Re: GREEK GRAMMARS

DWILKINS@ucrac1.ucr.edu
Tue, 28 May 1996 12:33:12 -0700 (PDT)

I'm not sure this is valid with respect to koine as a "dialect", but my
experience has been that Greek dialects involve very obvious orthographic/
phonetic differences. As examples one can cite the absence of contraction
in Ionic (and the absence of aorist augments in old Ionic), and the use of
alpha for eta in Doric (a kind of "twang"). By this reasoning koine appears
to be a kind of simplified Attic. One of the items on my agenda is to take a
close look at some 5th cent. "koine" in the area of Athens and see how it
compares (that is assuming that such exists; I've only taken a very cursory
look at my PHI discs and my recollection is that there are some promising
texts, but I could be wrong).

Don Wilkins
UC Riverside