Editing Digamma (section)

==Greek w==

===Mycenaean Greek===
[[File:Ceramic fragment with WANAKTI inscription.jpg|thumb|right|Ancient Greek ceramic fragment depicting a horse with rider. The inscription reads [...]Ι ϜΑΝΑΚΤΙ ([...]i wanakti), "to the king", with an initial digamma (and a [[Archaic Greek alphabets#Corinthian|local Σ-shaped form]] for [[iota]]).]]

The sound {{IPA|/w/}} existed in [[Mycenean Greek]], as attested in [[Linear B]] and archaic Greek inscriptions using digamma.  It is also confirmed by the [[Hittite language|Hittite]] name of [[Troy]], ''[[Wilusa]]'', corresponding to the Greek name *''Wilion'', classical {{lang|grc|Ἴλιον}} {{grc-transl|Ἴλιον}} (Ilium).

===Classical Greek===
The {{IPAslink|w}} sound was lost at various times in various dialects, mostly before the classical period.

In [[Ionic Greek|Ionic]], {{IPAslink|w}} had probably disappeared before [[Homer]]'s epics were written down (7th century BC), but its former presence can be detected in many cases because its omission left the [[meter (poetry)|meter]] defective. For example, the word {{lang|grc|[[anax|ἄναξ]]}} ("[[tribal king|(tribal) king]], lord, (military) leader"),<ref>{{LSJ|a)/nac|ἄναξ|ref}}</ref> found in the [[Iliad]], would have originally been {{lang|grc|ϝάναξ}} {{IPA|/wánaks/}} (and is attested in this form in Mycenaean Greek<ref>{{cite book |author=Chadwick, John|title=The Decipherment of Linear B |publisher=Second edition (1990). [[Cambridge University Press|Cambridge UP]] |year=1958 |isbn=0-521-39830-4|author-link=John Chadwick }}</ref>) and the word {{lang|grc|οἶνος}} ("wine"), are sometimes used in the meter where a word starting with a consonant would be expected. Further evidence coupled with cognate-analysis shows that {{lang|grc|οἶνος}} was earlier {{lang|grc|ϝοῖνος}} {{IPA|/woînos/}}<ref>{{LSJ|oi){{=}}nos1|οἶνος|ref}}:
:Ϝοῖνος [[Gortyn code|Leg.Gort.]] [http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/main?url=oi%3Fikey%3D200508 col X.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304090144/http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/main?url=oi%3Fikey=200508 |date=2012-03-04 }}</ref> (compare [[History of Crete#Classical and Hellenistic Crete|Cretan]] [[Doric Greek|Doric]] {{lang|grc-x-doric|ibêna}} and [[Latin]] {{lang|la|vīnum}}, which is the origin of [[English language|English]] ''wine''<ref>{{Cite web |title=wine {{!}} Etymology, origin and meaning of wine by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/wine |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}</ref>). There have been editions of the Homeric epics where the wau was re-added, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these have largely fallen out of favour.

[[Aeolic Greek|Aeolian]] was the dialect that kept the sound {{IPAslink|w}} longest. In discussions by ancient Greek grammarians of the Hellenistic era, the letter is therefore often described as a characteristic Aeolian feature.

Loanwords that entered Greek before the loss of {{IPA|/w-/}} lost that sound when Greek did. For instance, [[Oscan]] {{lang|osc|Viteliu}} ('land of the male calves', compare {{langx|la|vitulus}} 'yearling, male calf') gave rise to the Greek word {{lang|grc|Ἰταλία}} {{grc-transl|Ἰταλία}}. The Adriatic tribe of the [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]] was called in {{lang|grc|Ἐνετοί}} {{grc-transl|Ἐνετοί}}. In loanwords that entered the Greek language after the drop of {{IPAslink|w}}, the phoneme was once again registered, compare for example the spelling of {{lang|grc|Οὐάτεις}} {{grc-transl|Οὐάτεις}} for ''[[vates]]''.

===Pamphylian digamma===
{{See also|Pamphylian Greek|Tsan}}
[[File:Greek Sigma 01.svg|thumb|right|100px|Pamphylian digamma]]
In some local (''epichoric'') alphabets, a variant glyph of the letter digamma existed that resembled modern Cyrillic [[И]]: ͷ. In one local alphabet, that of [[Pamphylia]], this variant form existed side by side with standard digamma as two distinct letters. It has been surmised that in this dialect the sound {{IPAslink|w}} may have changed to labiodental {{IPAslink|v}} in some environments. The F-shaped letter may have stood for the new {{IPAslink|v}} sound, while the special И-shaped form signified those positions where the old {{IPAslink|w}}  sound was preserved.<ref>Nick Nicholas: [http://www.opoudjis.net/unicode/epigraphical.pdf Proposal to add Greek epigraphical letters to the UCS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807015713/http://www.opoudjis.net/unicode/epigraphical.pdf |date=2016-08-07 }}. Technical report, Unicode Consortium, 2005. Citing C. Brixhe, ''Le dialecte grec de Pamphylie. Documents et grammaire''. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1976.</ref>