DIELLI

.. but the truth is a greater friend than Plato

THE FIRST ANCIENT TESTIMONY.

In considering whether the Modern Greek language is a natural descendant of the Ancient one, I have complete confidence in replying in the negative. I have many reasons thinking this.

Althought Modern Greek language is often credited or it often ‘credits' itself, being a Hellenic dialect continuously spoken in the Greek family hearths, generation after generation, it doesn't look to me it really happened. It was another place where this language has been continuously spoken: the Church.

Yes it's been spoken from a limited number of middle class orthodox believers Ottoman families ,  of some high ranking Christian Church clergy and a very small minority of Christian educated [in the best case since the Byzantine Church artificially adopted the Koine (and not the Attic, like some people like to say) language for liturgic purposes. Other than that no one spoke Greek before Greece was a country .

The Koine itself was a semi artificial language, and was spread to the East mostly for liturgics and political and comercial purposes, and never represented the original language of the Hellenes, like it never represented the Hellenes themselves.

The exorbitant fantasy of the theory in which the Modern Greeks are (mostly self-claimed) the descendent of the Delphi religious group (Hellenes), unfortunately is matching no evidence at all.

I have noticed that the theory of the linear descent from Ancient Hellenes  is told and pathetically defended by some people who pretend to be Hellenes, but by all the definition cannot be Hellenes, at least linguistically and genetically.

The similarity between Modern Greek and written Ancient Greek language is considered a mere fact that the former one is just a dialect of the Hellenic. So they believe or try to convince us that besides speaking the Hellenic language, they are the Hellenes themselves. I believe even they would have a difficult time proving both things at once, and I noticed the futility of this excessive fanaticism is pulling unpurposely the two ideas in opposite directions. Another way of phrasing it would be that the excessive propaganda of Greek nationalism-racism has not the same impact as 200 years ago, in the time of western philhellenes.

I cannot, of course, bring on table an entire ‘ocean' of proofs against this theory, but I will flood it with the ‘water' of an entire ‘sea' of evidences.

The second thing to observe in this regard is that we must look beyond the border of the "Greek world". There is a nation there often ignored, neglected where we might find the ‘key', answering the unsolved questions of what we are looking for. This country is called Albania, their people being called Albanians.

May be these people represent now the ruins of a splendid civilization, but their language stands above with all the splendor of the ancient times. This language is called Albanian, the language of the people with perhaps most unknown history in Europe. 

It's always been  used by the Albanians, generation after generation the word: te parėt tanė, which literally means: OUR FOREFATHERS, predecessors, ancestors.

Linguistically, it is the definite plural of the i pare that means first. We all know that this numeral which may show itself as a noun, adjective or adverb has an astonishing similarity in all European languages. But the difference between Albanian word i pari=ancestor:

English (3 entries.)

  Shqip (3 hyrje.)

  first

  i/e parė (tr. shq. i pari)

 

English (2 entries.)

  Shqip (2 hyrje.)

ancestors (plural of ancestor)

tė parėt

ancestor

Paraardhės,paraardhėse, i pari

 from the ancient Greek word is only on the suffix

This Albanian numeral when used as a preposition becomes para or PRE, in other languages Latin (prae), English (pre), old French (prae) and new French (pre), old Hellenic and new Byzantine Greek (προ-protos) meaning before.     

For example: Prepayment, Premedical, and Prehistoric

Now the word prehistoric itself, which is used to describe the events before the known history, is not exactly the same with the word ancient, because not everything ancient is prehistoric, the opposite is true.

In Albanian the word ancient is translated:

English (3 entries.)

  Shqip (3 hyrje.)

  ancient

  i/e lashtė

This adjective derives from the verb lash= left behind

English (9 entries.)

  Shqip (9 hyrje.)

  leave (p.t., p.p. left)

  lė (kr. thj., pj. lashė, lėnė)

Lets have a look at the Ancient ""Greek"" adjective:

Like easily been seen the word is  πα-λαί  and it is pronounced pale

The word πα-λαί  (pale) is a compound "" Greek"" word from the Albanian:  para(before) and i lash(left).

English (Only one entry.)

  Shqip (Vetėm njė hyrje.)

  earlier

  {mė) parė

 It's been explained before, that the word pare of the Albanian language, has already some very similar cognates in other European languages, but contrary to them, it has an originator verb which in the other languages doesn't exist, the verb PRIN:

English (2 entries.)

  Shqip (2 hyrje.)

  lead (p.t., p.p. led)

  prij (kr. thj., pj. priva, prirė)

  Which when used for the predecessors makes

English (Only one entry.)

  Shqip (Vetėm njė hyrje.)

  predecessor

  paraprirės / paraprirėse, paraardhės / paraardhėse

Do we have this word in the Ancient Hellenic?

Yes we do:

This word in Albanian has many derivates and among those is the word PRINES=prijės,

English (3 entries.)

  Shqip (3 hyrje.)

  leader

  prijės / prijėse

And princ which has its cognate in English, and almost in every European language:

English (Only one entry.)

  Shqip (Vetėm njė hyrje.)

  prince

  princ {m}

 I will let the ‘well-known' linguists to decide why an Albanian noun which conspicuously is derived from an unical Albanian verb having the European cognates so identical to it.

But the semantic of the Ancient Greek word is even more interesting.

 Its obvious that leader=prince, but for some people to know is the fact that the word egjemon derives from an Albanian verb e gjėmon=to follow.

For the first word Leader the semantic is: following, finding ( e gjėmon= follows.)

This word Leader derives from the verb lead:

Which itself derives from the Albanian verb

English (5 entries.)

  Shqip (5 hyrje.)

  find (p.t., p.p. found)

  gjej (kr. thj., pj. gjeta, gjetur)

 

That's why Leader in Albanian is a person who leads=find the way

English (3 entries.)

  Shqip (3 hyrje.)

  leader

  prijės / prijėse

  leader

  udhėheqės / udhėheqėse

 

English (5 entries.)

  Shqip (5 hyrje.)

  bring close, bring closer

  afroj, qas (kr. thj., pj. qasa, qasur)

  close up (verb)

  afroj, afrohem

  near (verb)

  afroj, afrohem

 

of the tate = father (king throne)

English (4 entries.)

  Shqip (4 hyrje.)

  father

  atė {m}, tatė {f}, baba {m}

This in plural makes:

English (4 entries.)

  Shqip (4 hyrje.)

  fathers

atėr{m}, etėr {m},  baballarė {m}

 And in Ancient """Greek"""

English (2 entries.)

  Shqip (2 hyrje.)

Forefather

 i pari, i lashti

 Has spoken it before:

English (4 entries.)

  Shqip (4 hyrje.)

  before

  para, para se, pėrpara se

 

English (Only one entry.)

  Shqip (Vetėm njė hyrje.)

  precede

  paraprij (kr. thj., pj. parapriva, paraprirė

 

 μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος,
the rage of Achilles the son of Peleus sings goddess

The word μῆνιν(anger, madness) is  (mēnin), fury, rage, or wrath, madness.

This word for some ‘strange' reasons is fully present in Albanian in every dialect.

English (6 entries.)

  Shqip (6 hyrje.)

anger (noun)

  mėri {f}, tr.sh. mėria {f}

anger (noun)

  zemėrim {m}

rage (noun)

  zemėrim {m}

madness

  ēmenduri {f}

Lets make a table of this word in its declension in the two main Albanian dialects:

Case/Definite English Tosk/Alb Gheg Alb
Nominal the anger meria mėnia
Genitive   i/e/te/se mėrisė i/e/te/se mėnisė
Dative   mėrisė mėnise
Accusative   mėrinė mėnin-ė
Ablative   prej mėrisė prej mėnisė

Rhotacism - Gheg has n where Tosk has r.

This is exactly the word μῆνιν, which comes to us after thousands of years untouched in its accusative case of the noun. 

The other synonim zėmėrim is just the a compound word zė(sieze, take)+mėria(anger).

The word mėnia is not a Greek loan in Albanian. It's a basic word in Albanian and exactly the word menja(mendja):

English (11 entries.)

  Shqip (11 hyrje.)

  mind (noun)

  mendje {f} , tr.sh mendja {f}

and beside the noun mendja comes in a full "set" of important speech parts in the Albanian language, like verb, adjective, adverb etc

English (5 entries.)

  Shqip (5 hyrje.)

  think (p.t., p.p. thought)
   mendoj, mendohem

Everyone knows that the madness, anger, rage is a mental state when the people loose their mind:

out of one's mind

  i/e ēmendur

anger (noun)

  mėri, zemėrim {m}

This is the time when the angry person memorizes the event. 

This is the reason why in Albanian is said vuri ne menje(mendje)-memorized

That's why in Ancient Greek is been used the same word as in Albanian today:

The Albanian word mendja is used by some "Ancient" "Greek" individuals naming some of their babies Mentor (Μέντωρ / Méntōr) which in Albanian means smart, intelligent and capable to be a teacher and adviser:

English (4 entries.)

  Shqip (4 hyrje.)

smart

  i/e menēur

And derives from an other Albanian adjective:

English (2 entries.)

  Shqip (2 hyrje.)

  pensive

  i/e menduar

  thoughtful

  i/e menduar, i/e mendueshėm

There is no doubt that Μέντωρ=mendur=menduar, like is out of any doubt that the antonym is crazy=ē-mendur=ē-menduar.

English (6 entries.)

  Shqip (6 hyrje.)

  crazy

  i/e ēmendur

This is the word who named Mars -the God of madness in War the counterpart of the ""Greek" God Ἄρης [į.rὲεs]. Mars is portrayed as a mad warrior God eager for quarrel and squabble. That's why in Albanian is used:

English (6 entries.)

  Shqip (6 hyrje.)

crazy

  i/e marrė

crazy

  i/e marrosur

insanity

  ēmenduri {f}, marrėzi {f}

Which literally means taken from the basic Albanian verb marr=take.

Now I am not saying anymore that it's still a mere insanity to believe in Hellenic continuity to the Modern Greeks, but this is a theory without ground, with a false foundation:

English (2 entries.)