One of our most important sources for an ethnolinguistic understanding of the Greek language is the epigraphical evidence furnished by formal inscriptions and dedications carved on bronze or stone tablets, as well as graffiti and dipinti casually scribbled on personal items. Relatively free from the artificial literary idioms that characterise the literary corpus from as early as the time of the Homeric epics, inscriptions (unlike the literary manuscripts which have been subjected to centuries of textual transmission) bear the unmediated mark of their scribes.

Two sorts of information are present in inscriptions. The first is linguistic: slight differences in speech and dialect can be discerned through phonological, morphological and sometimes even lexical variations. The second is strictly speaking stylistic rather than linguistic and involves variations in the manner of writing. The existence of localised chirographic traditions and conventions means that the provenance of inscriptions can often be ascertained from the shapes of letter forms. It is, however, the existence of a repertoire of alternative letter forms which presents each community with the need to choose between them. As with elements of material culture, this choice is seldom random and may well indicate a conscious selection intended to stress local identities. It is to these non-linguistic variations that we turn first.

Scripts and alphabets

The ancient Greeks attributed the invention of writing to mythical figures such as Hermes, Prometheus, Palamedes and Kadmos, though the earliest alphabetic inscriptions do not generally predate the eighth century BC – ironically, some of the earliest were found in Italy.