44 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



like F'lv (42), Fapa^ (43), eWt'SfS (85), diyLa-arevav (88), Tqvov, ovvjjia (128), 



Foi hecfKos (136). On the other hand, epigrams like 88 and 92 refute 

 Pick's statement and seem to support Wagner's views. ^^^ 84 and 86, 

 epitaphs of foreigners, are written in the dialect of the dead, not of the 

 people among whom they died. 



Epic forms are exceedingly rare. We find only ^tivotm (88), oSoIo 

 (89), Kixqi (92), eivsKa (132). In 42 the form iXijfcot, in a Doric setting, 

 is still a stumbling-block to commentators. 



In the fourth century, as stated above, the Attic dialect spread rap- 

 idly over other districts. In Doric countries we still find the Doric a 



as a rule : 6\6}xav (248), MJarploTroXliy, ya, (TTaa-ap (265), 'A[o-»c]Xa7rte (266) ; 



in Ionic regions the Ionic »? : tjXikItjv (252), 'Adrjvairji (2CiS), but these are 

 almost the only distinguishing marks of dialect v/hich we find, and 

 even these are not invariable. In 267 we read veii>, tXaos, yeverjv ; in 269 

 KTjpv^, TTTauois ; in 274 vvjxtpa, Xaos, Kovpos, fivfj)! ; in 247 (from Euboea) 

 Bepane'iai ; in 268 (from Erythrae) TroXtoyj^wt. Epic forms have almost 

 entirely disappeared. I am unable to see why Preger i®2 g^yg that in 

 the fourth century the epic-Ionic dialect began to prevail. Surely for 

 "epic-Ionic" we should read "Attic." 



The only epic forms which are found to any extent in this century 

 are words ending in -oto. This termination persists because of its 

 metrical convenience, as we see from the fact that such forms tend to 

 occupy fixed places in the verse. The same is true of the endings 



•oitn and -aicri. 



"1 See p. 40. 



p. xvm. 



