[cgreek:00144] Re: progress report

[TAKAHASHI Naoto <ntakahas@xxxxxxxx>]

Below is a message from Pierre MacKay concerning epsilon-perispomene
and omicron-perispomene.

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PLEASE do not remove epsilon-perispomene and omicron-perispomene.  Yannis's
reasons for having them (unless his arguments have been refined since I
last saw them) are very wide of the mark, but the forms are used, and
especially in Attic (Viz. Athenian)
Greek.  Until 403 B. C. the Athenians did not officially have any but the
one glyph for all three forms of the E sound (long open, long closed, and
short).  That meant that when they wrote what later would appear as
eta-perispomene, all they had was the glyph for epsilon.  Since the epsilon
glyph had to serve as a long vowel a good deal of the time, it is
transcribed in modern lowercase as epsilon-perispomene.  

The same goes (mutatis mutandis) for omicron.  In Ibycus convention, the
commonest formula for the start of an officially inscribed decision of the
Athenian people would
read  "E)'doce tei= bo'lei kai` toi= de'moi", instead of E}'doce thi=
bou'lh| kai` tw| dh'mw|.
I am sorry that particular formula does not include either
epsilon-perispomene or omicron-perispomene, but it does show epsilon
standing in for eta, and omicron standing in for both omega and the false
diphthong omicron-upsilon.  I assure you that Classicists will very much
regret it if you eliminate epsilon-perispomene and omicron-perispomene.
They do occure in Classical Greek and in some very important documents.
(Consider the Athenian Tribute lists for the Delian League, for example---a
very large text.)

I have even seen calls for dieresis with perispomene, which is an
extraordinarily rare---almost to the point of vanishing---phenomenon.  In
TLG issue D it did not occur at all, but apparently, in some peculiar
Homeric phrases it is good to be able to record it.

I am sorry to have to send this directly to you.  Something seems to have
happened to my membership of this list.

With all best wishes, and profound thanks for your effort on this,

Pierre MacKay
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-- 
TAKAHASHI Naoto
ntakahas@xxxxxxxx
http://www.m17n.org/ntakahas/