Jireček Line

Jireček Line

The Jireček Line is an imaginary line through the ancient Balkans that divided the influences of the Latin (in the north) and Greek (in the south) languages until the 4th century. It goes from near the city of Laçi in modern Albania to Serdica (now Sofia, in Bulgaria) and then follows the Balkan Mountains to the Black Sea.

The placing of the line is based on archaeological findings: most of the inscriptions found to the north of it were written in Latin, while most of the inscriptions found to the south were in Greek.

This line is important in establishing the place where the Romanian and Aromanian people were formed (see Origin of Romanians), since it is considered unlikely that a Latin-speaking people formed to the south of it.

It was originally used by the Czech historian Konstantin Jireček in 1911 in a history of the Slavic people.

More recent scholars have revised it somewhat: Kaimio (1979) places Dalmatia and Moesia Superior in the Latin area and Moesia Inferior in the Greek sphere. MacLeod (1982) suggests that there may not have been "an official language policy for each and every aspect of life" but that "individual Roman officials [made] common sense ad hoc decisions". He also points out that "even in Greek areas... Latin was the dominant language in inscriptions recording public works, on milestones, and in the army."

Further reading

* [http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/articles/?p=47 Jirecek Line]

References

* Jireček, Konstantin, "Geschichte der Serben" ' "The history of the Serbians" ', Gotha, 1911.
* Kaimio, Jorma, "The Romans and the Greek Language", "Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum" 64. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1979. (not seen)
* MacLeod, M.D., "review of" Kaimio, 1979 in "The Classical Review", New Ser., 32:2:216-218, 1982. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-840X%281982%292%3A32%3A2%3C216%3ATRATGL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S JSTOR]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jireček — can refer to: * Josef Jireček, a 19th century Czech scholar * Konstantin Josef Jireček, his son and a fellow scholar * the Jireček Line between ancient Greek and Latin spheres of influence in the Balkans …   Wikipedia

  • Konstantin Josef Jireček — (July 24, 1854 in Vienna January 10, 1918 in Vienna), son of Josef Jireček, was a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.He entered the Bulgarian service in 1879, and in 1881 became minister of education at Sofia. In 1884 he became professor of… …   Wikipedia

  • Origin of the Albanians — Part of a series on Albanians …   Wikipedia

  • Proto-Romanian language — Proto Romanian (also known as Common Romanian , româna comună or Ancient Romanian , străromâna) is a Romance language evolved from Vulgar Latin and considered to have been spoken by the ancestors of today s Romanians and related Balkan Latin… …   Wikipedia

  • Thraco-Roman — History of Romania This article is part of a series Prehistory …   Wikipedia

  • Dacian language — Dacian Spoken in Romania, northern Bulgaria, eastern Serbia; also (possibly): Moldova, SW Ukraine, eastern Hungary, southern Bulgaria, northern Greece, European Turkey, NW Anatolia (Turkey) Extinct probably by the 6th century AD …   Wikipedia

  • Origin of the Romanians — History of Romania This article is part of a series Prehistory …   Wikipedia

  • Romance languages — Romance Geographic distribution: Originally Southern Europe and parts of Africa; now also Latin America, Canada, parts of Lebanon and much of Western Africa Linguistic classification: Indo European Italic …   Wikipedia

  • Rumänen — (Români oder Rumâni) Gesamtbevölkerung 25 Millionen Siedlungsgebiete Als Staatsvolk in Rumänien und Moldawien sowie als Minderheit in Ukraine, Ungarn, Bulgarien, Griechenland, Serbien, Mazedonien, Kroatien und Albanien …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Northern Epirus — Note: For the autonomous state formed in the region at 1914, see: Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus. The region of Epirus, stretching across Greece and Albania. Legend grey: Approximate extent of Epirus in antiquity orange: Greek periphery… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”