I was recently asked if I had any knowledge on the origins of the Greek language, and allthough I am far from being any type of 'expert' on the subject, I did happen to have one book of reference on the subject. I will start this thread in the hopes that perhaps all the member of AE (that are interested
), might put what they know into our colloquial..pot
From A History of the Greek Language: from its origins to the present, by F. Adrados, we can learn that the branch of the Indo-European language that became Greek, Indo-European III, seems to have its origin in the plains that lay just east of the Ural mountains. This supplants a theory that it originated north of the Black Sea, but according to Adrados, this was just a transient point. It seemed to have entered into the Balkans around 3000 bce, making its way into Greece, as well as developing into IE IIIA, which was the basis for the Thraco-Phrygian and future Armenian tongues. This language would become the Mycenean proto-Greek that disapeared/ altered/ modified, to become the language that was spoken during and after the 'Dark Ages' that caused cataclysmic upheavals in the eastern Mediterranean world around 1200-800 bce.
While the language seemingly developed naturally, as most PIE and IE languages, a question might come as to why it never seemingly developed its own unique written equivalent? The linear B that was used by the Myceneans, is a derivative of the Minoan linear A...completely unrelated to the 'Greek language' spoken on the mainland. The same also appears to be the case with the post Dark Ages script, which was adopted and then modified from the Phonecians due the reopening of trade through the Aegean.