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Herodotus, Histories 1.57.3 · 1.57.3

The Attic people changed tongues

εἰ τοίνυν ἦν καὶ πᾶν τοιοῦτο τὸ Πελασγικόν, τὸ Ἀττικὸν ἔθνος ἐὸν Πελασγικὸν ἅμα τῇ μεταβολῇ τῇ ἐς Ἕλληνας καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν μετέμαθε. καὶ γὰρ δὴ οὔτε οἱ Κρηστωνιῆται οὐδαμοῖσι τῶν νῦν σφέας περιοικεόντων εἰσὶ ὁμόγλωσσοι οὔτε οἱ Πλακιηνοί, σφίσι δὲ ὁμόγλωσσοι· δηλοῦσί τε ὅτι τὸν ἠνείκαντο γλώσσης χαρακτῆρα μεταβαίνοντες ἐς ταῦτα τὰ χωρία, τοῦτον ἔχουσι ἐν φυλακῇ.

If, then, the whole Pelasgian people was really like this, the Attic people, being Pelasgian, changed their language too when they became Hellenes. For neither the people of Creston nor the people of Placia speak the same language as any of their neighbors today, though they speak the same language as each other, which shows that they still keep the form of speech they brought with them when they migrated to those places.

Word by word

εἰeiifτοίνυνtoínynthenἦνênwasκαὶkaì—πᾶνpânthe wholeτοιοῦτοtoioûtolike thisτὸtò—ΠελασγικόνPelasgikónPelasgian stock,τὸtò—ἈττικὸνAttikònthe AtticἔθνοςéthnospeopleἐὸνeònbeingΠελασγικὸνPelasgikònPelasgianἅμαhámawhenτῇtêi—μεταβολῇmetabolêithey changedτῇtêi—ἐςesintoἝλληναςHéllēnasGreeksκαὶkaìtooτὴνtḕn—γλῶσσανglôssantheir languageμετέμαθεmetémathechanged.καὶkaì—γὰρgàrforδὴdḕindeedοὔτεoúteneitherοἱhoi—ΚρηστωνιῆταιKrēstōniêtaithe Crestoniansοὐδαμοῖσιoudamoîsianyτῶνtônof thoseνῦνnŷnnowσφέαςsphéasthemπεριοικεόντωνperioikeóntōnliving aroundεἰσὶeisìareὁμόγλωσσοιhomóglōssoisame-tonguedοὔτεoútenorοἱhoi—ΠλακιηνοίPlakiēnoíthe Placians,σφίσιsphísieach otherδὲdèbutὁμόγλωσσοιhomóglōssoisame-tongued·δηλοῦσίdēloûsíthey showτεte—ὅτιhótithatτὸνtòn—ἠνείκαντοēneíkantocarriedγλώσσηςglṓssēsof languageχαρακτῆραcharaktêrathe stampμεταβαίνοντεςmetabaínontesmigratingἐςestoταῦταtaûtatheseτὰtà—χωρίαchōríaplaces,τοῦτονtoûtonitἔχουσιéchousikeepἐνeninφυλακῇphylakêiguard.

The setting

Herodotus applies his finding to Athens itself, whose people he says were originally Pelasgian, and gives the linguistic evidence behind his claim.

A note on this passage

Herodotus draws the conclusion his readers have been waiting for: the Attic people, eon Pelasgikon, "being Pelasgian," metemathe, "relearned," their language at the same time they changed over into Hellenes. The verb is built on the root of manthanō, "learn," with the prefix meta- added to mean learning something in place of what came before; Herodotus is saying the ancestors of Athens had to unlearn one tongue to learn Greek, which makes Attic Greek itself a kind of second language, however many centuries old.

The proof he offers is a small piece of comparative method centuries before the field existed: the Crestonians share a language with no neighbor around them today, and neither do the Placians, yet the Crestonians and the Placians, separated by the length of the Aegean, speak the same language as each other. The only explanation is that both groups kept the charaktēra, the "stamp" or "imprint," of the tongue they carried with them when they migrated, guarding it, as Herodotus puts it, en phylakēi, "under watch." A word usually used for a guard posted at a gate here describes a whole people standing sentry over their own language.

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Herodotus, Histories 1.57.3 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/herodotus/1.57.3/