#mycenean

Yes I know not even here we have a red-haired Menelaus but boy oh boy we get a dude that can actually pass for a Greek! Besides look at this expression of so much tenderness and sadness that he gives to Telemachus and this hug 🫂 I'm gonna cry 😢 😭 🤧

"Αιαία" is a little confusing to the eye but then you get used to it and just read it as "Eea" 😁

Epsilonism is a thing sometimes but not in αι . Sometimes "η" and "ει" become "ε" in Greek. I've seen a tomb of a Χαρίκλεια having her name written as Χαρίκλεα.

About αι, I am sure academic books and papers can explain this better than I, but I'll do my best in a Tumblr ask 😁 I think αι almost always had an "eh" sound. We know that in the Roman years, it was pronounced "eh", due to a graffiti spelling mistake. I also think that it was pronounced "eh" long before that. I base this opinion on a few hints, based on sister languages of Greek, and on the philosophy of Greek.

Hindi:

ai also sounds like "eh" in Hindi. As an example, consider the common word "hai" ( "to be", singular, and for objects). Hai (है) is composed of two letters from the Devanagari script:

ह (ha) - A consonant. ै (ai) - A vowel sign (matra) that modifies the pronunciation of "ह" to "hai." The latter creates the vowel sound "ɛ" (like the "e" in "bed"). The word is pronounced as /hɛ/ .

Persian:

In Greek "kid/young man" is παις (pronounced "pes") for at least two thousand years. In Persian "kid/young man" is "pesar". From older "pusar"⁠, similar to other Asian languages:

Sanskrit: Putra

Punjabi: Puttar

Prakrit: Pusa

Odia: Pua

Pali: Puta

Given that history and connection, I don't see why the Greek pais should not follow suit and have one vowel sound (eh) instead of two (a-eeh).

The philosophy of the Greek language:

Like Japanese today, the first forms of Greek (like Mycenean) were syllabic in nature, meaning that the ideal word structure was vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant etc. See this post for more: Mycenaean Greek (and examples of lexical evolution to Modern Greek)

This philosophy continued in all later forms of Greek, evident by the meter of ancient texts and the "cuts" of vowels when the next word also begins with a vowel, to make it sound better. Greek always wants to avoid the phenomenon of "hasmodia" ("hiatus"), aka, to have too many vowels together. "Too many" in our case is 2 or more vowels.

When we have more than one consonant we pronounce them harshly as one (nt = d , mp = b) and don't stay long at the consonants. A Hindi speaker will stay a little longer on t and r if those vowels are seen together, but a Greek speaker will pronounce "tr" as fast as possible, trying to keep the vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant sound that you may be familiar with from Japanese.

Look at the cuts in the first lines of the Odyssey:

here you see

"δ' ανθρώπων" instead of "δε ανθρώπων"

"δ' ο γ' εν" instead of "δε ο γη εν"

"άλλ' ουδ' ως" instead of "αλλά ουδε ως"

In Greek, it simply doesn't sound nice to have too many vowels together. So it makes sense that the ancient name of the island Αιαία is not pronounced "ayaya" (that's just a funny sound) but Eea. Yes, you still have some vowels there but they are significantly less than the alternative.

You will also notice that most words here have the standard syllabic structure (pairs of consonant-vowel sounds), something that represents the philosophy of Greek even today.

po-ly-tro-pon

an-thro-pon

ar-ny-me-nos

er-ry-sa-to

an-dra

pa-then

thy-mon

pol-lon

I also give the example of the ancient word "οικειοποιούμαι". With the Greek rules, it sounds like "ikiopiume". With the Erasmian, it sounds like "oeekeeeopoeeoumay" which is just ridiculous. I'm not saying modern pronunciation is exactly the same as the ancient one. But we have many reasons to believe that a similar logic was followed.

Even the Mycenean civilization, where an early form of Greek was spoken, we see the word "laogetes" (λαογέτης), a noble rank. Even today Greeks will understand this means "leader of the people", and that normally it would have been "λαοηγέτης" (laoegetes). But because of how the Greek language works, three vowels in a row didn't sound beautiful. Therefore, the third vowel η was erased.

Demeter Sanctuary

“The buildings which resemble the core of a Mycenean palace, are the oldest temples excavated thus far in Macedonia (6th century BCE). Found inside these buildings were many assorted items of worship: figurines, oil lamps, vases, jewels, and coins, all offerings to Demeter and her daughter. Three wells were found in the square area, possibly in memory of "the fountain of goodly dances", where the local women danced in honor of Demeter. The temple to the east contains the base of a marble table on which the first fruits of each year were offered to the Goddesses.”