The earliest extant Greek texts date from around 1400 BC. Greek is thus the oldest known language transmitted in Europe and takes second place (after Hittite) amongst the Indo-European languages. As Greek has a partly accessible prehistory (see B., C. below) and survives today, its linguistic history can be traced over about 5,000 years.
The most important linguistic sources of Ancient Greek are textual. They range from functional ( Mycenaean, Papyri) to literary texts…
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Forssman, Bernhard (Erlangen) and
Binder, Vera (Gießen),
Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry.
Consulted online on 19 January 2022 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e427870>