Language of the Ancient Macedonians

The Ancient Macedonian language (provisional ISO-DIS 639-3.5 XMK) or better DIALECT is very limited because there are no surviving Macedonian texts from the 1st millennium BC.

The Macedonians were a Dorian tribe (Ancient Greek tribe), according to the testimony of Herodotus (Book 1, 56): The Dorian ethnos;... dwelt in Pindos, where it was called Makdnon; from there ...it came to the Peloponnesus. where it took the name of Dorian. And elsewhere (VIII, 43):  these (that is, the Lacedaimonians, Corinthians, Sikyonians etc.), except the people of Hermione, were of the Dorian and Makednon ethnos, and had most recently come from Erineos and Pindos and Dryopis . A Dorian tribe, then, that expanded steadily to the east of Pindos and far beyond, conquering areas in which dwelt other tribes, both Greek and non-Greek.

For many centuries, Macedonia  remained on the fringe of the Greek world. In the mountainous regions of Macedonia , at least,  the way of life will have consisted predominantly of transhumant pasturage. Education will, at best, have been confined to aristocratic circles and those connected with them. We do not, therefore, expect to find any written texts of a private nature from the Archaic period. In the rest of the Greek world, writing is related to the structure and mechanisms of the city-state, and is used mainly for the recording of justice in the broadest sense of the word. Under a monarchical regime like that of M acedonia,  however, and in a world of nomads, we would hardly expect to find public documents.

At about the end of the 6th century BC, the changed socio-economic circumstances deriving from permanent settlement and the intensification of economic and cultural relations with the rest of the Greek world led to the creation of the preconditions for the use of writing, mainly for the purposes of diplomatic relations. The local dialect a member, as far as we can judge, of the group known as the north-west Greek dialects, which included Phokian, the Lokrian dialects, etc., had no written tradition, whether literary or other. Consequently, the rise of education and culture was to the detriment of the Macedonian speech. Attic was selected as the language of education, and the local dialect was "smothered" by the written language, the koine, and was never, or hardly ever, written down, being restricted to oral communication between Macedonians. From as early as the time of Alexander the Great, moreover, Macedonian lost ground to the koine in this sphere too, if we are to believe the historical sources, and there is certainly no evidence that it was spoken in the centuries after Christ. Only its memory was perpetuated through the use of personal names until the 4th century AD

Although very little of the Macedonian tongue has survived, there is no doubt that it was a Greek dialect. This is clear from a whole series of indications and linguistic phenomena by which the koine of the region is "colored" which are not Attic but which can only have derived from a Greek dialect. For example: The vast majority of even the earliest names, whether dynastic names or not, are Greek, formed from Greek roots and according to Greek models: Hadista, Philista, Sostrata, Philotas, Perdikkas, Machatas and hundreds of others. In general, the remnants of the Macedonian dialect that have come down to us have a completely different character from Ionic. This circumstance is patent proof that there can be no question of the ancient Macedonians having been Hellenized, as has been asserted (Karst), for such Hyalinization could have been only by the Greek colonies on the Macedonian coast, in which the Ionian element was predominant (Beloch).

The fact that Roman and Byzantine lexicographers and grammarians cited examples from Macedonian in order to interpret particular features of the Homeric epics must mean that Macedonian - or rather, what survived of Macedonian at the period in question - was a very archaic dialect, and preserved features that had disappeared from the other Greek dialects; it would be absurd to suggest that these scholars, in their commentaries on the Homeric poems, might have compared them with a non-Greek language. The name given to the Macedonian cavalry - hetairoi tou basileos - "the King's Companions" - is also indicative: this occurs only in Homer, and was preserved in the historical period only amongst the Macedonians.

The anonymous compiler of the Etymologicum Magnum notes in the entry on Aphrodite, probably adopting a comment by the earlier grammarian Didymos: "V is akin to F. This is clear from the fact that the Macedonians call Philip "Vilip" and pronounce falakros [bald] "valakros" the Phrygians "Vrygians" and the winds (fysitas) "vyktas". Homer refers to "vyktas anemous" (blowing winds). Observations of this type abound. Male and female names occur in Macedonian ending in -as and -a, where in Attic we have -es and -e: Alketas, Amyntas, Hippotas, Glauka, Eurydika, Andromacha, and dozens more. A feature bequeathed by Macedonian to the koine and also to Modern Greek is the genitive of so-called first declension masculine nouns in -a: Kallia, Teleutia, Pausanea (the Attic ending was -ou). The long alpha is retained in the middle of words (as in all dialects other than Ionic-Attic dialects):Damonstratos, Samon. e.t.c. and Iaos  rather than the "Ieos" of Ionic Attic, is used to form compounds, occurring as both the first and the second element. The koineof Macedonia  for all its conservatism and dialect coloring, follows a parallel path to the koine of other regions, though not always at the same moment in time. Whatever the case, all the changes that marked the Greek language in general and the north Greek dialects in particular, can be followed in the inscriptions of Macedonia

The ancient language of the Macedonian kingdom in N. Greece and modern Macedonia during the later 1st millennium BC, survived until the early 1st millennium AD. Not to be confused with the modern Macedonian language, which is a close relative of the Slavic Bulgarian.

http://linguistlist.org

I also feel that there is limited proofs as to what the exact language of the ancient Macedonians.  I reach this assumption because of the many ancient quotes that contradict eachother.  Also, I don't think that linguists & historians are almost unanimous about the exact origin of the ancient Macedonian language.  If anything, they are split.  This happens when there is limited evidence to support both sides.

One thing is undebatable though, the lingua franca was most certainly a Hellenic one.

"But it is undoubted that the ancient one has nothing to do with the pseudo-macedonian language of FYROM." - Dorian

I know.  However, language is a very ambiguous tool when trying to reach concensus on ethnicity.  National languages are always changing.  Lingua Franca in Roman Macedonia Salutaris was latin.  Most archaeological finds during this era in R. Macedonia are in latin, this does not mean that the Upper Macedonians & Paeones are descendants of Rome though.

"Do you have to show us any other inscription that proof the opposite?" - Akritas

Akritas, you as well as I know very well that the ancient Macedonian language, whatever it was, did not reach written development.

"That the ancient macedonian language was greek is the strongest belief. Read the information carefully and there are a lot more." - Dorian

I have read it & have stated that I feel that Hellenic was used for writing & communication.  Much like we are doing here now in English.  But we are not Englishmen.  I personally have never seen London.

"As interaction and communication in the ancient world were somewhat problematical (except for cultures that were connected by the sea lanes and commerce) how do we know that the ancient Macedonians used Greek as their "lingua?" - Pikeshot1600

We don't really:

"I deliberately refrain from adopting any position on the linguistic status of ancient Macedonian. It has little significance outside the nationalistic propaganda of the contemporary Balkan states, in which prejudice and dogma do duty for rational thought. What matters for the present argument is the fact, explicit in Curtius, that Macedonian was largely unintelligible to non-Macedonians. Macedonians might understand Greek, and some Greek (like Eumenes) with experience of Macedon might speak Macedonian. However, even Eumenes took care that a vital message was conveyed to the phalangites of Neoptolemus by a man fluent in Macedonian (MAKEDONI/ZONTA TH]=FWNH]=SI 12. 1284,col. ii. 19-20).] "Alexander shouted out in Macedonian, and called the hypaspists in Macedonian." In my view there is nothing at all surprising in the use of Macedonian. Alexander was calling his hypaspists, who were Macedonians, and he addressed them in their native language/dialect." - Bosworth

"The evidence for this hypothesis is decidedly tenuous. Nearly two centuries before Alexander Hecataeus may have described the Orestians as a Molossian tribe, but, as far as I can ascertain, there is no evidence for the language of any or all of the Upper Macedonian people before the time of Alexander, and nothing to suggest that the hypaspists were anything other than linguistically homogeneous." "Alexander's invitation to speak (Curt. 6. 9. 34) presupposes that the entire army spoke Macedonian." "Alexander's challenge presupposes that all the army would understand an address in Macedonian." "He used Macedonian because the troops would instantly understand and (he expected) would react immediately. There is no need for more complicated explanation." - Bosworth

"The suggestion is surely that Macedonian was the language of the infantry and that the Greek was a difficult indeed a foreign tongue to them". - Badian

"Linguistic science has at its disposal a very limited quantity of Macedonian words, and the archeological exploration of Macedonia has hardly begun."  - Wilcken

Describing the all familiar episode with Cleitus: "He shouted in Macedonian for his hypaspists, and ordered the trumpeter to sound the alarm" - Wilcken

"A strong Illyrian and Thracian can thus be recognized in Macedonian speech and manners. These however are only trifles compared with the Greek character of the Macedonian nationality; for example, the names of the true full-blooded Macedonians, especially of the princes and nobles, are purely Greek in their formation and sounds".  - Wilcken

""The main evidence for Macedonian existing as separate language comes from a handful of late sources describing events in the train of Alexander the Great, where the Macedonian tongue is mentioned specifically."  - Borza

"The evidence suggests that Macedonian was distinct from ordinary Attic Greek used as a language of the court and of diplomacy."  - Borza

"The handful of surviving genuine Macedonian words - not loan words from Greek - do not show the changes expected from Greek dialect."  - Borza

"How far and fast had the world moved since Marathon! Greeks were fraternizing now with Persians, both at their ease; only the Macedonians sat glowering and constrained, masterful, stiff-necked Northerners that they were. They might well feel uneasy! Their native speech had become so rare at the court of their King that a word of command, shouted in it, rang on unwonted ears like a tocsin."  - Hogarth

& on & on & on........

pikeshot1600.

kassander you mentioned the German writer Wilcken. Of course you know what was the final conclusion of him  regarding the origin of the Ancient Macedonians:

"And yet if we take into account the political conditions, religion and morals of the Macedonians, our conviction is strengthened that they were a Greek race and akin to the Dorians."

Wilcken, U., "Alexander the Great", W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1967. U. Wilcken (1862-1944) was a University Professor at Berlin and member of the German Academy.

The knowledge of the language is very limited because there are no surviving Macedonian texts, 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 Greek phonology.chemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />>>

Phallanx for your confrimation conserning the adoption and the others Hellenic dialects is the Ancient Macedonian Calendar

The Ancient Macedonian calendar year consisted of 12 synodic Lunar months (i.e. 354 days per year), which necessitated that 7 total embolimoi (intercalary) months be added into each 19-year Metonic cycle.

• Peritios, moon of January
• Dystros, moon of February
• Xandikos or Xanthikos, moon of March(Xandikos Embolimos, intercalated 6 times over a 19-year cycle)
• Artemisios or Artamitios, moon of April, also a Spartan, Rhodian and Epidaurian month - Artemisiōn was an Ionic month
•  Daisios, moon of May
•  Panēmos or Panamos, moon of June, also an Epidaurian, Miletian, Samian and Corinthian month
• Lōios, moon of July - ��������, Homolōios, was an Aetolian, Boeotian and Thessalian month
• Gorpiaios, moon of August
•  Hyperberetaios, moon of September - Hyperberetos was a Cretan mont (Hyperberetaios Embolimos, intercalated once over a 19-year cycle)
• Dios, moon of October
• Apellaios, moon of November, also a Spartan and Dorian month - Apellaiōn was a Tenian month
• Audnaios or Audēnaios, moon of December

The 4th and 11th months of the Macedonian calendar are the same as the Spartan.

And someone put the question.....Sparta lies at the head of the Peloponnese, far away from Macedonia, in Southern Greece. Ancient Macedonians and Spartans had no contacts but nevertheless they both shared two month's names. How come?

The explanation: Both Macedonians and Spartans are (as stated by Herodotus) of Dorian stock. Not only were Macedonia and Sparta both kingdoms and warlike people but they had the same Dorian origin.