Arcadocypriot Greek

Arcadocypriot Greek

Arcadocypriot Greek is an ancient dialect of the Greek language that was spoken in the regions of Arcadia in the central Peloponnese and Cyprus during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. It is one of the Ancient Greek dialects and is closely related to Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Linear B tablets.

Historical Context

Arcadocypriot Greek emerged after the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization around the 12th century BCE. As the Mycenaean palatial centers fell, the Greek-speaking populations dispersed, leading to the development of distinct dialects. Arcadocypriot Greek is considered a descendant of Mycenaean Greek, retaining many archaic features that were lost in other Greek dialects.

Geographic Distribution

The dialect was primarily spoken in two regions:

• Arcadia: Located in the central part of the Peloponnese, Arcadia was a mountainous region that remained relatively isolated, allowing the preservation of older linguistic features.
• Cyprus: The island of Cyprus, located in the eastern Mediterranean, was colonized by Greek settlers who brought the Arcadocypriot dialect with them.

Linguistic Features

Arcadocypriot Greek shares several features with Mycenaean Greek, including:

• The retention of the digamma (ϝ), an archaic letter representing the sound /w/.
• The use of certain archaic verb forms and inflections.
• Vocabulary that is closer to Mycenaean than to other later Greek dialects.

Writing System

In Cyprus, Arcadocypriot Greek was written using the Cypriot syllabary, a script derived from the Linear A and Linear B scripts. This syllabary was used from the 11th century BCE until the adoption of the Greek alphabet in the 4th century BCE.

Relationship to Other Dialects

Arcadocypriot Greek is part of the Aeolic Greek group, which also includes Aeolic Greek spoken in Thessaly and Boeotia. However, it is more closely related to Mycenaean Greek than to other Aeolic dialects.

Decline and Legacy

The use of Arcadocypriot Greek began to decline with the spread of the Koine Greek during the Hellenistic period. By the 4th century BCE, the Greek alphabet had replaced the Cypriot syllabary, and the dialect gradually gave way to the more widespread Koine.

See Also

• Mycenaean Greek
• Ancient Greek dialects
• Cypriot syllabary
• Koine Greek

References

• Chadwick, John. The Decipherment of Linear B. Cambridge University Press, 1958.
• Woodard, Roger D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge University Press, 2004.