Pre-Hellenic names in -u documented in Linear B texts (original) (raw)
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The principal role of personal names is to identify individuals: the loss of the etymological semantic of a noun when transformed in personal name could be considered among universals of the language. Boundaries between names and nouns are fuzzy in Greek, Latin and European languages, but in most of the languages of the Pacific Ocean Region names allow to a specific human class with special morphological marks. (a) Have personal names mental representations of linguistic objects? (b) Can we talk about categorization based on identity and similiarity? Do personal names have diachronic change? (c) Can speakers storage personal names? (d) Do the role of repetition have the same effects as in nouns? Reduction of form, reduction of meaning, emancipation?
Greek or Minoan? Names and Naming Habits in the Aegean Bronze Age
Robert Parker (ed.) Changing Names, 2019
Piae memoriae Annae Morpurgo Davies votum 'The difference of opinion between Palmer and myself over proper names is not superficial. To say that they provide the only evidence for significant points of language presupposes that they are correctly interpreted; and since any check on the interpretation is by their nature ruled out, then they are all guesses (more or less plausible) in vacuo. I do not believe "any significant points of language" should be deduced from guess work; they can only come in at a later stage, when they may help to support a hypothesis already formed. I still cling very strongly to what I wrote about personal names in Docs. Those who possess vivid imaginations will argue with me; but I think you are on my side, and I suspect a majority of reputable scholars too.' John Chadwick, letter to Michael Ventris,
Uses of names and variation in the Greek tradition
E. Berardi, M.- P. Castiglioni, M.-L. Desclos, P. Dolcetti (eds.), Filosofia, storia, immaginario mitologico. Nuovi approcci, 2022
For the ancient Greeks, the relationship between names and the things they designate was of considerable importance, found in various forms and in different kinds of text throughout ancient Greek history. From the «whatever name you want to be called» in hymns to the gods, to philosophical discussions about the connection between words and concepts, between names and things. Both these concerns are found throughout antiquity. The etymologizations that we often find in poetry, as far back as the Homeric tradition, are another aspect of the interest aroused by names, as is the frequency of speaking names and the attention paid to the etymologies of characters’ names. In all these cases, the assumption is that there is some sort of relationship between name and thing named that is not purely arbitrary. In this paper we will present these various phenomena in relation to what is maybe the most defining characteristic of the Greek tradition, variability, and also in connection with the fact that one of the words for ‘character’ in Aristotle’s Poetics is precisely ὄνομα.
The Greek transliteration of Thracian names is in fact -as any other transliteration -the writing of a Thracian name using the closest corresponding letters of the Greek alphabet. In my opinion, the following aspects and strategies exist, in studying this difficult area of language contact: 1. The impact of the diachronic changes in the Greek phonemic system and the phonemic value of the Greek letters in transliteration (e.g. -πορις -βορις); 2. Is there a "classic" Thracian language and a "late" one and, if so, which are the phonemic features of these languages? 3. Is it possible to trace out various Thracian local vernaculars and/or idiolects of different pronunciation? 4. The specific influence of the conservative stone-cutter's practice and the psycholinguistic aspect of the acoustic perception of a foreign name (why the same suffix has always been written the same way, for instance -ηνος, -ηνη); 5. Are there identical phonemic phenomena within Greek and Thracian words (for instance, the drop of nasals in consonant clusters, such as [ŋk] and [nd])? 6. The contribution of a comparative approach to the transliteration of Thracian names in other languages (e.g. in Latin); 7. Hypothetical accentuation and the different morphological forms of a Thracian name as an impact factor on transliteration.
Adiego (2019) The Survival of the God Name Sarruma in Cilician Names in the Greek Sources
Altorientalische Forschungen, 2019
This paper studies some Cilician names attested in Greek sources that contain the element ζαρμα-. The two main interpretative hypotheses-a connection to Luwian zalma-, or a connection to the god name Šarruma/Šarma-are critically analysed. The conclusion reached is that while the ambiguity of ζαρμα-cannot be resolved, it is highly likely that both-sarma and-zarma really existed as different elements in the formation of personal names in Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian. There was probably a tendency towards confusion between-sarma and-zarma, caused by phonological proximity and semantic crossing of certain names. In an article published in the Zeitschrift für Assyriologie in the late nineteenth century (Sachau 1892: 89, 93, 102), Eduard Sachau drew attention to an element-ζαρμα in some Cilician names attested in a long inscription found in the Corycian Cave and published for the first time in Hicks (1891: 243-256, inscription Nº 27) and later in Heberdey-Wilhelm (1896: 71-79; inscription Nº 155; now in Hagel-Tomaschitz 1998: 184-190, Kory-kion antron 1). The inscription comprised a list of priests, presumably of the cult of Zeus of Corycus (the name of the divinity is actually missing) and the names were inscribed over a period of many years. The names in question, Ιαζαρμας, Ρωζαρμας, and Τροκοζαρμας, and also another name, Ρωζρυμερις/Ρωνζρυμερις (appar-ently a derived form from-ζαρμα) appear in the oldest part of the list, dated by Wilhelm around 59 BC at the latest. Assuming that each name corresponds to an annual priest, the individuals bearing these names (Ia-zarmas son of Rozarmas, a Rozarmas father of a priest called Neon, Trocozarmas son of Rozarmas, Rozru-meris son of Oetasis and a second Ronzrumeris son of another Oetasis 1) can be situated chronologically in the second half of the second century BC. Although Sachau and other contemporary scholars, particularly Kretschmer (1896: 364), also acknowledged the indigenous character of the Cilician names Sandasarme and Wassurme preserved in Neo-Assyrian sources (see below § 5), these authors did not establish any connection between these names and the names ending in-ζαρμα. It was Johannes Sundwall (1913: 249) who placed the two groups of names together by recognizing a common lexical element *zerma. According to Sundwall, this *zerma was also present in the Lycian name Ζερμουνδις 2 (Zgusta KPN § 383). The discovery of Hurrian linguistic materials in the early twentieth century, thanks to the documents found in Boğazköy and later in Ugarit, offered a new perspective on the interpretation of these Cilician names
EnCyCLOpEdiA Of AnCiEnt GrEEK LAnGuAGE And LinGuiStiCS Volume 2 G-O General Editor
The Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics (EAGLL) is a unique work that brings together the latest research from across a range of disciplines which contribute to our knowledge of Ancient Greek. It is an indispensable research tool for scholars and students of Greek, of linguistics, and of other Indo-European languages, as well as of Biblical literature. The EAGLL o�fers a systematic and comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the history and study of Ancient Greek, comprising detailed descriptions of the language from Proto-Greek to koine. It addresses linguistic aspects from several perspectives including history, structure, individual singularities, biographical references, schools of thought, technical metalanguage , sociolinguistic issues, dialects, didactics, translation practices, generic issues, Greek in relation to other languages, etc., and on all levels of analysis including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, semantics, stylistics, etc. It also includes all the necessary background information regarding the roots of Greek in Indo-European. As and when, excursions may be made to later stages of the language, e.g. Byzantine or even later. The focus, however, will predominantly be Ancient Greek. With well over 500 entries on all aspects of Ancient Greek, this new encyclopedia aspires to become a basic research tool and the recognized reference work on the subject.