Example Text
Eduard Schwyzer in his Griechische Grammatik (1939, I.74-75) has translated famous lines of Classical Greek into Proto-Greek. His reconstruction was ignorant of Mycenaean and assumes Proto-Greek loss of labiovelars and syllabic resonants, among other things. Thus, Schwyzer's reconstruction corresponds to an archaic but post-Mycenaean dialect rather than actual Proto-Greek.
| Original text | Proto-Greek reconstruction | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Schwyzer, 1939 | Modern | ||
| Homer, Odyssey 1.1 (Ionia, 8th century BC) |
Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον | ανερα μοι ενσεπε (or -τε), μοντja (μωντjα?), πολύτροπον | *anerã moi enʰekʷet, montˢa, polutrokʷon |
| Plato, Apology (Athens, early 4th century BC) |
ὅτι μὲν ὑμεῖς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πεπόνθατε ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμῶν κατηγόρων, οὐκ οἶδα· ἐγὼ δ’ οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς ὓπ’ αὐτῶν ὀλίγου ἐμαυτοῦ ἐπελαθόμην, οὕτω πιθανῶς ἔλεγον. καίτοι ἀληθές γε ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν οὐδὲν εἰρήκασιν | ‘ϝοττι μᾱν (?) υμμε, ω ανερες Αθᾱναιοι, πεπᾱσθε υπο κατᾱγορων μεο, ου ϝοιδα· εγω δε εον (?) κ. α. υ. α. ολιγοιο εμεο αυτοιο επελαθομᾱν, τως (or *τω) πιθανως (or -ω) ελεγοντ. κ. αλᾱθες γε ὡς (or ὡ) ϝεπος ϝειπεεν (or ϝευπ.) ουδε ἑν ϝεϝρηκᾰτι | *çokʷid mān umʰe. ō aneres Atʰānaïoi, pepãstʰe upo katāgorōn meho. oju woida; egō de ōn kai autos up’ autōn oligoço emeho autoço epi latʰomān, tō pitʰanō elegont. kai toi ãlātʰes ge çō wekʷos wewekʷehen oude hen wewrēkãti |
| The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9 (Syria, late 1st century AD) |
πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου | πατερ αμμεων ὁ (τοισι) ορϝανοισι (resp. singular) (ἁγιον or αγνον εστωδ) ενυμα τϝεο | *pater ãmʰōn ho worʱanoihi, çagion estōd enumã tweho |
Notes: The reconstruction assumes that the old combinations of sonorants + s in either sequence (*ns, *ms, *rs, *ls, *u̯s, *i̯s, *sn, *sm, *sr, *sl, *su̯, *si̯ ) were pronounced as unvoiced sonorants before they were simplified as short voiced sonorants with compensatory lengthening ν, μ, ρ, λ, (ϝ), (ι) in most dialects or as long voiced sonorants νν, μμ, ρρ, λλ, υ(ϝ), ι in Aeolic. It is also assumed that the PIE syllabic nasals (*n̥, *m̥) were pronounced as nasal, before it split into α in most dialects and ο as a variant in some dialects (Mycenaean, Arcadian, Aeolic).
Read more about this topic: Proto-Greek Language
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