. Aeolic is marked in light green.]]
is a Linguistic term used to describe a set of rather Archaic Greek sub- Dialect s, spoken mainly in Boeotia (a region in Central Greece ), in Lesbos (an island close to Asia Minor ) and in other Greek Colonies .
It is probable that the Aeolic speakers represent the second (i.e. Achaean ) Migratory wave of Greeks ( Hellenes ) from the plains of Central Europe (or, according to other opinions, from what is present-day Ukraine ) into their current homeland. The Aeolic dialect shows many Archaism s, in comparison to the other Greek dialects (i.e. Ionian - Attic , Doric , Northwestern and Arcado-Cypriot ), as well as many innovations.
- The original Indo-European (and Proto-Greek ) Labiovelar , "kw", turned into "p" everywhere, a trait which finds its exact counterpart in the so-called P-Celtic languages ( Welsh , Breton , Cornish , Ancient Gaulish etc.) and in some Italic Language s, for example Oscan (an extinct language of Italy). This trait may point to an especially close relationship between the Greek ( Hellenic ), Celtic and Italic branches of the Indo-European Language Family .
- The original Indo-European's (and Proto-Greek's) long "a" was retained everywhere, in contrast to the Ionic-Attic dialect, which turned it into a long open "e" [e: , under specific circumstances (eg. Ionic-Attic: μήτηρ (=mother) ---ma:te:r ; Aeolic: μάτηρ).
- The Aeolic dialect made extensive use of the so-called "athematic" Verb Conjugation , i.e. the conjugation ending in "-mi". The same is also found in Irish , where this selection has been generalized, i.e "-im" (eg. Ionic-Attic: φιλέω (=to love); Aeolic: φίλημι).
- In many Aeolic sub-dialects (e.g. in that of Lesbos island), the tonic Accent of all words appears recessive, as is typical only in the verbs of other dialects. This or similar traits are also found in many other Indo-European languages, such as Germanic , Italic, Celtic, Croatian etc. (eg. Ionic-Attic: ποταμός (= a river); Lesbian: πόταμος).
- The Infinitive ending of the Aeolic dialect is -μεν, the same as the Latin verbal nouns ending "-men". This is easily explained by the fact that, in the Indo-European Proto-language , the infinitive was mainly used as a verbal noun (eg. Ionic-Attic: ἄγειν (= to lead, to do); Aeolic ἀγέμεν).
- In Lesbian Aeolic, the phenomenon of " Psilosis " occurred, as in the Ionic sub-dialect; this is the absence of the aspiration of initial Vowel s, frequently the result of the loss of Sigma or Digamma (eg. Attic: ἥλιος (= sun); Ionic: ἠέλιος,; Lesbian: ἀέλιος,; Proto-Greek: ''a:selios'' or ''a:welios'').
- In Boeotia n, the ancient Indo-European (and Proto-Greek) semi-vowel "w" or "digamma" was retained, as was also in the Doric dialect (eg. Ionic-Attic: ἔπος (ἔπος - word, epic poem); Boeotian: ϝέπος, Doric: ϝέπος).
- In Boeotian, the vowel-system was, in many cases, changed in a way which reminds of the modern Greek pronunciation (eg. Ionic-Attic: λύεται (= he/she unties him/herself); Boeotian: λύετε; Modern Greek: λύνεται (pronounced 'li:nete)).
- The original Indo-European Consonant Cluster , " -sm-", was assimilated to "-mm-", as is common in several Indo-European languages. In Ionic-Attic, ''sigma'' drops before a nasal, and the preceding vowel is lengthened in compensation (eg. Ionic-Attic: εἰμί (= I am); Aeolic: ἔμμι).
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