀπὸ Ἴωνος τοῦ Ξούθου φύντες.

So Hellenes are those who are descended from Hellen and speak the Hellenic language inherited from Hellen. So too, Athenians, who dwell in Attica, are Attic by birth, and speak Attic with respect to their dialect, just as Dorians are those who speak Doric Greek inherited from Doros, while those descended from Aiolos speak Aiolic, and those who spring from Ion, son of Xouthos, speak Ionic Greek.

 

3.5:

 Ἡ δὲ καλουμένη νῦν Ἑλλὰς λέγεται μὲν, οὐ μέντοι ἐστί· τὸ γὰρ ἑλληνίζειν ἐγὼ εἶναί φημι οὐκ ἐν τῷ διαλέγεσθαι ὀρθῶς, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῷ γένει τῆς φωνῆς· αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶν ἀφ’ Ἕλληνος· ἡ δὲ Ἑλλὰς ἐν Θετταλίᾳ κεῖται. Ἐκείνους οὖν ἐροῦμεν τὴν Ἑλλάδα κατοικεῖν καὶ ταῖς φωναῖς ἑλληνίζειν.

What is presently called Greece is a word, but not a reality, for I maintain that ‘to hellenize’ or ‘speak Greek’ is not a matter of correct pronunciation but concerns the language’s descent. This speech is from Hellen. Hellas lies in Thessaly. Accordingly we say that those men inhabit Hellas, and, with respect to their speech, they ‘hellenize’ or ‘speak Greek’.

3.7:

Ὅτι δὲ πᾶσα ἣν κατηριθμήμεθα Ἑλλάς ἐστι, μαρτυρεῖ ἡμῖν ὁ τῶν κωμῳδιῶν ποιητὴς Ποσείδιππος, μεμφόμενος Ἀθηναίοις, ὅτι τὴν αὑτῶν φωνὴν καὶ τὴν πόλιν φασὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος εἶναι, λέγων οὕτως·

  Ἑλλὰς μέν ἐστι μία, πόλεις δὲ πλείονες.

  Σὺ μὲν ἀττικίζεις, ἡνίκ’ ἂν φωνὴν λέγῃς

  αὑτοῦ τιν’· οἱ δ’ Ἕλληνες ἑλληνίζομεν.

  Τί προσδιατρίβων συλλαβαῖς καὶ γράμμασιν

  τὴν εὐτραπελίαν εἰς ἀηδίαν ἄγεις; 

That everything which we have included in our account constitutes Hellas finds confirmation in the work of the comic poet Poseidippos, when he reproaches the Athenians for claiming that theirs is the language and the city of Hellas, saying as follows:One Hellas there is, though cities there are many.
You speak Attic, and your utterances take the prize
They’re so distinctive. But we Hellenes hellenize.
Why must you transform the euphonious,
With your obsession with syllables and letters,
Into verses malodious?
 

 

The author's name might involve the ethnic Κρητικός Cretan, not Κριτικός.

Linguistic Landscaping

"In closing, it should be emphasised (sic) that a sound methodology is highly important if the study of the linguistic landscape is to become a serious sociolinguistic research tool. Walking the streets and taking photos of anything that might strike one | as particularly curious, illustrative, or, worse still, 'representative' is unlikely to yield any scientifically relevant results. While this has been common sense in sociolinguistic research on spoken languages for decades, much remains to be done when it comes to empirical research into written language."

Peter Backhaus Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo. Multilingual Matters 136. Clevedon, Buffalo, Toronto. 2007: 63-63.

The Latin and Greek of Titus Pomponius Atticus

Cornelius Nepos, On the Roman Historians, Atticus, 4.1:

Huc ex Asia Sulla decedens cum venisset, quamdiu ibi fuit, secum habuit Pomponium, captus adulescentis et humanitate et doctrina. Sic enim Graece loquebatur, ut Athenis natus videretur; tanta autem suavitas erat sermonis Latini, ut appareret in eo nativum quendam leporem esse, non ascitum. Item poemata pronuntiabat et Graece et Latine sic, ut supra nihil posset addi.

When Sulla arrived at Athens in his journey from Asia, he kept Pomponius in his company as long as he remained there, being charmed with the young man's politeness and knowledge; for he spoke Greek so well that he might have been thought to have been born at Athens; while there was such agreeableness in his Latin style, as to make it evident that the graces of it were natural, not acquired. He also recited verses, both in Greek and Latin, in so pleasing a manner that nothing could have been added to its attractions.
[J. Watson's Loeb edn.]

Is this evidence that Greek at Athens during Sulla's time there (late 80s BCE) or at the time of Cornelius' writing (d. 25 BCE) was perceptibly different to Greek elsewhere, for example in Asia Minor ?

Isolated speech-communities and the Greeks, Part 2: Boeotians near Behistun

Diodorus Siculus, 17.110.4-5:

ἐνταῦθα δὲ μείνας ἡμέρας ἑπτὰ καὶ προσαναλαβὼν τὴν δύναμιν τριταῖος εἰς τοὺς Κέλωνας προσαγορευομένους ἧκεν, ἐν ᾧ μέχρι νῦν διαμένει γένος Βοιώτιον, κατὰ μὲν τὴν Ξέρξου στρατείαν ἀνάστατον γεγονός, μεμνημένον δ’ ἔτι τῶν πατρίων νόμων· ὄντες γὰρ οὗτοι δίφωνοι τῇ μὲν ἑτέρᾳ διαλέκτῳ ἐξωμοιώθησαν τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις, τῇ δ’ ἑτέρᾳ πλείστας τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν λέξεων διετήρουν καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἔνια διεφύλαττον. 
[5] τέλος δὲ προσμείνας ἡμέρας <μέν τινας> ἀνέζευξε καὶ παρεγκλίνας τὴν ὑποκειμένην ὁδὸν θέας ἕνεκεν ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Βαγιστάνην, θεοπρεπεστάτην τε χώραν οὖσαν καὶ πλήρη καρπίμων δένδρων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων τῶν πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν ἀνηκόντων.

There [Sambana] he remained for seven days and, proceeding with the army, came on the third day to the Celones, as they are called. There dwells here down to our time a settlement of Boeotians who were moved at the time of Xerxes's campaign [cf. Hdt.6.119], but have not forgotten their ancestral customs [cf. 19.19.2]. They are bilingual and speak like the natives in the one language, while in the other they preserve most of the Greek vocabulary, and they maintain some Greek practices.
[5] After a stay of some days he resumed his march at length and diverging from the main road for the purpose of sight-seeing he entered the region called Bagistane, a magnificent country covered with fruit trees and rich in everything which makes for good living.


...

Next, Alexander went on to a land with enormous herds of horses [6; cf. Arrian 7.13.1]. Then in Ecbatana of Media, he staged a dramatic festival and constant drinking parties [7]. Hephaestion drank very much, fell ill, and died [8].

Isolated speech-communities and the Greeks, Part 1: Alexander and the Branchidae

Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander the Great, 7.3.28-35, on the way to the River Tanais:

perventum erat in parvulum oppidum. Branchidae eius incolae erant. Mileto quondam iussu Xerxis, cum e Graecia rediret, transierant, et in ea sede constiterant, quia templum, quod Didymeon appellatur, in gratiam Xerxis violaverant. [29] mores patrii nondum exoleverant; sed iam bilingues erant paulatim a domestico externo sermone degeneres. magno igitur gaudio regem excipiunt urbem seque dedentes. Ille Milesios, qui apud ipsum militarent, convocari iubet. [30] vetus odium Milesii gerebant in Branchidarum gentem. proditis ergo, sive iniuriae, sive originis meminisse mallent, liberum de Branchidis permittit arbitrium. [31] variantibus deinde sententiis se ipsum consideraturum quid optimum factu esset ostendit. Postero die occurrentibus Branchidis secum procedere iubet; cumque ad urbem ventum esset, ipse cum expedita manu portam intrat.  [32] phalanx moenia oppidi circumire iussa, et dato signo diripere urbem proditorum receptaculum, ipsosque ad unum caedere. [33] illi inermes passim trucidantur, nec aut commercio linguae, aut supplicum velamentis precibusque inhiberi crudelitas potest. tandem ut deicerent fundamenta murorum ab imo moliuntur, ne quod urbis vestigium exstaret. [34] nemora quoque et lucos sacros non caedunt modo, sed etiam exstirpant, ut vasta solitudo et sterilis humus excussis etiam radicibus linqueretur. [35] quae si in ipsos proditionis auctores excogitata essent, iusta ultio esse, non crudelitas videretur; nunc culpam maiorum posteri luere, qui ne viderant quidem Miletum, ideo et Xerxi non potuerant prodere.

"In pursuit of Bessus they had arrived at a small town inhabited by the Branchidae who, on the orders of Xerxes, when he was returning from Greece, had emigrated from Miletus and settled in this spot. This was necessary because, to please Xerxes, they had violated the temple called the Didymeon. [29] The culture of their forebears had not yet disappeared, though they were now bilingual and the foreign tongue was gradually eroding their own. So it was with great joy that they welcomed Alexander to they surrendered themselves and their city. Alexander called a meeting of the Milesians in his force, [30] for the Milesians bore a long-standing grudge against the Branchidae as a clan. Since they were the people betrayed by the Branchidae, Alexander let them decide freely on their case, asking if they preferred to remember their injury or their common origin. [31] But when there was a difference of opinion over this, he declared that he would himself consider the best course of action. When the Branchidae met him the next day, he told them to accompany him. On reaching the city, he himself entered through the gate with a unit of light-armed troops. [32] The phalanx had been ordered to surround the city walls and, when the signal was given, to sack the city which provided refuge for traitors, killing the inhabitants to a man. [33] The Branchidae, who were unarmed, were butchered throughout the city, and neither community of language nor the olive-branches and entreaties of the suppliants could curb the savagery. Finally the Macedonians dug down to the foundations of the walls in order to demolish them and leave not a single trace of the city. [34] Woods, too, and sacred groves, they not only cut down but actually uprooted, so that nothing would remain after the removal of the roots but empty wasteland and barren soil. [35] Had this punishment been devised against the people responsible for the treachery, it might have appeared to be fair revenge rather than brutality but, as it was, the guilt of their ancestors was being atoned for by descendants who had not even seen Miletus and accordingly could not possibly have betrayed it to Xerxes."
(translation: Yardley, Penguin)