Palmer L.R. The Greek Language

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in the Palace records only to the extent of one missing sheep and an unknown quantity of linen.

Place-names even more than personal names are thus suspect in that they elude the control and discipline imposed

by the prior necessity to establish meaning by textual and contextual analysis. We are on surest ground with

complete sentences, but these are a great rarity. A few may be quoted.

One set of texts, which is of unique historical importance since it records dispositions of men in defence of the

territory of Pylos in the last months of its existence, is introduced by the preamble:

ouruto opia2ra epikowo = ho(s) wruntoi opihala epikowoi 'How (thus) the watchers are guarding the

coastal areas.'

Another preamble refers to an inspection by the prominent functionary Alxoitas:

owide akosota toroqejomeno aroura a2risa = ho(s) wide Alxoitas stroqwhejomenos * (or troqwejomenos*)

arouran Halisa- 'What (thus) A. saw on an inspection tour of the ploughland of H.' (the last word, taken

here as a place-name, is not surely diagnosed or identified).

The set of tablets forming a 'book' that records land-holding arrangements on the temple estate of the goddess

Potnia contains an entry that throws light on the status of the damos, for it appears as a collective contesting the

status of certain holdings.

erita ijereja eke euketoqe etonijo ekee teo damodemi pasi kotonao keke-menao onato ekee = erita hijereia ekhei

eukhetoiqwe * etonion (?) ekhehen theon damos de min phasi ktoinaon kekeimenaon onaton ekhehen 'E. the

priestess holds and makes solemn declaration that the goddess has an etonion (a type of land holding), but the

damos says that she has a lease (?) of shareland plots.'

The sense of emergency that pervades the whole Pylian archive is reflected in the preamble to a text recording

levies of bronze from the sixteen main districts of the Pylian kingdom.

jodososi koretere dumateqe. . . kako nawijo patajoiqe ekesiqe a3kasama = ho(s) dosonsi koreteres dumatesqwe

*...khalkon nawion paltaioihiqwe * enkhes(s)iqwe *aiksmans, 'how (thus) the k. and d. (types of office holder) are

to give temple bronze as points for arrows (or javelins) and spears.'

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Phonolooy

Vowels

Because of the inexact script little can be said about the vowel/ diphthong system, but in view of far-reaching

retention of the IE system in alphabetic Greek, the same is likely to have been a fortiori true of Mycenaean. *a is,

of course, retained as in all non-Attic-Ionic dialects: damo = damos, mate = mater.

There are a number of examples of the interchange e/i: atemito/atimite = Artemitos/Artimitei. The phenomenon

appears to be restricted to non-Greek words, which may originally have had a vowel midway between the two.

Dipa = dipas 'a jar' (cf.

) is particularly instructive since the Hieroglyphic Hittite 'rebus' ideogram for

tipas/tepas 'heaven' appears to be a bowl or cup. So dipas/depas may well be a Luwian loan-word in Mycenaean

(see above). The example of i/u in moriwodo rests on the false attribution of the meaning 'lead (metal)' to this word

and its equation with molubdos. Nor is there an interchange of o/u: apu is a different word from apo (see below).

Mycenaean was largely tolerant of hiatus: there are no certain examples of vowel contraction.

Consonants

That the voiced aspirates had already become voiceless is shown by the use of the t-series to represent both t and q

(tukate = thu-gater, tekotone = tektones, teo = theos) as against the d-series for d. The existence of a series of

syllabograms, conventionally transcribed qa, qe, qi, qo, distinct from the labials and dentals in words containing IE

labio-velars (e.g. -qe = the enclitic -qwe * 'and') is proof that these were still phonemically distinct. The same signs

are used for the reflections of *kw, e.g. iqo = hikwos. What the actual pronunciation was is a matter of surmise

unless the word ikuwoipi is an alternative spelling of iqoipi (see below). The general opinion is that the phonemes

were still phonetically labio-velars. There are a few examples of a development to a labial (e.g. ipopoqoi =

hippophorgwoihi* 'ostlers' (dative plural), and the names pereqota/qereqota and opeqa/oqeqa).

Unfortunately among these the only vocabulary word whose etymological identification is secure is ipo- (hippo-)

for iqo-

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(*hikwos), and this involves not a labio-velar but the cluster kw. In any case, it is open to two explanations: 1,

regressive dissimilation kwgw * > ppgw* or 2, regressive assimilation kwph > ppph. The other two examples are

personal names; but if opeqa can be etymologized as ophegwa(s)* (cf.

< *epi + jegwa*), then oqeqa will be

the product of assimilation; and the same explanation could hold good of qereqota/pereqota if the first element is

phere- and not qwele*. Non liquet!

The dissimilatory loss of the labialization in the environment of u (p. 232), common to all Greek dialects, is

illustrated in qoukoro = gwoukolos* 'cowherd' < *gwouqwolos*, and kunaja = gunaia. Words like qouqota, suqota,

ouqe, etc., are either combinations post-dating this sound change or have the labiovelar analogically retained or

restored.

Important for classificatory reasons is the assibilation of t(h)i > si: pasi < *bhati, rawakesijo = lawagesios, cf.

lawagetas, epikorusijo = epikorusios, cf. koruto = koruthos, ekosi = ekhonsi < ekhonti, korisijo = korinsios, cf.

korito = korinthos, zakusijo cf. Zakunthos. The last two illustrate the assibilation of the pre-Greek suffix

(see

above, and cf. Attic < ). Among the proper names there are a few instances of hesitancy

between ti and si, which may be due to the competition between a conservative and a more recent phonetic

spelling: tutijeu/tusijeu, tinwasija/tinwatijao. We may compare Ortilochos (Il. 5. 546), the grandfather of

Orsilochos (Il. 5.542). The implication that the change ti > si was comparatively recent is supported by names like

otinawo = Ortinawos, etirawo = Ertilawos (cf. Laertes), tatiqoweu = Statigwoweus*. Unassibilated ethnics like

ratijo = Latios are due to analogical retention or restoration like

, etc.

Mycenaean, of course, exhibits the pan-Greek aspiration of initial antevocalic and intervocalic *s. That the aspirate

was retained intervocalically is clear from the use of a2 in plurals of neuter s-stems: pawea2 = pharweha 'woollen

cloths', kerea2 = skeleha 'legs', mezoa2= megjoha 'greater', tetukowoa2 = tetukhwoha 'finished'. The far greater

frequency of the spelling -a at Knossos may reflect the loss of the aspirate in this position (see below on qetea,

qeteo as against qetea2/qetejo). The cluster sm survives in a3kasama = aiksmans 'tips'; in alphabetic Greek the s

has been aspirated:

. The treatment of certain other

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consonant clusters deserves notice. Assimilation is apparent in popi = pop-phi < * pod-phi, ekamapi = ekhmap-phi

< *ekhmat-phi, korupi = korup-phi < *koruth-phi, rewopi = lewom-phi < *lewont-phi. On the other hand,

erapemena is usually interpreted erraphmena 'sewn' and araromotemena as ararmotmena 'fitted out', both without

assimilation, but these spellings may be due to the tendency of scribes to preserve a constant form of the stem in

declension and conjugation.

Sonants

IE *j. Mycenaean exhibits the double treatment of initial *j-discussed on p. 224, but the problem is complicated by

uncertainty over the sign values. Where later Greek has an aspirate, the conventional transcription presents the

alternatives o/jo (jodososi, odoke, ote =

< *jo-).1 It may be that the syllabograms transcribed as j in fact were

neutral as to voice and encompassed the values [ç/j] and so were available as occasional renderings of the aspirate,

which may have had the value [x] closer to [ç] than [h]. This would explain the alternation jaketere/a2ketere, but

the identification of the two words is dubious. Intervocalically, however, there is supporting evidence 1, that -j-

may stand for the aspirate and 2, that -a2- may be used instead of the glide -j-. For 1, we have the adjective

describing perfumed oil with the meaning 'garment-anointing' wearepe (so twice)= wehaleiphes < *wes-aleiphes

(with neuter s-stem *aleiphos/-es-); but this is also written wejarepe (four times), though the -j- cannot be a glide

(the first element being *wes-), cf. also wea2noi = wehanoihi 'for garments' (dat. plur.). For 2, we may quote the

forms of the word for 'coriander': korijadana twice in MY, korijadono (constantly in KN), koria2dana (once each

in PY and MY). The distribution of the forms of the transaction term meaning something like 'to be exacted' (see

below), is interesting: PY has qetea2 and qetejo, whereas KN has qetea/qeteo. We shall argue that these gerundival

forms are based on verbal nouns in *-ti-/-tei-, the invervocalic -j- first developing to an aspirate which was

subsequently lost. The alternative

1 The alternation o-/jo- might reflect the distinction between the demonstrative pronoun *so- and relative

*jo-.

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spellings are most easily interpreted as reflections of this aspirate, which was preserved at PY (a2 = ha and jo =

ho), but already lost in KN. It should be added that the -j- spellings are no more evidence for the survival of

intervocalic *j than a2 is for the presence of -h- in the word for 'coriander'.

The other treatment of initial *j- is evidenced by zeukesi = gjeugessi < *jeug-, zesomeno = gjessomenoi * < *jes-

'boil'. The phonetic value of z- [gj] has just been discussed. For the similar development of *dj, *gj cf. above on

topeza = torpeza 'table' <

, mezoe = mezohes < *meg-jos-es.

There is one piece of evidence which suggests that the change j to gj was comparatively recent. Two Pylian texts

list components of buildings such as pirijao taranuwe = phliaon thranues 'cross-beams of door jambs'. Among

these components are epi*65ko (singular) and pe*65ka (plural). The common element is evidently *65ko/ka, a

neuter o-stem. This is compounded with the preposition epi in the first example, which suggests that pe-also stands

for a preposition and so points to a form per*65ka. Now there is a strong probability that *65 has the value ju. The

test of any value is the yield of vocabulary words plausible in the given context, and here we are fortunate in

having a later equivalent which fits:

, used of tiles, cf. 'cross-beam', a word also glossed by

Hesychius as 'part of a ship'. No such technical sense is attested for the later , but the component in question

will also have been a 'joining' piece. If these identifications are correct, then two points of phonological interest

emerge: 1, *j is preserved under the influence of the preceding vowel of

and ; 2, perijugo- > perrugo-

*(with palatalized geminate). This anticipates a phenomenon observable in the later Aeolic, dialects: e.g. Thess.

< Lesb. < , etc.

*kj- in alphabetic Greek was represented differently even in the closely-related Attic-Ionic (e.g. / ), and

this is evidence that these changes are later than A-I. The Mycenaean zawete, in our view, represents a stage

virtually identical with the ancestral *kja-wetes 'this year' (see p. 225).

*tj > s(s) : toso = tos(s)os < * totjos, pasa = pansa <

, operosa = pohelonsa < .

*pj in alphabetic Greek > pt. That this change was recent in Mycenaean Greek has been argued from analysis of

the sylla-

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bary: there is a sign pte which fits into the system better if we assume an ancestral *pj, one of the palatalized

consonants.

*w was retained in all positions: watu = wastu 'town', wirinijo = wrinijos 'of leather'; kakewe = khalkewes 'bronze-

smiths', karawiporo = klawiphoros 'key-bearer', widwoijo = Widwohios (a man's name), kesenuwija = xenwia 'for

guests', dowejo = dorweios 'wooden', kowo = korwos 'boy', 'youth'.

The cluster wj is rendered in two ways: mewijo/meujo = meiwijo(s) or (-n) 'smaller', diwija/diuja = Diwja, a

goddess.

The sonant nasals and liquids have all been vocalized in Mycenaean. In initial position

> a- before a consonant

and > an- before a vowel: akitito = aktitos 'uncleared, uncultivated', anamota = anarmota 'without wheels

(undercarriage)', a2tero = hateron < *smtero *; in other positions the vowel may be o under the influence of a

labial consonant: enewo- < *en(n)ewn* 'nine', pemo = spermo 'seed' < *spermn*(but pema also occurs), anowoto

= anowotos 'without handles' < *n-ousnto*.

The evidence for the sonant liquid

is confused and disputed.

The most certain vocabulary words are: opawota 'attachments' < *-awrta*, qetoropopi = *qwetropopphi*'

quadrupeds' < qwet(w)r-*, topeza = torpeza table' < (but the identity of the first element is doubtful), woze =

worgjei 'he works' < *wrgj*. At Mycenae we appear to have examples of ro/ar: woroneja (contrasting with ouka =

owika 'sheep's (wool)') is interpretable as wroneia 'lamb's (wool)' < *wrn*. It is also possible that a form worn <

*wrn* 'lamb' is the basis of the Pylian term wonewe 'young sheep', for it denotes a class of sheep contrasting with

parajo = palaioi 'old'. Another Ablaut form of the same root occurs in wereneja = wreneia, an adjective describing

leather; wren- (cf. Hom.

) will have been a sheep of a different age class from a lamb.

On the other hand, tukatasi (also MY) may be thugatarsi (dat. plur.) 'daughters' < *-trsi*. We should then have to

regard the first example as due to the influence of preceding w. That wodowe = wordowen 'rose (perfumed)' is

clear, but wordon/ (w)rodon fits into the pattern

/ so that it need not be < *wrdo*, a hypothesis which

in any case requires the assumption that in all dialects is a Mycenaean survival.

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Morphology

Nouns

Owing to the defects of the script the few distinct case-endings must be interpreted in the light of comparative

evidence.

A preliminary word must be said about the case-ending (or perhaps 'postposition') -phi. Words that require

interpretation as instrumentals are frequently distinguished by this ending and they are in parallel with singular

forms, e.g. ekamate/ekamapi 'support(s)', ponike/ponikipi 'palm tree(s)', adirijate/adirijapi 'statue(s)'. The suffix

appears in the instrumental plural of all noun classes except the o-declension, the solitary exception being at

Knossos, erepatejopi omopi 'with ivory omo-'. This corresponds to what is presumably the ancestral distribution: in

Sanskrit -ais appears in the o-nouns and -bhis elsewhere. The opposition appears clearly in the phrase erepatejo

adirijapi rewopiqe = elephanteiois andrian(t)phi lewon(t)phi qwe * 'inlaid with ivory figures of men and lions'.

The -phi is added directly to the stem and there is assimilation of the stem consonants except the dorsals: popi =

popphi < *pod-phi, but ponikipi = phoinikphi 'with palms'.

In the dual there is the disputed example (epi) ikuwoipi (see above), where' (in honour of) the Two Horses' makes

excellent sense in its context. The form, thus diagnosed, may be interpreted as hikwoiin-phi, with strengthening

'postposition' -phi added to the case-ending.

Another postposition is the 'allative' -de added to accusatives of direction: posidaijode = Posidahion-de, dikatade

= Diktan-de, woikode = woikon-de. Particularly striking is the pronominal form ude 'hither' (cf. Cret.

Aeolian

, etc.). The origin will be sought in Proto-Greek forms of the interrogative *qwu*(cf. Skt. kucid

'everywhere', Avest. ku 'where'). We may perhaps adduce

which lies behind Hom. . But the

interpretation of the Linear B word is dubious: ude could be a man's name.

In the o-stems -os -on -oio -oi are assumed, but only the genitive is distinct. Locatives in -ei are woke = woikei

and didakare = didaskalei (?). In the plural -oi -ons -on are presumed (all written -o). The dative is -o-i e.g. teoi,

and this is plausibly interpreted theoihi < *theoisi. The instrumental plural -o presumably con-

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ceals -ois : opoqo = opoqwois * 'with blinkers'. On the -phi suffix in erepatejopi and ikuwoiphi see above.

The feminine a-stems have the dual in -o, which is usually taken to stand for -o, but could be -oi (kotono = ktoino,

iqijo = hikwio, topezo = torpegjo). A dative dual has been proposed for wanasoi = wanassoiin 'to the two Queens'.

The genitive plural ends in -ao = -aon, and the dative plural ends in -ai = -aihi or -ahi (e.g. aketirijai). That the

nominative plural ended in -ai is certain because of the use of ra3 = rai in kutera3, etc.

The masculine a-stems have the regular Greek declension with genitive singular in -ao (akosotao = Alxoitao). We

cannot determine whether the nominative singular ended in -s. Noteworthy is the dual nominative eqetae,

apparently a borrowing from the consonantal stems.

The consonantal stems appear to have the normal Greek inflexion, as far as the orthographic system allows us to

see, except for the dative singular in -e = -ei (atimite = Artimitei, diwe = Diwei, cf.

, pomene =

poimenei), which predominates over -i. In the texts from Mycenae -i is usual, but there are also sporadic examples

from Pylos (posedaoni = Poseidaoni). Neuter s-stems in all Linear B archives show a preference for -i: wetei =

wetehi. In the dual we have nom./ accus. in -e (dipae = dipahe, mezoe = megjohe, qisipee = qwsiphehe* 'two

rapiers').

The plural shows the usual Greek endings -e = -es, -a = -as (pakijanade = pakijanasde, cf. nom. pakijane =

pakijanes), -o = on, -si = -si. In the dative plural of r-stems the expected reflection of zero grade

appears in

tukatasi (= thugatarsi, but the last two signs are dubious); but elsewhere they appear to have full grade: pirietesi =

prietersi 'sawyers'. But this is perhaps illusory, and the form may be due to the scribal tendency to keep the stem

form constant: a good example is wanakate, wanakatero = wanaktei, wanakteros. The written stem form is simply

that of wanax, which is written according to the rules wanaka, just as wonoqo = Woinoqws*. The 'regular' spelling

wanakete = wanaktei occurs once. In the neuter s-stems the forms pawesi, etc. are doubtless to be interpreted

pharwessi, etc.

For the i-stems we have only the form potipi = portiphi, on which see below. For the u-stems we have the plural

taranuwe = thranues. The stem alternation -u/-eu is perhaps exemplified in the

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word for 'son': iju = hius, dat. ijewei = hiewei. On the relations of these forms to

/ , see p. 276. The frequent

eu-stems show the normal declension with -ew- in the oblique cases and -eusi in the dative plural: kakeu =

khalkeus, kakewe = khalkewes, kakeusi = khalkeusi. For the diphthong-stem Djeu- we have genitive singular diwo

= Diwos, dative singular diwe = Diwei. The word gwous * occurs in the compounds quokoro = gwoukoloi* etc.

The form qoo appears to be accusative singular = gwon* (the plural *gwouns* > gwowos* would presumably be

written qowo), the second vowel being a scribal device for avoiding a monosyllabic writing.

The word for 'head' has a remarkable heteroclitic declension (see p. 278). The simple word occurs in the

instrumental plural karaapi (decorated with lions) 'heads', which may stand for karaa(t)phi or kraa(t)phi. The use

of a and not a2 precludes the derivation from *krsn-phi*, which underlies Skt. srsabhis*. We have further the

compounds quokara 'having a bull's head', seremokaraore and onokara(ore) (both instrumental singular). Later

Greek also has r extensions of the word for 'head' (p. 279), particularly in compounds: -kraor/-kraor- is thus

posited for the Mycenaean forms. The instrum. plur. in seremokaraapi is indistinguishable from that of simple

noun. The nominative qoukara presumably contains kara (not < *karasa, since karaha would be written karaa2),

or the zero grade kra: gwoukaras* or gwoukras*.

Comparison of Adjectives

The sole attested type is the inherited suffix -jos-, -tero- being confined to its original use of 'dual-oppositive', e.g.

wanakatero 'belonging to the Wanax', zawetera 'this year'. In the nom. sing. the spelling rules do not allow us to

decide whether the ending was -jos or -jon, but the former is more remote from the unanimous testimony of

alphabetic Greek, so the interpretation -jon should perhaps be preferred. Examples are masc.-fem. nom. sing. mezo

= megjo(s) (n) 'bigger', mewijo/meujo = meiwjo(s) (n) 'smaller', dual mezoe, mewijoe with ending -e, plur. mezoe,

mewijoe, kazoe (= kakiohes 'of inferior quality'), all with -es. In the neuter we have nominative singular mewijo =

meiujo(s)(n), dual aro2e = arjohe 'of superior quality', mezoe, plural mewijoa2,

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meujoa2, all with -joha, but aro2a (six times at Knossos !) with no indication of -h-.

Pronouns

An anaphoric enclitic form corresponding to Homeric

occurs in demodemi pasi = damosdemin phasi 'but the

damos says that she...' and akitito ekedemi a2kumijo 'uncultivated, but A2. holds it (a plot of land)'. Pei is evidently

third person plural instrumental-comitative in the phrase meta pei 'with them...'. The rigorous application of the

spelling rules requires interpretation as sphehi rather than connection with Arcadian

(see further pp. 288 f. for

the stem sphe-). The form autojo, obviously genitive singular, occurs in a tablet of uncertain reading, while auto-

occurs as the first element in proper names, e.g. autoteqajo = Autothegwaios *. Of the demonstrative forms the

only certain example is toi ereutera = toihi '(so much is) remitted to them'. On the alleged locative forms toe, tome

see below. A reduplicated form toto (for the dubious occurrence in an early Attic inscription, see p. 286) occurs in

the phrase totoweto 'this year'.

The only instances of the relative pronouns are the proclitic o-/jo- in the introductory formulae jodososi (see

above). The conjunction ore occurs and we may also have oqe with possible future reference in the phrase oqe

erase 'when he drives' (see below). A form joqi = jo(d)qwi(d)* (?) occurs in a phrase joqi wotomo pere =

jo(d)qwi(d)* W. pherei (?), 'what W. is bringing'.

The pronominal adjectives toso-/tosode are presumably to be transcribed tossos/tossosde. At Mycenae tosone may

be a demonstrative with the same appended particle as Thessalian

, but the diagnosis is uncertain.

Numerals

The dative eme = hemei shows that the word for 'one' hems < *sems still retained the -m- in the oblique cases (on

the origin of -n- in the neuter

< , see p. 289). Two forms for 'two' are attested: dwo and the

locative/instrumental duwoupi. The Mycenaean form of the nominative seems to have been monosyllabic, as in

Attic

( < *dwo-, Ved. d(u)va); the genitive-

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