Pre-Greek

Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon

• Author(s): Robert Beekes,
• Publisher: BRILL
• Pages: 196
• ISBN_10: 900427944X
  ISBN_13: 9789004279445
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / General , Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Etymology , Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Historical & Comparative ,

Description:... Before the arrival of the Indo-European Greeks in the area around the Aegean Sea, a non-Indo-European language was spoken there which was eventually replaced by Greek. Although no written texts exist in this Pre-Greek language, Robert Beekes shows that we can reconstruct elements of its phonology and morphology on the basis of the substantial amount of Pre-Greek vocabulary which was absorbed by Greek. In addition to the general characteristics of Pre-Greek, Beekes provides a complete overview of the evidence, comprising over 1100 Greek etyma which are certainly of Pre-Greek origin. The book thus opens a window on the first Pre-Indo-European language of prehistoric Europe to have left a trace in history.