A recent linguistic study challenges long-held assumptions about whether early Greek absorbed features from the languages of ancient Anatolia. The research, led by Michele Bianconi of St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, offers a fresh and cautious reassessment of how much early Greek may have been shaped through contact with Anatolian languages between the second and first millennia BCE.
Bianconi’s work, published in the Journal of Greek Linguistics, is the first systematic study to evaluate claims that Greek was influenced by Anatolian languages such as Hittite and Luwian.
He approached the topic with a case-by-case analysis, examining similarities in sound patterns, grammatical structures, and vocabulary. While some previous theories argued for significant influence, the study finds that much of the linguistic overlap can be explained without assuming direct borrowing.
Bianconi warns against overestimating the impact of Anatolian on Greek, noting that several similarities are either misleading or unsupported by strong evidence. He argues that many features once thought to show contact are either common developments found in unrelated languages or simply coincidental.
Reassessing sound and grammar connections
One example involves phonology. The absence of words beginning with the /r/ sound in both Greek and Anatolian was often cited as proof of mutual influence.
However, Bianconi shows this restriction also appears in other unrelated languages in the region, pointing instead to a wider areal feature rather than specific borrowing.
Another focus of the study is the Greek suffix -sk-, used in verbs found in Homer and Hesiod. Some scholars previously connected it to similar forms in Hittite. Bianconi suggests that the resemblance is likely due to literary style rather than deep grammatical borrowing, especially since widespread bilingualism in that era is unlikely.
Regarding vocabulary, the research reveals limited but noteworthy evidence of loanwords entering Greek from Anatolia. Words linked to trade, daily life, and ritual—such as terms for metal, containers, or social roles—are the most likely candidates.
These include items like molybdos (lead) and tyrannos (ruler). According to Bianconi, these kinds of borrowings reflect cultural exchange rather than widespread language contact.
Pamphylia offers a clearer picture of contact
A key case study in the research looks at Pamphylian Greek, a dialect spoken in southern Anatolia. Here, Bianconi finds clearer signs of contact, particularly in the way Pamphylian altered some consonants and borrowed names from local Anatolian languages.
But even in this region, where Greek speakers lived alongside Anatolian communities for centuries, the core grammar remained stable. Most influence was limited to pronunciation and vocabulary.
The study concludes that while early Greek did come into contact with Anatolian languages, the effects were limited and often overstated in past scholarship.
Bianconi emphasizes the need to distinguish between inherited Indo-European features and those resulting from external contact. He also cautions against assuming influence where evidence is unclear or lacking.
Cultural proximity without deep linguistic impact
Although the languages shared geography for centuries, Bianconi explains that they were not close relatives within the Indo-European family.
This distant relationship, along with fragmentary historical data, makes it difficult to trace any deep or systematic borrowing. Still, the research highlights a few areas where contact left faint traces.
By re-evaluating decades of linguistic theories, the study brings new clarity to the question of how Greek developed in a multilingual environment. It underlines that cultural contact in the eastern Mediterranean did not always result in direct linguistic influence, even when people and languages lived side by side.
In doing so, Bianconi’s work reframes the debate on whether Greek was influenced by Anatolian languages—not by denying all connections, but by showing that each case demands careful and independent scrutiny.
