Graeco-Phrygian languages
Proposed subgroup of Indo-European languages
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Graeco-Phrygian (/ˌɡriːkoʊˈfrɪdʒiən/) is a proposed subgroup of the Indo-European language family which comprises the Hellenic and Phrygian languages.
- Graeco-Phrygian
| Graeco-Phrygian | |
|---|---|
| Greco-Phrygian | |
| (proposed) | |
| Geographic distribution | Southern Balkans, Anatolia and Cyprus |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Graeco-Phrygian |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | grae1234 |
Modern consensus views Greek as the closest relative of Phrygian, a position that is supported by Brixhe, Neumann, Matzinger, Woodhouse, Ligorio, Lubotsky, and Obrador-Cursach. Furthermore, out of 36 isoglosses collected by Obrador Cursach, Phrygian shared 34 with Greek, with 22 being exclusive between them. The last 50 years of Phrygian scholarship developed a hypothesis that proposes a proto-Graeco-Phrygian stage out of which Greek and Phrygian originated, and if Phrygian was more sufficiently attested, that stage could perhaps be reconstructed.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Evidence
The linguist Claude Brixhe points to the following features Greek and Phrygian are known to have in common and in common with no other language:[1]
- a certain class of masculine nouns in the nominative singular ending in -s
- a certain class of denominal verbs
- the pronoun auto-
- the participial suffix -meno-
- the stem kako-
- and the conjunction ai
Obrador-Cursach (2019) has presented further phonetic, morphological and lexical evidence supporting a close relation between Greek and Phrygian, as seen in the following tables that compare the different isoglosses between Phrygian, Greek, Armenian, Albanian and Indo-Iranian.[7]
| Phrygian features | Greek | Armenian | Albanian | Indo-Iranian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centum treatment | + | – | – | – |
| *CRh₃C > *CRōC | + | – | – | – |
| Loss of /s/ | + | + | + | – |
| Prothetic vowels | + | + | + | – |
| *-ih₂ > -iya | + | – | + | – |
| *ki̯- > s- | + | – | – | – |
| *-m > -n | + | + | ? | – |
| *M > T | – | + | – | – |
| Phrygian features | Greek | Armenian | Albanian | Indo-Iranian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditional ai | + | – | – | – |
| e-augment | + | + | + | + |
| e-demonstrative | + | – | – | – |
| *-eh₂-s masc. | + | – | – | – |
| t-enlargement | + | – | – | – |
| verbs in -e-yo- | + | – | – | – |
| verbs in -o-yo- | + | – | – | – |
| *-dhn̥ | + | – | – | – |
| *dhh₁s-ó- | + | – | – | – |
| *-eu̯-/*-ēu̯- | + | – | – | – |
| *gu̯her-mo- | + | + | + | – |
| *gu̯neh₂-ik- | + | + | – | – |
| *h₂eu̯-to- | + | – | + | – |
| *h₃nh₃-mn- | + | + | – | – |
| *méǵh₂-s | + | – | – | – |
| *meh₁ | + | + | + | + |
| *-mh₁no- | + | – | – | – |
| ni(y)/νι | + | – | – | – |
| *-(t)or | – | ? | – | – |
| -toy/-τοι | + | – | – | + |
- Highlighted text indicates that borrowing cannot be totally ruled out.
| Phrygian features | Greek | Armenian | Albanian | Indo-Iranian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *bhoh₂-t-/*bheh₂-t- | + | – | – | – |
| *(h₁)en-mén- | + | – | – | – |
| *ǵhl̥h₃-ró- | + | – | – | – |
| kako- | + | – | – | – |
| ken- | + | + | – | – |
| *koru̯- | + | – | – | – |
| *mōro- | + | – | – | – |
| *sleh₂gu̯- | + | – | – | – |
- Highlighted text indicates that borrowing cannot be totally ruled out.
Other proposals
Hellenic has also been variously grouped with Armenian and Indo-Iranian (Graeco-Armenian; Graeco-Aryan) and, more recently, Messapic. The linguist Václav Blažek states that, in regard to the classification of these languages, "the lexical corpora do not allow any quantification" (see corpus and quantitative comparative linguistics).[8]
