:''This article is about the language used in antiquity. For the modern, unrelated, Slavic language, see Macedonian_language and for its ancestor, see Old_Church_Slavonic.''
{{language
|name=Ancient Macedonian
|region=Macedonia (''extinct language'')
|extinct=absorbed by Common Greek in the Hellenistic_Age
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2= Proto-Greek or Ancient Greek dialects, possibly Paleo-Balkan_languages (''genetic affiliation uncertain'')
|iso2=ine|iso3=xmk}}
The '''Ancient Macedonian language''' was the tongue of the Ancient_Macedonians. It was spoken in Macedon during the 1st_millennium_BC. Marginalized from the 5th century BC, it was gradually replaced by the common Greek dialect of the Hellenistic Era. It was probably spoken predominantly in the inland regions away from the coast. It is as yet undetermined whether the language was a dialect of Greek, a separate yet sibling Language of Greek, or an independent Indo-European language close to Greek, Thracian and Phrygian languages.
Knowledge of the language is very limited because there are no surviving texts that are indisputably written in the language, though a body of authentic Macedonian words has been assembled from ancient sources, mainly from coin inscriptions, and from the 5th_century lexicon of Hesychius_of_Alexandria, amounting to about 700 words and proper names. Most of these are confidently identifiable as Greek, but some of them are not easily reconciled with standard Greek phonology.
The Pella_katadesmos (curse tablet, a ''defixio''), a text written in a distinct Doric_Greek idiom, found in Pella in 1986, dated to between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, has been forwarded as an argument that the ancient Macedonian language was a dialect of North-Western Greek, part of the Doric dialects (O. Masson, 1996). Before the discovery it was proposed that the Macedonian dialect was an early form of Greek, spoken alongside Doric proper at that time (Rhomiopoulou, 1980).
Image:pellatab.jpg ''katadesmos'': from Prof. Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, Bryn Mawr College ]]
==Properties==
Only little about the language can be said from the few words that survive. A notable sound-law is that PIE voiced aspirates appear as voiced stops, written '''{{Polytonic|β}}''', '''{{Polytonic|γ}}''', '''{{Polytonic|δ}}''' in contrast to all known Greek dialects, which have unvoiced them to '''{{Polytonic|φ}}''', '''{{Polytonic|χ}}''', '''{{Polytonic|θ}}'''.
*Macedonian '''{{Polytonic|δανός}}''' ''danós'' ('Death', from PIE *''dhenh2-'' 'to leave'), compare Attic '''{{Polytonic|θάνατος}}''' ''thánatos''
*Macedonian '''{{Polytonic|ἀβροῦτες}}''' ''abroûtes'' or '''{{Polytonic|ἀβροῦϜες}}''' ''abroûwes'' as opposed to Attic '''{{Polytonic|ὀφρῦς}}''' ''ophrûs'' for 'eyebrows'
*Macedonian '''{{Polytonic|Βερενίκη}}''' ''Bereníkē'' versus Attic '''{{Polytonic|Φερενίκη}}''' ''Phereníkē'', 'bearing victory' *'''{{Polytonic|ἄδραια}}''' ''adraia'' ('bright weather'), compare Attic '''{{Polytonic|αἰθρία}}''' ''aithría'', from PIE *''h2aidh-''
*'''{{Polytonic|βάσκιοι}}''' ''báskioi'' ('fasces'), from PIE *''bhasko''
*According to Hdt. 7.73 (ca. 440_BC), the Macedonians claimed that the ''Phryges'' were called ''Brygoi'' before they migrated from Thrace to Anatolia (around 1200_BC).
*'''{{Polytonic|μάγειρος}}''' ''mágeiros'' ('butcher') was a loan from Doric into Attic. Vittore Pisani has suggested an ultimately Macedonian origin for the word, which could then be cognate to '''{{Polytonic|μάχαιρα}}''' ''mákhaira'' ('knife', h-'', 'to fight')
The same treatment is known from other Paleo-Balkan_languages, e.g. Phrygian ''bekos'' ('bread'), Illyrian ''bagaron'' ('warm'), but Attic '''{{Polytonic|φώγω}}''' ''phōgō'' ('roast'), all from PIE *''bheh3g-''. Since these languages are all known via the Greek alphabet, which has no signs for voiced aspirates, it is unclear whether de-aspiration had really taken place, or whether {{Polytonic|β, δ, γ}} were just picked as the closest matches to express voiced aspirates.
If '''{{Polytonic|γοτάν}}''' ''gotán'' ('pig') is related to *''gwou'' ('cattle'), this would indicate that the Labiovelars were either intact, or merged with the velars, unlike the usual Greek treatment (Attic '''{{Polytonic|βοῦς}}''' ''boûs''). Such deviations, however, are not unknown in Greek dialects; compare Doric (Spartan) '''{{Polytonic|γλεπ-}}''' ''glep-'' for common Greek '''{{Polytonic|βλεπ-}}''' ''blep-'', as well as Doric '''{{Polytonic|γλάχων}}''' ''gláchōn'' and Ionic '''{{Polytonic|γλήχων}}''' ''glēchōn'' for common Greek '''{{Polytonic|βλήχων}}''' ''blēchōn''.Albrecht von Blumenthal, ''Hesychstudien'', Stuttgart, 1930, 21.
A number of examples suggest that voiced Velar stops were devoiced, especially word-initially: '''{{Polytonic|κάναδοι}}''' ''kánadoi'', 'jaws' (Toponym ''Akesamenai'', from the Pierian name ''Akesamenos'' (if ''Akesa-'' is cognate to Greek ''agassomai'', ''agamai'', "to astonish"; cf. the Thracian name ''Agassamenos'').
In Aristophanes' ''The Birds'', the form '''{{Polytonic|κεβλήπυρις}}''' ''keblēpyris'' ('red-cap bird') is found, showing a Macedonian-style voiced stop in place of a standard Greek unvoiced aspirate: '''{{Polytonic|κεβ(α)λή}}''' ''keb(a)lē'' versus '''{{Polytonic|κεφαλή}}''' ''kephalē'' ('head').
==Classification==
Due to the fragmentary attestation widely diverging interpretations are possible.B. Joseph (2001): "Ancient Greek". In: J. Garry et al. (eds.) ''Facts about the world's major languages: an encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present.'' Online paper The suggested historical interpretations of Macedonian include: {{cite book| last= Adams |first= D.Q.| authorlink= Douglas Q. Adams| editor =Mallory, J.P. and Adams, D.Q. (eds.) | year= 1997| title=Encyclopedia_of_Indo-European_Culture |publisher= Fitzroy Dearborn|id= ISBN 1-884964-98-2 |pages = p. 361}},{{cite encyclopedia | last = Masson | first = Olivier | title=[Ancient] Macedonian language|editor = Hornblower, S. and Spawforth A. (eds.) | encyclopedia = The Oxford Classical Dictionary | origyear = 1996 | edition = revised 3rd ed. | year = 2003 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = USA | id =ISBN 0-19-860641-9 | pages =pp. 905-906 | url=http://www.ucc.ie/staff/jprodr/macedonia/macanclan.html}}
, Ahrens, F. H. L. (1843), ''De Graecae linguae dialectis'', Göttingen, 1839-1843 ; Hoffmann, O. ''Die Makedonen. Ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum'', Göttingen, 1906., {{cite book| last= Hammond| first= N.G.L |authorlink= Nicholas Hammond (historian)|title= The Macedonian State. Origins, Institutions and History| origyear = 1989| edition = reprint ed. |publisher= Oxford University Press|location=USA |year= 1993|id=ISBN 0-19-814927-1}}
*a Greek dialect, part of the North-Western (Locrian, Aetolian, Phocidian, Epirote) variants of Doric_Greek , suggested by N.G.L. Hammond (1989) and O. Masson (1996).
*a northern Greek dialect, related to Aeolic_Greek and Thessalian, suggested among others by A.Fick (1874) and O.Hoffmann (1906).
*a Greek dialect mixed with Illyrian_languages or the Thracian_language, suggested by Kretschmer (1896) and E. Schwyzer (1959).
*a Greek dialect with a non-Indo-European substratal influence, suggested by M. Sakellariou (1983).
*an "Illyrian" dialect mixed with Greek, suggested by K. O. Müller (1825) and by G. Bonfante (1987).
*an independent Indo-European language close to Greek, Thracian and Phrygian_languages, suggested by A. Meillet (1913) and I. I. Russu (1938).A. Meillet [1913] 1965, ''Apeçu d'une histoire de la langue grecque'', 7th ed., Paris, p. 61. I. Russu 1938, in ''Ephemeris Dacoromana'' 8, 105-232. Quoted after Brixhe/Panayotou 1994: 209.
The discussion is closely related to the reconstruction of the Proto-Greek_language.
===Graeco-Macedonian Group===
Some linguists consider that the Macedonian tongue was a sibling language to all the Ancient Greek dialects, and not simply a Greek dialect. If this view is correct, then Macedonian and Greek would be the two subbranches of a group within Indo-European, forming a Graeco-Macedonian group, sometimes also referred to as '''Hellenic''' group. This terminology may lead to misunderstandings, since the "Hellenic branch of Indo-European" is also used synonymously with the Greek branch (which contains all ancient and modern Greek dialects) in a narrower sense.Linguist List being a proponent of this theory.
A number of the Macedonian words, particularly in Hesychius' lexicon, are disputed (i.e., some do not consider them actual Macedonian words) and some may have been corrupted in the transmission. Thus abroutes, may be read as abrouwes ({{Polytonic|αβρουϝες}}), with tau ({{Polytonic|Τ}}) replacing a Digamma.Olivier Masson, "Sur la notation occasionnelle du digamma grec par d'autres consonnes et la glose macédonienne abroutes", ''Bulletin de la Société de linguistique de Paris'', 90 (1995) 231-239. If so, this word would perhaps be encompassable within a Greek dialect; however, others (e.g. A. Meillet) see the dental as authentic and think that this word would perhaps belong to an Indo-European language different from Greek.
===Ancient Greek dialect===
Another school of thought maintains that Macedonian was a Greek dialect. Those who favour a purely Greek nature of Macedonian as a northern Greek dialect are numerous and include early scholars like H. Ahrens and O. Hoffmann. H. Ahrens, ''De Graecae linguae dialectis'', Göttingen, 1843; O. Hoffmann, ''Die Makedonen. Ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum'', Göttingen 1906. A recent proponent of this school was Professor Olivier Masson, who in his article on the ancient Macedonian language in the third edition of the Oxford_Classical_Dictionary tentatively suggested that Macedonian was related to North-Western_Greek dialects:
:''In our view the Greek character of most names is obvious and it is difficult to think of a Hellenization due to wholesale borrowing [...]The small minority of names which do not look Greek [...] may be due to a substratum or adstatum influences (as elsewhere in Greece).Macedonian may then be seen as a Greek dialect, characterized by its marginal position and by local pronunciations. Yet in contrast with earlier views which made of it an Aeolic dialect [...] we must by now think of a link with North-West Greek [...] We must wait for new discoveries, but we may tentatively conclude that Macedonian is a dialect related to North-West Greek.''
As to Macedonian {{Polytonic|β, δ, γ}} = Greek {{Polytonic|φ, θ, χ}}, Claude BrixheClaude Brixhe, "Un «nouveau» champ de la dialectologie grecque: le macédonien", in: A. C. Cassio (ed.), ''Katà diálekton. Atti del III Colloquio Internazionale di Dialettologia Greca'' (A.I.O.N., XIX), Napoli 1996, 35-71. suggests that it is a later development: The letters do not designate voiced stops, i.e. [{{IPA|b, d, g}}], but voiced Fricatives, i.e. [{{IPA|β, δ, γ}}], due to a devoicing of the voiceless Fricatives [{{IPA|φ, θ, x}}] (= Classical Attic [{{IPA|ph, th, kh}}]). Brian Joseph sums up that "[t]he slender evidence is open to different interpretations, so that no definitive answer is really possible", but cautions that "most likely, Ancient Macedonian was not simply an Ancient Greek dialect on a par with Attic or Aeolic". In this sense, some authors also call it a "deviant Greek dialect."
===Independent Palaeo-Balkan language===
Some linguists consider that the Macedonian tongue was not only a separate language, but that it pertained to a different Indo-European branch rather than to a Hellenic (or Graeco-Macedonian) branch, and they propose that it was not especially close to Greek. They reject the strong Greek correspondences found in Macedonian and prefer to treat it as an Indo-European language of the Balkans, located geographically between Illyrian in the west and Thracian in the east.
Somee.g. E. Schwyzer, ''Griechische Grammatik'', Munich 1939, vol. 1, 69-71. hypothesize that linguistically Macedonian was between Illyrian and Thracian, a kind of intermediary language linking the two. A Thraco-Illyrian language group is highly disputed due to a lack of strong evidence (see ''Thraco-Illyrian''), and a Thracian-Illyrian-(ancient) Macedonian genetic continuum is very speculative, although a Sprachbund in the area is considered probable. Recently, A. Garrett (1999) has surmised that Macedonian may at an early stage have been part of a dialect continuum which spanned the ancestor dialects of all south-western Indo-European languages (including Greek), but that it then remained peripheral to later areal processes of convergence which produced Greek proper. He argues that under this perspective sound-change isoglosses such as the deaspiration of voiced stops may be of limited diagnostic value, while ultimately the question of whether Macedonian belongs or does not belong to a genetic union with Greek is moot.Andrew Garrett (1999): "A new model of Indo-European subgrouping and dispersal". In: Chang, S. S, Liaw, L. and Ruppenhofer, J, Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, February 12-15, Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society, 146-56, 1999. Online paper (PDF)
The ancient Macedonian lexical stock reveals some words that do not have cognates in Greek, but do have in other Indo-European languages. There are also some words that do not have cognates in any other language, and may be of Pre-Indo-European origin.
===Classical sources===
''See main article Ancient_Macedonians.''
There are some classical references that have led a number of scholars to believe that some ancient Greeks viewed the ancient Macedonians as a non-Hellenic tribe, though other scholars maintain that the Macedonians were a Hellenic tribe. Among the references that may indicate that Macedonian was a Greek dialect, there is the dialogue between an Athenian and a Macedonian in an extant fragment of the 5th_century_BC comedy 'Macedonians' by the Athenian poet Strattis, where the Macedonian speech is presented as a form of Greek.
The late historian Quintus Curtius suggests that the Macedonian language was not intelligble to the average speaking person (''Hist. Alex.'' 6.11.4): "He (sc. Philotas) found the country people of Phrygia and Paphlagonia ridiculous, and he was not ashamed, though born in Macedonia, to have an interpreter with him when listening to people speaking his own language." However, this testimony is not conclusive.E. Kapetanopoulos, "Alexander’s patrius sermo in the Philotas affair", ''The ancient world'' 30 (1999) 117-128. Online paper
==Adoption of the Attic dialect==
As southern Greek influence increased, Macedonians increasingly began to adopt the Attic_dialect (in koine form) as their tongue, and over the centuries, Ancient Macedonian fell out of favor and became relegated to the remote inland areas{{fact}}. Eventually, Attic Greek supplanted it entirely, and Ancient Macedonian became extinct during the first few centuries of the Common Era. Exactly when its final traces disappeared is unknown and perhaps impossible to determine, since the tongue may at the end have survived only among a few individuals {{fact}}.
==Sample glossary==
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄβαγνα}}''' ''ábagna'' 'Roses' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|ῥόδα}}'''; perhaps Doric '''{{Polytonic|ἀβός}}''' ''abós'' 'young, luxuriant' + '''{{Polytonic|ἁγνός}}''' ''hagnós'' 'pure, chaste, unsullied'){{fact}}
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀβαρύ}}''' ''abarý'' 'oregano' (Hes. '''{{Polytonic|ὀρίγανον}}''' ''oríganon'', perhaps Attic prefix '''{{Polytonic|α}}''' ''a'' 'not' + '''{{Polytonic|βαρύ}}''' ''barý'' 'heavy')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀβροῦτες}}''' or '''{{Polytonic|ἀβροῦϜες}}''' ''abroûtes'' or ''abroûwes'' 'eyebrows' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|ὀφρῦς}}''' ''ophrûs'' acc. pl., '''{{Polytonic|ὀφρύες}}''' ''ophrúes'' nom., PIE *bhru-)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄγημα}}''' ''ágēma'', 'vanguard, guards' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἄγημα}}''' ''ágēma'', PIE *ag-); cf. Polybius, ''Histories'', 5.65.2
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀγκαλίς}}''' ''ankalís'' 'weight, burden, load' or 'Sickle' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἄχθος}}''' ''ákhthos'' or '''{{Polytonic|δρέπανον}}''' ''drépanon'', LSJ Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἀγκαλίς}}''' ''ankalís'' 'bundle', or in pl. '''{{Polytonic|ἀγκάλαι}}''' ''ankálai'' 'arms' (body parts), '''{{Polytonic|ἄγκαλος}}''' ''ánkalos'' 'armful, bundle', '''{{Polytonic|ἀγκάλη}}''' ''ankálē'' 'the bent arm' or 'anything closely enfolding', as the arms of the sea, PIE *ank 'to bend')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀδῆ}}''' ''adē'' 'clear sky' or 'the upper air' (Hes. '''{{Polytonic|οὐρανός}}''' ''ouranós'' 'sky', LSJ and Pokorny Attic '''{{Polytonic|αἰθήρ}}''' ''aithēr'' 'ether, the upper, purer air', hence 'clear sky, heaven')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄδις}}''' ''ádis'' 'hearth' (Hes. '''{{Polytonic|ἐσχάρα}}''' ''eskhára'', LSJ Attic '''{{Polytonic|αἶθος}}''' ''aîthos'' 'fire, burning heat')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄδραια}}''' ''ádraia'' 'fine weather, open sky' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|αἰθρία}}''' ''aithría'', PIE *aidh-)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀκρουνοί}}''' ''akrounoí'' 'boundary stones' nom. pl. (Hes. '''{{Polytonic|ὃροι}}''' ''hóroi'', LSJ Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἄκρος}}''' ''ákros'' 'at the end or extremity', from '''{{Polytonic|ἀκή}}''' ''akē'' 'point, edge', PIE *ak 'summit, point' or 'sharp')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀλίη}}''' ''alíē'' 'kapros, boarfish'
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄλιζα}}''' ''áliza'' (also ''alixa'') 'Alder' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|λεύκη}}''' ''leúkē'' 'Poplar', perhaps Pokorny Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἐλάτη}}''' ''elátē'' 'fir, spruce', PIE *ol-, *el-)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀμαλή}}''' ''amalē'' 'gentle' fem. (LSJ '''{{Polytonic|ἀμαλή}}''', Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἁμαλή}}''', '''{{Polytonic|ἁπαλή}}''' ''hamalē'', ''hapalē'')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄξος}}''' ''áxos'' 'timber' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|ὓλη}}''' ''húlē'')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀορτής}}''' ''aortēs'', 'swordsman' (Hes. ξιφιστής; Homer '''{{Polytonic|ἄορ}}''' ''áor'' 'sword'; Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἀορτήρ}}''' ''aortēr'' 'swordstrap', modern Greek '''{{Polytonic|αορτήρ}}''' ''aortír'' 'riflestrap'; hence Aorta)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄργελλα}}''' ''árgella'' 'bathing hut' (Cimmerian '''{{Polytonic|ἄργιλλα}}''' ''árgilla'' 'subterranean dwelling' (Ephorus in Strb. 5.4.5) , Old Indian ''argala-ḥ'', ''argalā'' 'latch, bolt', PIE *''areg-'', hence Romanian ''argea'' (pl. ''argele''), 'wooden construction', Albanian ''ragal'' 'cabin')
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀργιόπους}}''' ''argiópous'' 'Eagle' (LSJ Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἀργίπους}}''' ''argípous'' 'swift- or white-footed', PIE *''hrg'i-pods'' < PIE *arg + PIE *ped)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἀρκόν}}''' ''arkón'' 'leisure, idleness' (LSJ Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἀργός}}''' ''argós'' 'lazy, idle' nom. sing., '''{{Polytonic|ἀργόν}}''' acc.)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἄσπιλος}}''' ''áspilos'' 'torrent' (Hes. '''{{Polytonic|χείμαῤῥος}}''' ''kheímarrhos'', Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἄσπιλος}}''' ''áspilos'' 'without stain, spotless, pure')
*'''{{Polytonic|βάσκιοι}}''' ''báskioi'' 'Fasces' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|δεσμοὶ φρῡγάνων}}''' ''desmoì phrūgánōn'', Pokorny Macedonian '''{{Polytonic|βασκευταί}}''' ''baskeutaí'', Attic '''{{Polytonic|φασκίδες}}''' ''phaskídes'', perhaps Attic '''{{Polytonic|φάσκωλος}}''' ''pháskōlos'' 'leather sack', PIE *''bhasko-'')
*'''{{Polytonic|γοτάν}}''' ''gotán'' 'Pig' acc. sing. (PIE *''gwou-'' 'cattle', (Attic '''{{Polytonic|βοτόν}}''' ''botón'' ' beast', in plural '''{{Polytonic|βοτά}}''' ''botá'' 'grazing animals')
*'''{{Polytonic|γράβιον}}''' ''grábion'' 'torch' (PIE *grabh-, 'Hornbeam', Umbrian ''Grabovius'' an oak-god, etymologically linked by LSJ and Pokorny to Attic '''{{Polytonic|κράβ(β)ατος}}''' ''kráb(b)atos'' 'couch, bed', Latin ''grabātus'' - which LSJ derives from Macedonian - hence modern Greek '''{{Polytonic|κρεβάτι}}''' ''kreváti'' 'bed')
*'''{{Polytonic|δανός}}''' ''danós'' 'Death', '''{{Polytonic|δανῶν}}''' ''danōn'' 'murderer' (Hes. Attic ''thánatos'' '''{{Polytonic|θάνατος}}''' 'death', from root '''{{Polytonic|θαν-}}''' ''than-'')
*'''{{Polytonic|δάρυλλος}}''' ''dárullos'' 'oak' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|δρῦς}}''' ''drûs'', PIE *doru-)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἐταῖροι}}''' ''etaîroi'' 'comrades' nom. pl. (Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἑταῖροι}}''' ''hetaîroi'', PIE *swe-t-aro < suffixed form of *swe)
*'''{{Polytonic|ἴλαξ}}''' ''ílax'' 'the holm-oak, evergreen or scarlet oak' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|πρῖνος}}''' ''prînos'', Latin ''Ilex'')
*'''{{Polytonic|καλαῤῥυγαί}}''' ''kalarrhugaí'' 'ditches, trenches' (Hes. '''{{Polytonic|τάφροι}}''' - attributed to Amerias) -LSJ: Ambraciot word, acc. to Sch.Gen.Iliad 21.259 (in form '''kalarua''').
*'''{{Polytonic|κάναδοι}}''' ''kánadoi'' 'jaws' nom. pl. (Attic '''{{Polytonic|γνάθοι}}''' ''gnáthoi'', PIE *genu, 'jaw')
*'''{{Polytonic|κάραβος}}''' ''kárabos''
**'gate, door' (Hes. Attic 'meat roasted over coals'; Attic ''karabos'' 'stag-beetle'; 'crayfish'; 'light ship'; hence modern Greek '''{{Polytonic|καράβι}}''' ''karávi'')
**'the worms in dry wood' (Attic 'stag-beetle, horned beetle; crayfish')
**'a sea creature' (Attic 'crayfish, prickly crustacean; stag-beetle')
*'''{{Polytonic|κίκεῤῥοι}}''' ''kí[k]erroi'' 'pale ones (?)' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|ὦχροι}}''' ''ōkhroi'', PIE *k̂ik̂er- 'pea')
*'''{{Polytonic|κλινότροχον}}''' ''klinótrokhon'', according to Theophrastus a sort of Maple of Stageira, Pokorny Attic '''{{Polytonic|γλεῖνον}}''' ''gleînon''), LSJ: '''{{Polytonic|γλῖνος}}''' ''glînos'' or '''{{Polytonic|γλεῖνος}}''' ''gleînos'', Cretan maple, Acer creticum', Thphr.HP3.3.1, 3.11.2.
*'''{{Polytonic|κόμβους}}''' ''kómbous'' 'molars' acc. pl. (Attic '''{{Polytonic|γομφίους}}''' ''gomphíous'', dim. of '''{{Polytonic|γόμφος}}''' ''gómphos'' 'a large, wedge-shaped bolt or nail; any bond or fastening', PIE *gombh-)
*'''{{Polytonic|λακεδάμα}}''' ''lakedáma'' 'salt water with garlic', Hes.; according to Albrecht von Blumenthal, Blumenthal, ''Hesychstudien'', Stuttgart, 1930. ''-ama'' corresponds to Attic '''{{Polytonic|ἁλμυρός}}''' ''halmurós'' 'salty'; ''laked-'' is cognate to English Leek, possibly related is '''{{Polytonic|Λακεδαίμων}}''' ''Laked-aímōn'', the name of the Spartans.
*'''{{Polytonic|λείβηθρον}}''' ''leíbēthron'' 'stream' (Hes. Attic '''{{Polytonic|ῥεῖθρον}}''' ''rheîthron'', also '''{{Polytonic|λιβάδιον}}''' ''libádion'', 'a small stream', dim. of '''{{Polytonic|λιβάς}}''' ''libás''; PIE *lei, 'to flow'); note typical Greek productive suffix '''{{Polytonic|-θρον}}''' (''-thron'')
*'''{{Polytonic|Πύδνα}}''' ''Púdna'', a toponym (Pokorny Attic '''{{Polytonic|πυθμήν}}''' ''puthmēn'' 'bottom, sole, base of a vessel'; PIE *bhudhnā; Attic '''{{Polytonic|πύνδαξ}}''' ''pýndax'' 'bottom of vessel')
*'''{{Polytonic|σάρισσα}}''' ''sárissa'' (also '''{{Polytonic|σάρισα}}''' ''sarisa''), a long pike used by the Macedonian phalanx (Theophrastus, Polybius; etymology unknown – BlumenthalBlumenthal, ''Hesychstudien'', Stuttgart, 1930. reconstructs ''*skwrvi-entia-'' to a root for 'cut', but this is speculative; perhaps Attic '''{{Polytonic|σαίρω}}''' ''saírō'' 'to show the teeth, grin like a dog', esp. in scorn or malice, also 'to sweep clean or away')
== See also ==
*Macedon
*Ancient_Greece
*Proto-Greek_language
**Greek_languages
*Paleo-Balkan_languages
**Phrygian_language
**Thracian_language
== References ==
==Further reading==
*G. Babiniotis ''Ancient Macedonian: The Place of Macedonian among the Greek Dialects'' in : A. M. Tamis (ed.), ''Macedonian Hellenism'', Melbourne 1990, pp. 241-250
*C. Brixhe, A. Panayotou, ''Le Macédonien'' in: ''Langues indo-européennes'', ed. Bader, Paris, 1994, 205–220.
*J. Chadwick ''The Prehistory of the Greek Language'', Cambridge 1963
*Katcic, ''Ancient Languages of the Balkans'', The Hague, Mouton (1976).
*Neroznak, V. ''Paleo-Balkan languages'', Moscow, 1978.
*Rhomiopoulou, Katerina. ''An Outline of Macedonian History and Art''. Greek Ministry of Culture and Science, 1980.
== External links ==
*http://cf.linguistlist.org/cfdocs/new-website/LL-WorkingDirs/forms/langs/get-familyid.cfm?CFTREEITEMKEY=IEG LinguistList: Family tree of Hellenic languages.
*http://66.1911encyclopedia.org/G/GR/GREEK_LANGUAGE.htm Encyclopedia Britannica: "Greek language" (1911 edition)
*http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/macedonia/macedonia.html Jona Lendering, ''Ancient Macedonia'' web page on livius.org
*http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions//gis?region=4&subregion;=11 Greek Inscriptions from ancient Macedonia (Epigraphical Database)
Macedonian language (ancient)
Macedonian (ancient)
Macedonian language (ancient)
Macedonian (ancient)
De:Makedonische_Sprache
El:Αρχαία_μακεδονική_γλώσσα
Fr:Ancien_macédonien
It:Antico_Macedone
Mk:Старомакедонски_јазик
Nl:Macedonisch_(oudheid)
Pl:Język_macedoński_(helleński)
Pt:Língua_macedônia_antiga
Sv:Fornmakedonska