Editing Hellenic Languages (section)

== Proto-Greek ==
Proto-Greek (or <u>Proto-Hellenic</u>) is the last common ancestor of all varieties of <u>Ancient Greek</u>, coming along with new populations entering the region ~2200-1900 BCE. By ~1700 BCE, this ancestral language had differentiated into a southern and northern pair. It was only subsequent to this that the dialects further differentiated. <u>Proto-Greek</u> is believed to have developed in a region bordering related languages; <u>Proto-Indo-Iranian</u> in the east, and <u>Proto-Armenian</u> and <u>Proto-Phrygian</u> in the west. Proto-Greek speakers may have migrated from the <u>Black Sea</u> region just as the transition to the <u>Bronze Age</u> occurred. 

The main body of <u>Proto-Greek</u> speakers settled in a region that included southwestern <u>Illyria</u>, <u>Epirus</u>, northwestern <u>Thessaly</u> and western <u>Macedonia</u>. Proto-Greek is a '''centrum''' language (described further in [[Indo-European Languages]]), and we see a '''vocalization''' of word-initial '''laryngeals''' (''y-'' to ''dy-'' > ''dz-),'' and a loss of final non-nasal stop consonants (for example, <u>Latin</u> ''quid'' / <u>Sanskrit</u> ''cid'' compare to <u>Greek</u> ''ti''. In scenarios where /m/ is the final phoneme, it switches to /n/. 

<u>Greek</u> is unique among <u>Indo-European</u> languages in reflecting the replacement of PIE's three laryngeals with distinct vowels. Most <u>Indo-European</u> languages can be traced back to a dialectal variety in which all three laryngeals had merged and were replaced by a single vowel, but <u>Greek</u> is distinct.

<u>Proto-Greek</u> numerals were derived directly from <u>Indo-European</u>.

* '''one''': *''héns'' (masculine), *''hmía'' (feminine) (> <abbr>Myc.</abbr> ''e-me'' /heméi/ (dative); <abbr>Att.</abbr>/<abbr>Ion.</abbr> εἷς (ἑνός), μία, ''heîs'' (''henos''), ''mía'')
* '''two''': *''dúwō'' (> <abbr>Myc.</abbr> ''du-wo'' /dúwoː/; <abbr>Hom.</abbr> δύω, ''dúō''; <abbr>Att.</abbr>-<abbr>Ion.</abbr> δύο, ''dúo'')
* '''three''': *''tréyes'' (> <abbr>Myc.</abbr> ''ti-ri'' /trins/; <abbr>Att.</abbr>/<abbr>Ion.</abbr> τρεῖς, ''treîs''; <abbr>Lesb.</abbr> τρής, ''trḗs''; <abbr>Cret.</abbr> τρέες, ''trées'')
* '''four''': nominative *''kʷétwores'', genitive *''kʷeturṓn'' (> <abbr>Myc.</abbr> ''qe-to-ro-we'' /kʷétroːwes/ "four-eared"; <abbr>Att.</abbr> τέτταρες, ''téttares''; <abbr>Ion.</abbr> τέσσερες, ''tésseres''; <abbr>Boeot.</abbr> πέτταρες, ''péttares''; <abbr>Thess.</abbr> πίτταρες, ''píttares''; <abbr>Lesb.</abbr> πίσυρες, ''písures''; <abbr>Dor.</abbr> τέτορες, ''tétores'')
* '''five''': *''pénkʷe'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr>-<abbr>Ion.</abbr> πέντε, ''pénte''; <abbr>Lesb.</abbr>, <abbr>Thess.</abbr> πέμπε, ''pémpe'')
* '''six''': *''hwéks'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr> ἕξ, ''héks''; <abbr>Dor.</abbr> ϝέξ, ''wéks'')
* '''seven''': *''heptə́'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr> ἑπτά, ''heptá'')
* '''eight''': *''oktṓ'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr> ὀκτώ, ''oktṓ'')
* '''nine''': *''ennéwə'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr> ἐννέα, ''ennéa''; <abbr>Dor.</abbr> ἐννῆ, ''ennê'')
* '''ten''': *''dékə'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr> δέκα, ''déka'')
* '''hundred''': *''hekətón'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr> ἑκατόν, ''hekatón'')
* '''thousand''': *''kʰéhliyoi'' (> <abbr>Att.</abbr> χίλιοι, ''khílioi'')