Re: Graiugenic languages (was: Re: Another phonological extreme...)

At 8:02 am +0200 24/7/00, BP Jonsson wrote:
>>Date:         Thu, 20 Jul 2000 02:50:15 -0400
>>Reply-To: Muke Tever <realvinegar@...>
>>I got to thinking about what the
>>Romance languages would look like if they were Greek- instead of
>>Latin-based.  (Any conlangs like that around? ...)
>
>No, but it *is* a terriffic idea -- just what would be likely to happen in
>Lucus (my alternate timeline).
>
>BTW, does anyone know anything about what (modern) Italiote Greek
>looks/looked like?  (I suppose that would be Ray, who is out capering in
>the Continent...)
Just finished - capering to Berlin, then onto Poland capering Wrocl~aw,
Kraków & Zakopane (tho the visit to Auschwitz while staying in Kraków was
certainly not a caper), on through Slovakia to Budapest in Hungary, then to
Prague and, via the fammous brwery at Plzen˜ (Pilsen), home to the UK - all
in 13 days!  Am now recovering :)

As I'll be disappearing to south Wales for a few days, my Conlang account
is still set to NOMAIL until the 8th August.  For those wondering how I got
this one, you'll see the Philip sent it to me hoping, presumably &
correctly, that I might take a peek sometime between caping round central
Europe & visiting the family in Wales.

I'm afraid I can't give much info on modern Italiote Greek.  And, possibly,
you've already been given info which surpasses my meager efforts.  FWIW all
I know is:
- it was once spoken by the peasantry over many parts of southern Italy but
is/was now confined to two small enclaves - one around the Otranto area in
the "heel" of Italy and the other in the "toe" around Bova & Calabria;
- it was descended from the vernacular of Graeca Magna (i.e. southern
Italy) of the late Roman Empire; this was probably a regional variety of
Koine with heavy dialect coloring;
- this community was isolated from the rest of the Hellenic world from the
death of Theodosius in 395 except for brief reintegrations with the
Byzantine world;
- k (kappa) is palatized before front vowels (like Italian c);
- double lambda has become /dd/ and double consonants of the ancient
language are retained;
- the 3rd person plural ending -ousi is retained (unlike Modern Greek which
has -oun);
- the old feminine plural definite articles ai (nom), tas (acc) survived in
the Otranto area;
- many ancient words which have disappeared from the language of mainland
Greek, survived in southern Italy - but, alas, I have no list of examples.

The guy who, it seems, has written most on modern Italiote Greek is G.
Rohlfs; unfortunately I have none of his books and I don't know if English
versions are available of any of them.  The ones I know of are:
Griechen und Romanen in Unteritalien, Munich, 1924
Etymologisches Wörterbuch der unteritalienischen Gräzität, Halle, 1930
Scavi linguistici nella Magna Grecia, Rome, 1933
Historische Grammatik der unteritalienischen Gräzität, Munich, 1950
Neue Beiträge zur Kenntnis der unteritalienischen Gräzität, Munich, 1962

One could also try:
L'origine des dialectes néo-grecs de l'Italie méridionale, S. Caratzas,
Paris, 1958

Sorry I can't be more helpful.  Bonne chance!

Ray.




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A mind which thinks at its own expense
will always interfere with language.
                   [J.G. Hamann 1760]
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