Α.-Φ. Χριστίδης (ed.) Ιστορία της Ελληνικής γλώσσας από τις αρχές έως την ύστερη αρχαιότητα. Thessaloniki: Centre for the Greek Language, Institute for Modern Greek Studies (Manolis Triandafyllidis Foundation), 2001. 1215 pages

Reviewed by Pietro Bortone (University of Illinois at Chicago)

The Centre for the Greek Language, with the support of the Institute for Modern Greek Studies of the Aristotle University, has brought to completion its largest enterprise yet. The History of the Greek Language from the Origins to Late Antiquity, edited by Anastasios Christidis, is an extremely substantial multi-authored collection of articles; most (if not all) of these appear to have been written especially for this volume, and they therefore form an organic and coherent whole with a logical sequence. Forty-five Greek and thirty non-Greek (mainly British and French) scholars have contributed a total of 123 articles, grouped into nine parts, with three appendices. Most names are very familiar to anyone working in Classical or Modern Greek philology (to name just a few, without meaning to undervalue the others: Brixhe, Brock, Bubenik, Chadwick, Duhoux, Horrocks, Joseph, Malikouti-Drachman, Maronitis, Panagiotou, Philippaki-Warburton, Setatos, West).

Contrary to what the title of the book may lead one to suppose, the subject areas of the book are not just the language of the period in question and the history behind it: an admirable array of related topics is also included. Given the size of the volume, it is convenient to give here a synopsis of its main sections (listed by content, not title):

1. Introduction to Language and Linguistics;
2. Greek from the origin: Indo-European, writing systems, pre-Greek languages;
3. Ancient Greek varieties and dialects (including Attic-Ionic);
4. Synchrony and diachrony of the Greek language;
5. Other languages (influences they received from and exerted onto Greek);
6. Translation;
7. Style and genres; terminologies (medical, philosophical, legal); semantic change induced by cultural change;
8. Ancient attitudes toward language;
9. Ancient Greek in Europe and back in Greece;
10. Appendices on: wordplay; the language of divination; proverbs; music; obscenities; the epistolary style.

Even from this highly condensed outline it can be seen that the scope of the book is unusually wide and that it covers many topics that are rare in a general 'history of the Greek language'^[1] - which is, after all, the topic of many other books (e.g. Costas 1936, Horrocks 1997, Jannaris 1897, Meillet 1965, Moleas 1989, Palmer 1980, and Semenov 1936, among others, though not all focus on the ancient stages of the language per se).

The immense - and yet never unjustified - variety of subjects touched upon is therefore the main (positive) innovation of the book. In the content, the focus is more on the scholarly consensus in each given field, rather than on the launching of new theories. To quote two examples at random: the origin of gender is, following Meillet, said to be a secondary division after the distinction between animates and inanimates (Papanastasiou/Petrounias, p. 422); when the post-Classical evolution of the ancient dialects is discussed, although a some-what alternative analysis is also offered (Brixhe, 361ff.), the traditional picture is presented first. This approach is quite reasonable, inasmuch as many articles deal with subjects not well known even to Greek philologists; furthermore, despite its size, the book has an introductory character, being aimed at a 'generalist' audience. Nonetheless, it contains plentiful and wide-ranging material in which Hellenists of any specialty can find stimulating new informa-tion in fields neighbouring their own.

Of the sections on lesser-known topics, a particularly interesting and praiseworthy one, covering over a hundred pages, treats the influences exerted on Greek by other languages and by Greek on other languages. This is another topic usually neglected in 'Histories' of Ancient Greek; normally, it is only in the treatment of post-Classical Greek that the issue of foreign influences is considered (e.g. Semitisms in Biblical Greek, or Latin influences in Medieval Greek). In other words, we can see that our tradition tends to regard Classical Greek as standard also in this regard, and to treat loanwords and caiques as truly foreign only if not found already in Classical Greek. This book takes a different line, and gives equal weight to interlinguistic influences in all the historical stages considered.

Another topic area which receives a section (some 60 pages) to itself, and the importance of which has only recently been fully appreciated, is transla-tions. Although it is true that, in the Classical period, the influence of translated works on literary production was limited we are made aware that it was not as limited as it is commonly assumed to have been, and that it increased dramati-cally in the post-Classical era.

The other novel aspect of this book is its pervasive historical slant. In this respect, it moves slightly away from the trend that has shaped most studies in linguistics of the last few decades. For a number of years, the study of Greek (and most linguistic research in general) has been either synchronically focused or, if not, limited to Ancient Greek (with splendid exceptions such as Horrocks 1997). In this book we see a more multi-dimensional approach. This very positive change was possible thanks both to the multiple authorship and to the fact that the background of many contributors (to name but a few: Christidis, Horrocks, Joseph, Kazazis) encompasses training both in Classical and in Modern Greek philology, as well as in theoretical linguistics. In fact, although the history traced by this book stops at "Late Antiquity", occasional notes on later developments are included; furthermore, a complementary volume covering the history of Greek from late antiquity to this day is rumoured to have been part of the plan from its inception.

The book's attention to history goes beyond the treatment of the diachrony of Greek itself. Even the 'general' chapters of the first section, entitled The language phenomenon, which provide the basics of linguistics and of other ancillary disci-plines, include, at least incidentally, a historical take normally missing in recent writings on similar topics in the Anglo-Saxon scholarly tradition. There are also frequent references to older and ancient scholars; thus the diachronic evolution of the field, besides that of the object of enquiry, is highlighted.

Through this book, the importance and the value of the diachronic study of Greek become self-evident; Christidis rightly observes (p. 4) that for a language with such a rich and well-documented history as Greek, the development of a number of new linguistic approaches in the twentieth century has opened the door to exciting and fruitful research; it is also clear that, conversely, the long and well-documented history of Greek (if one studies it in its entirety) offers an exceptionally rich and useful terrain of research for historical linguistics in general.

Many individual chapters, before analysing a form of Greek from a particular perspective, introduce the theoretical background to their discipline, so that non-specialists are not left out. For instance, the outline of the phonology of Classical Greek (Malikouti-Drachman, p. 386-401) starts with a very concise explanation of what distinguishes phonology from phonetics, phonemes from allophones, a structuralist from a generative approach, and introduces basic conventions of notation, before moving onto a (sound and lucid) treatment of Greek.

Purely theoretical issues are by no means omitted or avoided, but they are treated as a means to an end or as a framework. In the initial section of the book, the main relevant notions on language acquisition, language change, the nature of language, and psycholinguistics are outlined. Some specialists in the field will find such brief outlines insufficient, but here they serve well the simple purpose of alerting linguistically less sophisticated readers to the variety of background disciplines involved - the book, after all, is aimed also at non-linguists (hence, for instance, a glossary and charts for the International Phonetic Alphabet are to be found at the end). Even the specifically 'Greek' topics are dealt with concisely, and it would be easy - but ungenerous - for a specialist to complain that his or her subfield is presented in an overly succinct and, at times, simplified fashion. The book, for instance, deals with the verbal morphology of Classical Greek in just over four pages; but nowhere does it suggest that such coverage is comprehensive - countless grammars, including some very good ones, already fulfil that function. The aim (and the advantage) of this book, as noted before, is its breadth and the sense of richness that only a wide overview of the history of Greek can (and will not fail to) convey. The bibliographical references provide directions for further reading. Extensive synchronic descriptions here would somehow clash with the overall diachronic angle and, above all, the conciseness of each section is what makes it easier for the reader to note the interrelation between any given topic and the subjects presented before and after it.

Key topics are not just outlined from a linguistic perspective but are presented with additional contributions on the relative history, geography, and culture: e.g. on the Indo-Europeans (Clackson, p. 142ff.), on pre-Classical history (Andreou, p. 165), on the Classical Age (Veliyianni-Terzi, p.224ff.), on pre-Greek languages and Linear A (Duhoux, p. 173ff., 180ff.), or on the 'Barbarians' (Cartledge, p.231ff.). There is also the necessary sprinkling of photographs, diagrams, and maps. One also finds many contributions on writing systems (Karali, p. 157ff., Chadwick, p. 200ff.) and on the history of the alphabet (Voutyras, p. 210ff.) - another subject often neglected in accounts of the history of Greek. And, since most contributions contain a mini-introduc-tion to the subfield they touch upon, even treatments of subjects related directly to the Greek language open a window onto neighbouring areas of study: the discussion of the Indo-European origins of Greek (Joseph, p. 128ff.) gives readers also a general view of the issues involved in comparative and recon-structive historical linguistics and a brief presentation of the main sister languages; in the discussion of Hellenistic Greek (Bubenik, p. 258ff.), the general concepts of κοινή, or lingua franca, of diglossia and of pidgins are first introduced, with references to many other languages and to the evolution of scholarly views on these subjects. Very many contributions include also selected passages from Greek authors of the period discussed, with translation.

The essential merit of this book and of its description of Greek is therefore that it does not present Greek - as is often done - in a vacuum; rather, it underlines its (synchronic) connection to its dialects, to sister languages, and to unrelated languages with which it interacted for geographical, historical, or cultural reasons. At the same time, it shows the (diachronic) connection between its various historical phases and its overall evolution. The book thus gives a realistic and natural picture, showing both the extraordinary and the ordinary - bringing Ancient Greek to life as a contemporary language, in a way in which a simple (even good and exhaustive) grammar could not do.

There are occasional oversights in the text, but certainly not nearly enough to make the book unreliable - examples at random: αἱρεῖ is to be glossed as present, not future, p. 948; the IPA chart indicates the symbol hi as alveolar but then says that it occurs in the (dental) Greek τυρί, while the American /r/ is said to be in the "English" pronunciation of butter, p. 1105; the Italian sputarne should be spuntarne, p. 596).

Finally, there is another noteworthy way in which the book is innovative: an ideological one. In his introduction (p. 3ff.), Christidis explicitly shifts the focus - rightly and refreshingly - away from the customarily emphasised conservativism of Greek onto its development and its diachronic transforma-tion. Other Greek contributors do the same: Nikiforidou (p. 102) notes "evident huge changes occurred at all levels" between Ancient and Modern Greek - although her suggestion that language change cannot be hindered by artificial intervention (p. 107) is belied, in my view, by the history of post-Classical Greek itself. The importance of change is underlined further by a section on special terminologies and, above all, by one on culturally-induced semantic shifts (p. 837ff.); the articles here highlight decisive changes in meaning, including in the meaning of crucial words, like Hellenismos (Vasilaki, p. 839), that have lived to our day with a long semantic history which is prima facie not obvious.

Even where comments on parallels and differences with Modern Greek usage would have been called for, or at least suitable, Greek contributors have been quite restrained. Neohellenists may rightly find this regrettable, but it is in line with the title of the book. It is also necessary if, in future editions in other languages - an English version is indeed already in the pipeline - readers with no Modern Greek (a group which, sadly, still includes most Classicists and evenmany Classical philologists) are to be the target readership.

In many respects the book gives proper space both to aspects traditionally neglected in Greece (e.g. the fact that the pronunciation of Ancient Greek was dramatically different from that of today - Petrounias, p. 402ff., 41 Off.), as well as to facts too often ignored outside Greece (above all, the linguistic continuity from the ancient to the modern period - Joseph, p. 516ff. - and, indirectly, the usefulness of a good knowledge of Modern Greek for the study of Ancient Greek philology - Katsanis, p. 594). It therefore gives, in a very readable style, an overall picture of Ancient Greek that is balanced, sensible, multi-faceted - and endlessly fascinating.

References

1. Costas, Procope S. 1936. An outline of the history of the Greek language with particular emphasis on the Koine and subsequent periods. Chicago: Ukrainian Academy of Sciences of America. [Reprinted 1979, Chicago: Ares.]
2. Horrocks, Geoffrey. 1997. Greek: A history of the language and its speakers. London: Long-man.
3. Jannaris, Antonius N. 1897. An historical Greek grammar chiefly of the Attic dialect as written and spoken from classical antiquity down to the present time: Founded upon the ancient texts, inscriptions, papyri and present popular Greek. London: Macmillan. [Reprinted 1968/1987, Hildesheim: G. Olms.]
4. Meillet, Antoine. 1913. Apercu d'une histoire de la langue grecque. Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie. [Reprinted, Avec bibliographic mise a jour et completee par Oliver Masson, 1965, Paris: C. Klincksieck.]
5. Moleas, Wendy. 1989. The development of the Greek language. Bristol: Bristol Classical Press.
6. Palmer, Leonard R. 1980. The Greek language. London: Faber and Faber.
7. Semenov, Anatol F 1936. The Greek language in its evolution: An introduction to its scientific study. London: G. Allen & Unwin.