Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects). Contents 1 History 2 Phonology 2.1 Vowels 2.2 Consonants 3 Grammar 3.1 Word order 4 Glossary 5 Notes 6 References 7 Sources 8 See also History

Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions around the 11th Century B.C.

By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century B.C the central west coast of Asia Minor along with the islands of Chios and Samos formed the heartland of Ionia proper. The Ionic dialect was also spoken on islands across the central Aegean and on the large island of Euboea north of Athens. The dialect was soon spread by Ionian colonization to areas in the northern Aegean the Black Sea and the western Mediterranean. History of the Greek language (see also: Greek alphabet) Proto-Greek (c. 30001600 BC) Mycenaean (c. 16001100 BC) Ancient Greek (c. 800330 BC) Dialects: Aeolic Arcadocypriot Attic-Ionic Doric Locrian Pamphylian; Homeric Greek. Macedonian. Koine Greek (c. 330 BC330) Medieval Greek (3301453)

Modern Greek (from 1453) Dialects: Cappadocian Cheimarriotika Cretan Cypriot Demotic Griko Katharevousa Pontic Tsakonian Maniot Yevanic This box: view talk

*Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from Wallace D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 12. ISBN 0310218950. 

Ionic dialect is generally divided into two major time periods Old Ionic (or Old Ionian) and New Ionic (or New Ionian). The exact transition between the two is not clearly defined but 600 B.C. is a good approximation.

The Homeric works (the Iliad the Odyssey and the Homeric Hymns) and the works of Hesiod were written in a literary dialect called Homeric Greek or Epic Greek which consists largely of Old Ionic with some borrowings from the neighboring Aeolic dialect to the north. The poet Archilochus wrote in late Old Ionic.

The most famous New Ionic authors are Anacreon Theognis Herodotus Hippocrates and in Roman times Aretaeus Arrian and Lucian.

Ionic acquired prestige among Greek speakers because of its association with the language used by Homer the writings of Herodotus and the close linguistic relationship with the Attic dialect spoken in Athens. This was further enhanced by the writing reform implemented in Athens in 403 BC whereby the old Attic alphabet was replaced by the Ionic one as used by the city of Miletus. This alphabet eventually became the standard Greek alphabet used thereafter its use becoming uniform during the Koine era. It was also the alphabet used by the Apostles to write the Gospels and Acts. Phonology Vowels Proto-Greek Ionic . Doric Aeolic: remains. Attic: after e i r but elsewhere.2 Attic Ionic "young man" original and Doric () Attic-Ionic "the" (feminine) original and Doric Attic-Ionic "mother" Proto-Greek e o Ionic ei ou:note 1 compensatory lengthening after loss of w in the sequences enw- erw- onw- orw-. Attic: e o is not lengthened.3 Proto-Greek 4 Attic Ionic "girl" * * Ionic sometimes removes initial aspiration (Proto-Greek hV- Ionic V-).5 Proto-Greek *hwli-os Attic hlios Homeric (early Ionic) lios Ionic contracts less often than Attic.6 Ionic Attic "family" Consonants Proto-Greek k before a o Ionic k. Attic p.note 2 Proto-Greek * Ionic Attic "in whatever way in which way" Proto-Greek ky khy Ionic ss. Attic tt.7 This Ionic feature made it into Koine Greek. Proto-Greek Ionic Attic "I arrange" Grammar Word order Ionic had a very analytical word-order perhaps the most analytical one within ancient Greek dialects. Glossary bds scourge ( Hipponax .98) ethlon (Attic athlon prize) aeinatai archontes in Miletus and Chalcis (ae always + natai sailors) alge illness (Cf.Attic algdn pain) Algophobia mptis ebbbeing sucked back i.e. of sea (Attic anptis verb anapn) (KoineModern Greek ampotis) anou (Attic n up) Apatoria Pan-ionic festival ( see also Panionium ) appallzein (Attic ekklesizein gather togetherdecide) (Doric apellazein) achntion (Attic aknthion small thorn acanthus) bthrakoi (Attic btrachoi frogs) in Pontus babakoi brokos species of locust (Attic akrs) (Cypriots call the green locust broka) bysss (Attic byths depthbottomchaos) gnnos Ephesian (Attic huaina (glanos Aristotle.HA594a31.) (Phrygian and Tsakonian ganos ed (Attic hle forest) (Aeolic Greek eide also) (Greek Eidos) enthata here (entoutha also) (Attic entatha) (Elean entata) erglos (Attic ergts worker) hestichos ionic epithet for Zeus related to Hestia (oikours housekeeper oiknax) gs (Attic eudamon happy) (Hesychius s.v. ) ( 114) lios (Attic hlios sun) (Cretan abelios) Iast "the ionic way" ( Iones Ionians; Is old name of Attica Strabo IX 1.5 ) d forested mountain (Attic drymn ros) (Herodotus 41092) (Mount Ida) itrsitr (Attic iatrsiatr doctor) kkos (Attic hppos horse) (Mycenaean i-qo ) kr head (Common kara) (Poetic kras) kithn (Attic chitn) koen (Attic noen to think) noesis koos (Attic poos who) kthr (Attic chtra cooking pot) mttax (Attic pgn beard) Xouthidai Ionians from Xuthus odm (Attic osm scent smell) pls thick wine lees (Attic pels mud silt) (proverbial phrase m dein ton Oinea Plea poiein don't make wine into lees Ath.9.383c cf. Demetr.Eloc.171) rhch flood-tide loanword to Attic as rhacha (HomericKoineModern Greek plmmurs -da) sabaks (Attic sathrs decayed) Chian srmoi lupins (Attic thermoi Carystian skorpz scatter disperse (probably from skorpios scorpion and an obsolete verb skerp penetrate) 8 tauroi (Attic tauroi bulls) (Ephesian word the youths who acted as cupbearers at the local festival of Poseidon) phoinikia grmmata Lydians and Ionians called so the letters chlosss (Attic ichths fish) oio exclamation of discontent ' Notes Among Greek dialects Ionic was the fondest of long vowels and was thus considered especially suited to solo singing; the more austere broad-sounding Doric was preferred in choral singing. A similar divergence occurred in the Celtic languages between Gaelic and P-Celtic languages (including Welsh) and in the Italic languages between Latin and Oscan. References Roger D. Woodard (2008) "Greek dialects" in: The Ancient Languages of Europe ed. R. D. Woodard Cambridge: Cambridge University Press p. 51. Smyth par. 30 and note 31: long a in Attic and other dialects Smyth par. 37 note: Ionic compensatory lengthening after loss of w Liddell and Scott ko/rh on Perseus Project Smyth par. 9 note: early loss of rough breathing in Ionic of Asia Minor Smyth par. 59 note: contraction in dialects Smyth par. 112 78: ky khy -> tt; ss in non-Attic dialects Athenaeus Deipnosophists 10 425c Sources Hesychius of Alexandria A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity- A.Panayotou Ionic and Attic A Grammar of the Greek Language by Benjamin Franklin Fisk Ionic Dialect See also Ionians Ionic order Ionian v d eAges of Greek c. 3rd millenium BC c. 16001100 BC c. 800300 BC c. 300 BC  AD 330 c. 3301453 since 1453 Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Greek Koine Greek Medieval Greek Modern Greek v d eAncient Greece Outline       Timeline Periods Cycladic civilization  Minoan civilization  Mycenaean civilization  Greek Dark Ages  Archaic period  Classical Greece  Hellenistic Greece  Roman Greece Geography Aegean Sea  Hellespont  Macedonia  Sparta  Athens  Corinth  Thebes  Thermopylae  Ionian Sea  Ionia  Aeolis  Doris  Antioch  Alexandria  Pergamon  Miletus  Ephesus  Delphi  Delos   Olympia  Troy  Rhodes  Crete  Peloponnesus  Epirus  Cyprus  Pontus  Magna Graecia  Ancient Greek Colonies Politics Apella  Ecclesia  Heliaia  Boule  Agora  Graph paranmn  Areopagus  League of Corinth  Diadochi Rulers Kings of Sparta  Kings of Athens  Archons of Athens  Kings of Macedon  Kings of Pontus  Kings of Paionia  Roman Emperors  Kings of Kommagene  Kings of Lydia  Attalid Kings of Pergamon  Diadochi   Kings of Argos  Tyrants of Syracuse Life Agriculture  Clothing  Cuisine  Democracy  Economy  Education  Festivals  Homosexuality  Law  Marriage  Mourning ritual  Olympic Games  Pederasty  Philosophy  Prostitution  Religion  Slavery  Warfare  Wine Military Wars  Army of Macedon  Antigonid Macedonian army  Pezhetairoi  Hoplite  Seleucid army  Hellenistic armies  Phalanx formation  Peltast  Sarissa  Xyston  Sacred Band of Thebes People Philosophers Anaxagoras  Anaximander  Anaximenes  Antisthenes  Aristotle  Democritus  Diotima of Mantinea  Diogenes of Sinope  Epicurus  Empedocles  Heraclitus  Hypatia  Leucippus  Gorgias  Parmenides  Plato  Protagoras  Pythagoras  Socrates  Thales  Themistoclea  Zeno Authors Aeschylus  Aesop  Aristophanes  Euripides  Herodotus  Hesiod  Homer  Lucian  Menander  Pindar  Plutarch  Polybius  Sappho  Sophocles  Thucydides  Xenophon Others Alexander the Great  Alcibiades  Archimedes  Aspasia  Demosthenes  Euclid  Hipparchus  Hippocrates  Leonidas  Lycurgus  Milo of Croton  Pericles  Ptolemy  Solon  Themistocles Buildings Parthenon  Temple of Artemis  Acropolis  Ancient Agora  Temple of Zeus at Olympia  Temple of Hephaestus  Samothrace temple complex Arts Architecture  Coinage  Literature  Music  Pottery  Sculpture  Theatre Sciences Astronomy  Mathematics  Medicine  Technology Language Proto-Greek  Mycenaean  Homeric  Dialects (Aeolic  Arcadocypriot  Attic  Doric  Ionic  Locrian  Macedonian  Pamphylian)  Koine Writing Linear A  Linear B  Greek alphabet Lists Ancient Greek tribes  Greeks  Thracian Greeks  Cities in Epirus  Ancient Macedonians  Playwrights  Theatres  Poets  Tyrants  Philosophers  Cities  Mythological figures  Place names Portal