The Greek Language

by Leonard R. Palmer

In this companion volume to his earlier work, The Latin Language, Leonard R. Palmer now provides a history of The Greek Language, including an overview of the coming of the Greeks, the Linear B. Tablets, the Greek dialects, genres (in poetry and prose), and a comparative-historical grammar. Palmer discusses the transformation of the Greek language from its Indo-European roots, through the Bronze and Dark Ages, to the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods and beyond. Major authors and genres are discussed throughout the history, including essays on Homer, Melic poetry, tragedy, Herodotus and Thucydides.

Genres: Linguistics, Classics

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1996

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leonard R. Palmer was one of America's great classical educators in the 20th century. His 1954 book THE LATIN LANGUAGE was an immensely helpful book for people who wanted a rigorous linguistic, not just philological, history. His companion volume THE GREEK LANGUAGE was delayed for many years so the author could get up to speed with Linear B studies, but it finally appeared in 1980. The book is informative in many respects, but already quite dated and superseded by newer resources.

The book consists of two parts. The first, "An Outline History of the Greek Language" is a sweeping view going from the first evidence of a distinct Greek presence in the Balkan peninsula to the birth of Modern Greek. The introduction to the Mycenaean world here, though in many respects dated, is still among the friendliest in English. Palmer's arguments for Greek-Anatolian language contact are sure to be thought-provoking. But what may prove most useful here is an introduction to the various literary languages, from elegy and iambos to melic poetry, choral poetry to tragedy, and the prose styles. I'd recommend this for anyone who has finished a rigorous course in Attic and who wants to start tackling other writings. However, those looking for very detailed analysis of various styles and registers may instead want to look at Stephen Colvin's recent HISTORICAL GREEK READER (Oxford, 2007).

The second part is the "Comparative-Historical Grammar", which tries to show how Greek evolved from Proto-Indo-European. All I can say is that this entire section is superseded by Andrew L. Sihler's NEW COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR OF GREEK AND LATIN (Oxford, 1996), which represents significantly more recent thought on Proto-Indo-European and which uses a much more mainstream transcription.

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am currently re-reading the Iliad in Greek, together with a largely linguistic commentary, which is why I decided to read this history of the language.

I read the same author's 1954 book The Latin Language a year and a half ago, and learned very much from it. He intended to write this similar account of Greek immediately after the first book, but the decipherment of Linear B and the subsequent study of the earliest known form of Greek (which Palmer was very much involved in) caused him to put it off until 1980.

The structure of this book is similar to the one on Latin; a first part which is a general history of the language and literature, and a second part which goes into more detail on the phonology and grammar. This one is more difficult, in part because where Latin had a single development, initially in one city, Greek from the beginning was divided into different dialects, and had a number of artificial dialects as well (Homer, tragedy, elegiac and lyric poetry all had their own "languages".) There also seem to have been more changes in the language, perhaps because it is documented over a longer period. (The book concentrates mainly on ancient Greek, with only a short account of the Byzantine and modern languages.)

One problem with the arrangement of the book is that the first part uses concepts and terminology which is not explained until the second part; even knowing (Homeric and classical) Greek and Latin, and having taken basic linguistics in college, I found it hard going. The explanations of the development of the language from proto-Indo-European was interesting, and I got a better understanding of the relationships of the different dialects. I think some things were not as clearly explained as in the first book.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

An clear lift and adaptation in structure from his "The Latin Language," though none the worse for wear. His discussion of the history of the Greek language, his analysis of its evolution and polytropic applications, and the examinations of the peculiarities of syntax and semantics are more concise and full.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely my favorite book on the history of the Greek language . . . yes, it's a little dated now, but still a stunning achievement.