Abstract

In this work, a number of vocalic changes in the Attic-Ionic Greek dialect group are examined from chronological and theoretical perspectives. These include a vocalic chain shift among the (originally) back vowels that occurred in both Attic and Ionic, quantitative metathesis, the second compensatory lengthening, and the Attic Rückverwandlung (reversion). After discussing the orthographic evidence from inscriptions found throughout the Attic-Ionic dialectal area and taking into consideration both synchronic and diachronic phonological theory, I advocate for a particular relative chronology of these changes. Finally, the significance of these changes for a theory of vocalic chain shifting is presented. This involves a consideration of the status of /u/-fronting and of push chains in historical phonology in general.

Highlights

  • The goal of the present paper is to analyze a set of changes in the AtticIonic Greek vowel system that hold interest for both historical linguists and phonological theorists

  • I hope to shed some light on some of the prehistoric and historical developments within the Attic-Ionic dialect group throughout the first millennium BCE by securing a relative—and, to the extent that it is possible, absolute—chronology of changes to the vocalic system of these dialects, focusing on the Attic-Ionic vocalic chain shift and the Attic reversion (‘Rückverwandlung’), and by examining the phonetic motivations that led to such dramatic phonological restructuring

  • Historians of the Greek dialects have long recognized that the Attic-Ionic dialect group differed from the other dialect groups in its treatment of the [a] inherited from Proto-Indo-European

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Summary

Introduction

The goal of the present paper is to analyze a set of changes in the AtticIonic Greek vowel system that hold interest for both historical linguists and phonological theorists. I hope to shed some light on some of the prehistoric and historical developments within the Attic-Ionic dialect group throughout the first millennium BCE by securing a relative—and, to the extent that it is possible, absolute—chronology of changes to the vocalic system of these dialects, focusing on the Attic-Ionic vocalic chain shift and the Attic reversion (‘Rückverwandlung’), and by examining the phonetic motivations that led to such dramatic phonological restructuring. I discuss the import of this series of changes as it pertains to the controversy surrounding the empirical and theoretical motivations for the ‘push chain’ mechanism

Historical background
The Attic reversions
Relative chronology
Absolute chronology
The Attic-Ionic vocalic chain shift
Analysis
Theoretical concerns
Conclusion
Full Text
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