A note on Macedonian *

Wojciech Sowa
Jagellonian University Cracow

Since the end of the nineteenth century, there has been a view that the language
spoken in ancient Macedonia should be classified as an independent Indo-European
language like other Balkan languages such as Thracian, Dacian and Illyrian. This view,
proposed by Paul Kretschmer, was once generally accepted by historical linguists
if with some criticism, especially in light of the so-called Balkan Indo-European
(Balkanindogermanisch) theory, which proposes a common period of prehistoric co-
existence of several Indo-European dialects in the Balkans prior to 2000 bc. To this
group would belong Greek, Phrygian, Armenian, Albanian and possibly Tocharian,
as well as poorly attested languages such as Macedonian, Thracian, Illyrian and (rela-
tively well attested) Messapian. The common features of Balkan Indo-European
appear on the phonological, morphological and lexical levels. One may assume that
they result from the contact between the various languages and that the concept of
Balkan Indo-European can be understood as a specific areal-linguistic phenomenon
a kind of Sprachbund of the Bronze Age, even though it consisted of languages that
were actually related to each other (Hajnal (2003) 142). It seems, moreover, that at
least for Greek, Macedonian, Armenian and Phrygian, one may reconstruct a single
proto-stage (Hajnal (2003) 135), pointing to the existence of one common, prehistoric
dialectal continuum (Ritter and Sowa (2004) 646f.).
On the other hand, in Greece, in spite of the generally negative perception both of
Macedonia as a political formation and of its social institutions and customs, there
was also a feeling of close relationship between the two nations. Macedonians were
not, it seems, treated as non-Greek foreigners, but rather described as original inhab-
itants of the same general areas as other Greek tribes. For instance, Herodotus calls

* Ancient authors have been quoted according to the electronic editions in the Thesaurus Linguae
Graecae project prepared for the Packard Humanities Institute. The Lexicon of Hesychius has been
quoted according to the editions of K. Latte (ed.) (195366) Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon. Vols. 12
(AO), Hauniae and M. Schmidt (ed.) (18612) Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon. Vols. 34 (PW). Halle
a.d.S. (repr. Amsterdam, 1965).
 For the relationship between Messapian and Albanian, see Eichner (2004) 108ff and Matzinger
(2005a).
 For a description of Balkan Indo-European, see Klingenschmitt (1994) 244f, Matzinger (2005b) 381
6.
182 Wojciech Sowa

the Macedonians () a Dorian tribe, living in the area around Mt. Pindos.
According to another legend, Perdiccas, mythical founder of the Macedonian state,
came to the northern regions of Greece from the Peloponnesus; elsewhere, Macedon
and Magnes, brothers from Thessaly, are said to be the cousins of the sons of Hellen
Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus to whom the Dorian, Ionic and Aeolic dialects were
traditionally attributed. The literary evidence, of course, can hardly be used as proof
of the Greekness of the Macedonian language, but it still suggests a similarity between
the customs and traditions of the Doric tribes and those of their neighbours to the
north.
Nowadays, ancient Macedonian is treated as one of the dialects of Greek, origi-
nally of Aeolic provenance, with strong influences from the north-western dialects
as well as from the non-Greek languages of the northern Balkans. The inscription
from Pella published by Dubois in 1995, considered to be the first native epigraphic
monument of Macedonian, seems to confirm such an assumption (cf. the use of
characteristic Dorisms, e.g. the preservation of the long /a:/, as soon as with
an optative and in the meaning of marriage).
Unfortunately, owing to the lack of other epigraphical or literary evidence, we are
left with glosses as our chief testimony of the vernacular speech of the region. This
group of c. 150 lexemes comprises forms which are obviously Greek (of Attic origin),
Macedonian hapax legomena, and forms which have Greek cognates, but differ
from them in their phonemic shape to an extent which goes far beyond the limits
of dialectal variation in ancient Greek (Katii (1976) 111). It seems, however, that
many of these Macedonian features can be explained also within the frames of Greek
dialectology; in particular, there are interesting links between Macedonian and Thes-
salian vocabulary (Garca Ramn (2004) 236 n. 2, 242, 253; Sowa (2006) 118).
One of the most debated Macedonian glosses is , quoted by Hesychius at
A2997: . (Latte). The meaning is problematic,
either white poplar, the tree according to the conjecture in the
new edition of Hesychius by Latte or, according to the codex,
white leprosy of trees (so the entry in Schmidt). In the restored meaning white
poplar, should, according to some scholars, correspond to other IE words for
alder; cf. NHG Erle, MHG erle, OHG erila, elira, OS elira, all < Gmc. *aliz (Kluge
Seebold (1999) 230); Slavic, e.g. Pol. olcha < *olsa < *alisa Erle; Lith. aksnis, Latv.

 ,
, .
, (Hdt. 1.56).
 See the first two chapters of Hammond (1989) passim.
 Peters: [E]s handelt sich wohl um ein ursprnglich olisches Idiom, das frhzeitig unter
(nord)westgriechischen und schlielich auch ungriechichen Einflu geraten ist (2000) 383 n. 26;
Hammond: the Macedonians from Lower Macedonia spoke an Aeolic dialect, those from Upper
Macedonia a north-western Greek dialect (1994) 1314.
 See Hajnal (2003) 123f; cf. also Brixhe-Panayotou (1994) and Brixhe (1997).
 A note on Macedonian 183

lksnis with secondary epenthesis of /k/ and L alnus (< *alisnos) (Kretschmer
(1927) 305). This reconstruction is based on the assumption that intervocalic /s/
becomes voiced [z] in Macedonian (cf. Pudi (1971) 223, Bednarczuk (1988) 480f.).
This assumption is, in my opinion, incorrect. There are only two examples of the
alleged development: one is the Macedonian (Hsch. I 348: .
); the second is . Since does not really seem to be related to
OCS vesel joyful, and the sign <z> might represent some other sound (e.g. [ts],
[dz]), the form might be the fem. of *setuelo-, an (e)lo- derivative to the u-stem
*setus, *stuos, reflected in G (< *seteuos analogisch ausgeglichenes seteu-,
Peters (1980) 185; cf. also attested ). There is, likewise, no need
to consider <> in a continuation of PIE *s.
Kalleris accepts the lectio of the Hesychius manuscripts
white leprosy of trees. According to him, is originally Greek and
should be compared to , another name for an illness of the type, espe-
cially because of the similar semantics note also in the same meaning
white leprosy (Kalleris (1976) 90ff.). He rejects the etymological proposal, made by
Kretschmer, linking it to Germanic *aliz and tries to explain the assumed relation
between and (for the latter, cf. L albus, U alfu acc. pl. neut. < *albo-)
as referring to the white colour. In this way he combines both meanings leprosy
and white poplar , stating that should mean white colour of plants (Kalleris
(1976) 92). He considers the possibility that it could be an analogical formation or
even a foreign loan-word.
For Helly (2004) 280301 the proposed etymological relation to OHG elira is the
correct one. He tries to connect the Macedonian gloss with the Thessalian place-
name , occurring already in the Catalogue of Ships (Il. 2.71617:
| ) as
well as in various glosses (e.g. Hsch. O 562 , with Il. 2.717
as the source) and in ancient geographers and philologists (e.g. Steph. Byz. Ethnica
489.1419: Olizon, the city in Thessaly [mentioned] by Hecataeus in his Europe. [The
substantive] declines in and it is oxytone: these who live in Pityeia and rough
Olizon [Il. 2.717]. The stress is oxytone in distinction to the men were smaller
[Il.18.519]. The city was named so because it is small. According to Demosthenes in
[his] Origins, the Thessalians say olizon for small. The ethnic adjective is Olizonios.)10

 Cf. Hsch. E 6518ff p. . ( 255); ;

; see also the analysis in Sowa (2006) 1248.
 Cf. Hsch. A 3345 <> dull-white leprosy and L 725.1:
. . .
 Hsch. A 3335: . probably used by Aeschylus in his lost tragedy
(Bekker An. Gr. Bekker. 386.18 = Phot. p. 84.1 Reitz.).
10 , . .
. .
. , , .
184 Wojciech Sowa

One finds the same information also in Hsch. O 559 ( ,

smaller) with reference to Il. 18.51819 ( |
). According to Helly, the connection between and
could be made on the assumption of the intermediary stage * (as was already
pointed out by Kretschmer); the etymological meaning of the city name would be
a city with poplars. Helly claims that this is a quite common motif in place-names:
thus, for instance, Castanea in Thessaly was named after the chestnut.11 The alter-
nation between /o/ and /a/ is a feature of Thessalian phonology, which may also result
from contact between Thessalians and either Macedonians or Thracians.12
As can be seen, a precise interpretation of the gloss is not possible. But the inter-
pretation of the form / seems to play a key role, insofar as it can designate
not only leprosy, elephantiasis the cutaneous disease deriving its name from the
characteristic colour of the spots it causes but also a kind of a tree, presumably the
white poplar, as well as, in the plural, white spots on the nails (cf. LSJ). If the reading
given by the codices white leprosy that affects trees (as
opposed to the leprosy that affects men) is to be considered plausible, then this will
also open a new etymological perspective. It seems that a link to the assumed Thes-
salian or, more generally, Aeolic * (= ) is possible (if it is a primary word
and not one secondarily formed from the place-name).
It is tempting to compare Mac. with Greek and some other Greek
formations, such as death (cf. Hsch. L 1232 * S, AS),
attested since Homer (e.g. Il. 8.130 ),
and the related epithet of Ares man-killing (e.g. Il. 13.298
). All of these go back to PIE *h3leg- in the
meaning be small, little, weak, < *log-- < *h3log-- being the o-grade noun
with regular loss of the initial laryngeal in this apophonic context (Ro, oR), as opposed
to < *h3lg-.13
One may also quote here the Albanian adjective lig(i) bad, poor, ill with such
derivatives as adv. ligsht seriously ill and e lg disease (Demiraj (1997); cf. BAE 87)

. Cf. also Eust. Comm. ad Hom. Il. 1.513 520:

,
, , . ,
, , .
, , .
. , ,
. , .
11 Schol. in Nic. Alexipharm. 271.15: < BRvAld> < BRv Ald> ,
, , .
< , G2>. See Helly (2004) 280301.
12 See Helly (2004) 301; cf. also Thumb-Scherer (1959) 54f and Blmel (1982) 51ff For ~ in
Thessaly, see Garca Ramn (2001).
13 Cf. also : < *mo-- : *h3m- and : < *uors-ee : *h2urs-; see Rasmussen
(1989) 164, 176f; cf. Peters (1980) 14.
 A note on Macedonian 185

and probably the Armenian a-stem akat poor,14 all from *h3lg-o-.15 There are no
obstacles to analysing Macedonian as a feminine of an original *-o- derivative
from zero-grade *h3lg-o-; the presence of /a/ for /o/ could either be treated as a
proper feature of the Macedonian dialect (as it is in the case of Thessalian) or as a
secondary change of an initial /o/ to /a/, as in Hsch. A 213
(lectio facilior for lectio difficilior with conjecture <t> to digamma <>; cf.
Masson (1995) 2339) < *Hobrues < *h3bruH-es; as opposed to < *h3bruH,
< *h3bruH-os. The influence of any other Balkan language (e.g. Thracian
or Phrygian) which could affect the original Macedonian */o/ does not seem very
probable in the face of the other Macedonian forms which present intact /o/, e.g.
Hsch. B 627 . , A 988 soot (cf. G );
what is more important in the Macedonian dialect is that original unstressed /o/
tends to yield /u/ rather than /a/ (Brixhe (1997) 50f.); the conditions for this infre-
quent occurence of /a/ instead of expected /o/ are still unclear (*obruues or *obrouues
> abrouues; *olidza > ).
It seems plausible, then, to assume that in the case of we are dealing with
another Balkan isogloss (though probably not an exclusive one; cf. Lith. lig illness,
ligius LK VII (1966) 461f.), a root *h3lg-o- (in the case of Macedonian *h3lg-eh2)
used in this area with the primary semantics small, weak and with the semantic
development to poor (Armenian) or weak, ill (Albanian). The Greek dialects
preserve the zero grade in the meaning small, the o-grade in the sense death.
The evidence from the Macedonian dialect shows the derivative probably in the
meaning illness, disease, but the possibility of some sort of metaphorical name for a
particular species of tree e.g. ill-tree (cf. weeping willow, Pol. wierzba paczca)
cannot be excluded either.

14 akat poor is used to translate Greek (originally beggar), mostly in a metaphorical sense,
cf. Matt. 5:3 erani akatac hogwov, translating .
15 For the problem of internal /l/ and the reflexes of the laryngeals in Albanian, see Demiraj (1994) esp.
5861; cf. also Klingenschmitt (1982), 68 n. 6 and Matzinger (2001) 111f.