Editing Ionic Greek (section)

== Ionic subdialects ==

[[File:MapIonicGreek.png|360px|thumb|Map of the Ionian Greek dialects]]On the basis of inscriptions, three subdialects of Ionic may be discerned:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thumb |first1=Albert |last2=Scherer |first2=A. |title=Handbuch der griechischen Dialekte |date=1959 |publisher=Carl Winter |location=Heidelberg |page=II, 247 |edition=2}}</ref>

1. Western Ionic, the dialect of [[Euboea]] and parts of [[Attica]], like [[Oropos]];

2. Central or Cycladic Ionic, the dialect of the [[Cyclades|Cycladic Islands]];

3. Eastern Ionic, the dialect of [[Samos]], [[Chios]], and the [[Ionia|west coast]] of [[Asia Minor]].{{Sfn|Derks|Roymans|2009|p=44}}

Eastern Ionic stands apart from both other dialects because it lost at a very early time the /h/ sound ([[psilosis]]) ([[Herodotus|Herodotos]] should therefore properly be called Erodotos). The /w/ sound ([[digamma]]) is also completely absent from Eastern Ionic, but was sometimes retained in Western and Cycladic Ionic. Also pronouns that begin with /hop-/ in Western and Cycladic Ionic (ὅπου ''where'', ὅπως ''how''), begin with ok- (conventionally written hok-) in Eastern Ionic (ὅκου/ὄκου, ὅκως/ὄκως).

Western Ionic differs from Cycladic and Eastern Ionic by the sounds -tt- and -rr- where the other two have -ss- and -rs- (τέτταρες vs. τέσσαρες, ''four''; θάρρος vs. θάρσος, ''bravery''). Western Ionic also stands apart by using the form ξένος (xenos, ''foreigner, guest''), where the other two use ξεῖνος (xeinos).<ref>Thumb & Scherer (1959), pp. 247, 264-265.</ref>

Cycladic Ionic may be further subdivided: [[Kea (island)|Keos]], [[Naxos]], and [[Amorgos]] retained a difference between two /æ/ sounds, namely original /æ/ (written as Ε), and /æ/ evolved from /ā/ (written as Η); for example ΜΗΤΕΡ = μήτηρ < μάτηρ, ''mother''. On the other Cycladic Islands this distinction was not made, Η and Ε were used there interchangeably.<ref>Thumb & Scherer (1959), pp. 251-252.</ref>

Within Eastern Ionic, Herodotus recognized four subgroups (''Histories'', I.142), three of them apparently influenced by a neighbouring language:

a. The dialect of [[Miletus]], [[Myus]], and [[Priene]], and their colonies, influenced by [[Carian language|Carian]];

b. The Ionic of [[Ephesus|Ephesos]], [[Colophon (city)|Kolophon]], [[Lebedus|Lebedos]], [[Teos]], [[Klazomenai]], and [[Phocaea|Phokaia]], and their colonies, influenced by [[Lydian language|Lydian]];

c. The dialect of [[Chios]] and [[Erythrae|Erythrai]] and their colonies, influenced by [[Aeolic Greek|Aeolic]] Greek;

d. The dialect of [[Samos]] and its colonies.

Differences between these four groups are not clearly visible from inscriptions, probably because inscriptions were usually ordered by a high social group that everywhere spoke the same kind of "civilized Ionic". However, local speech by the "man in the street" must have shown differences. An inkling of this may be witnessed in the language of Ephesian "beggar poet" [[Hipponax]], who often used local slang (νικύρτας, σάβαυνις: terms of abuse; χλούνης, ''thief''; κασωρικός, ''whorish'') and Lydian loanwords (πάλμυς, ''king'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoffmann |first1=O. |last2=Scherer |first2=A. |title=Geschichte der griechischen Sprache |date=1969 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter & Co. |location=Berlin |page=I, 55}}</ref>