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| The "'''Proto-Ionians'''" are a ] people, of which the existence in the Aegean during the Early Bronze Age has been postulated by Jean Faucounau. The arguments which have been developped in support of this hypothesis constitute he ''Proto-Ionian Theory'', which is essentially of linguistical nature. This theory is, in fact, a modern version of the old ''Three Vawes Theory'' enunciated by the German linguist Paul Kretschmer in his ''Einleitung in der Geschichte des griechischen Sprache'' (Göttingen 1896) | |||
| The "'''Proto-Ionians'''" are a ] people postulated by '''Jean Faucounau'''. | |||
| Mainstream Greek linguistics separates the ] into two large genetic groups, one including ] and the other including both ] and ]. But alternative approaches proposing three groups are not uncommon. Thumb and Kieckers (1932) |
Mainstream Greek linguistics separates the ] into two large genetic groups, one including ] and the other including both ] and ]. But alternative approaches proposing three groups are not uncommon. Following Paul Kretschmer's ideas, Thumb and Kieckers (1932), for instance, have proposed three groups, classifying Ionic as genetically just as separate from Arcadocypriot as from Doric. | ||
| Like those linguists, J. Faucounau rejects the bipartite classification, known as "Risch-Chadwick theory", after two famous proponents of it, ] and ] (See ) and advocates to come back to the tripartite classification, and to three consecutive "waves" of ] immigration into Greece. This is a return to the views forwarded first by ] before the decipherment of ], but with a noteworthy difference : unlike the other ones, the ''First Greek Vawe'' would have '''come by sea''', through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. This vawe would have settled at Troy c.2900 BC, then later in the Cycladic islands, Euboea and Attica. In Faucounau's view, the first Greek settlers in a large part of their historical territory were therefore the (Pelasgic) "Proto-Ionians", which were separated around ] from both the proto-] and the proto-]s. The following two waves are generally accepted as arriving in the Mainland in around 1800 BC for the Mycenaean Greeks (the linguistic predecessors of the Arcadocypriot speakers), and around 1200 BC for the Dorians (See ]). | |||
| Faucounau's main arguments in favour of this model set out in his 2001 and 2005 books are: | |||
| Faucounau's main arguments in favour of this model set out in his 2001 book are his own decipherment claim of the ] as Proto-Ionic, and arguments of ]. Neither claim has any support in the academic mainstream. Inasmuch as the theory even is archaeological, it is ]. Since it appears to rest primarily on a decipherment of the Phaistos Disk and arcane claims about Bronze Age astronomy (the Proto-Ionians are the "inventors of the constellations"), it could also be considered "pseudolinguistics" and "pseudoastronomy". | |||
| #on the linguistical side : a)-the ''proto-ionisms'' that one may find in the Linear B tablets b)-the repartition at the beginning of the Classical times of the Greek dialects c)-the Greek names of most Troyans in the Greek Epic. | |||
| #on the archaeological side, strange facts like the ''Sword from Dorak'', and diverse other unexplained archaeological facts, as the ''disproportionate importance of Troy'' in the Greek Legend and the mentions by the Ancient authors of possible Greek ''Pelasgic peoples''. | |||
| #also arguments of ], showing that the ''Inventors of the Constellations'' lived c.2500 BC in one of the Cycladic Islands and spoke a Ionic dialect. | |||
| Insisting on the fact that his researches on the Proto-Ionians were started up by his preliminary decipherment of the ] by statistical methods, he considers the Proto-Ionian Theory as a confirmation of his claim that the Disk has been written in a Proto-Ionic dialect and belongs to a ''Cycladic Proto-Ionian Maritime Culture'', which has been in contact with the Minoan Civilisation, but was different from it. | |||
| ⚫ | Faucounau's "Proto-Ionic" has most properties of ], including loss of ]s and even of ] (both are preserved intact in 14th century BC Mycenaean). Digamma in Faucounau's reading of the Phaistos Disk has in some instances passed to ''y'', a sound shift not known from any other Greek dialect. | ||
| ⚫ | Faucounau's "Proto-Ionic" concerning the Phaistos Disk, considered as ''the sole written known item of the Proto-Ionian Culture'', has most properties of ], including loss of ]s and even of ] (both are preserved intact in 14th century BC Mycenaean). Digamma in Faucounau's reading of the Phaistos Disk has in some instances passed to ''y'', a sound shift not known from any other Greek dialect, but that one may suspect to have existed in Ionic from words like <païs> v./ <paus>. | ||
| For Faucounau, the ]s, the ], the ] and the ] are all descended from the Proto-Ionians. | |||
| For Faucounau, the ]s, the ], the ] and the ] are all later descendents from the Proto-Ionians, after the ''Proto-Ionian Culture'' of the Early Bronze Age practically disappeared in the Aegean between 2200 and 1800 BC at the late, except in some areas like Attica, which kept a Ionic dialect. | |||
| For the time being, this theory has not be endorsed by any known scholar, but it has attracted the attention of many of them, as shown by the great number of books and papers that J.Faucounau has been able to publish in several peer-reviewed journals, and the encouragements he has received from several archaeologists. | |||
| ==Literature== | ==Literature== | ||
Revision as of 16:39, 27 February 2006
The "Proto-Ionians" are a Bronze Age people, of which the existence in the Aegean during the Early Bronze Age has been postulated by Jean Faucounau. The arguments which have been developped in support of this hypothesis constitute he Proto-Ionian Theory, which is essentially of linguistical nature. This theory is, in fact, a modern version of the old Three Vawes Theory enunciated by the German linguist Paul Kretschmer in his Einleitung in der Geschichte des griechischen Sprache (Göttingen 1896)
Mainstream Greek linguistics separates the Greek dialects into two large genetic groups, one including Doric Greek and the other including both Arcadocypriot and Ionic Greek. But alternative approaches proposing three groups are not uncommon. Following Paul Kretschmer's ideas, Thumb and Kieckers (1932), for instance, have proposed three groups, classifying Ionic as genetically just as separate from Arcadocypriot as from Doric.
Like those linguists, J. Faucounau rejects the bipartite classification, known as "Risch-Chadwick theory", after two famous proponents of it, Ernst Risch and John Chadwick (See ) and advocates to come back to the tripartite classification, and to three consecutive "waves" of Hellenic immigration into Greece. This is a return to the views forwarded first by Paul Kretschmer before the decipherment of Linear B, but with a noteworthy difference : unlike the other ones, the First Greek Vawe would have come by sea, through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. This vawe would have settled at Troy c.2900 BC, then later in the Cycladic islands, Euboea and Attica. In Faucounau's view, the first Greek settlers in a large part of their historical territory were therefore the (Pelasgic) "Proto-Ionians", which were separated around 3000 BC from both the proto-Dorians and the proto-Mycenaeans. The following two waves are generally accepted as arriving in the Mainland in around 1800 BC for the Mycenaean Greeks (the linguistic predecessors of the Arcadocypriot speakers), and around 1200 BC for the Dorians (See Dorian invasion).
Faucounau's main arguments in favour of this model set out in his 2001 and 2005 books are:
- on the linguistical side : a)-the proto-ionisms that one may find in the Linear B tablets b)-the repartition at the beginning of the Classical times of the Greek dialects c)-the Greek names of most Troyans in the Greek Epic.
- on the archaeological side, strange facts like the Sword from Dorak, and diverse other unexplained archaeological facts, as the disproportionate importance of Troy in the Greek Legend and the mentions by the Ancient authors of possible Greek Pelasgic peoples.
- also arguments of archaeoastronomy, showing that the Inventors of the Constellations lived c.2500 BC in one of the Cycladic Islands and spoke a Ionic dialect.
Insisting on the fact that his researches on the Proto-Ionians were started up by his preliminary decipherment of the Phaistos Disk by statistical methods, he considers the Proto-Ionian Theory as a confirmation of his claim that the Disk has been written in a Proto-Ionic dialect and belongs to a Cycladic Proto-Ionian Maritime Culture, which has been in contact with the Minoan Civilisation, but was different from it.
Faucounau's "Proto-Ionic" concerning the Phaistos Disk, considered as the sole written known item of the Proto-Ionian Culture, has most properties of Homeric Greek, including loss of labiovelars and even of digamma (both are preserved intact in 14th century BC Mycenaean). Digamma in Faucounau's reading of the Phaistos Disk has in some instances passed to y, a sound shift not known from any other Greek dialect, but that one may suspect to have existed in Ionic from words like <païs> v./ <paus>.
For Faucounau, the Pelasgians, the Trojans, the Carians and the Philistines are all later descendents from the Proto-Ionians, after the Proto-Ionian Culture of the Early Bronze Age practically disappeared in the Aegean between 2200 and 1800 BC at the late, except in some areas like Attica, which kept a Ionic dialect.
For the time being, this theory has not be endorsed by any known scholar, but it has attracted the attention of many of them, as shown by the great number of books and papers that J.Faucounau has been able to publish in several peer-reviewed journals, and the encouragements he has received from several archaeologists.
Literature
- Jean Faucounau, Le déchiffrement du Disque de Phaistos, Paris 1999
- Jean Faucounau, Les Proto-Ioniens : histoire d'un peuple oublié, Paris 2001.
- review: Paul Faure, Revue des études grecques Vol. 15 (2002), p. 424f.
- Paul Kretschmer, Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache (1896)
- A. Thumb, E. Kieckers, Handbuch der griechischen Dialekte (1932)