‘New’ Greek in old texts: (alleged) regionalisms and anticipations of koiné in Epicharmus

A number of rare linguistic features to be found in Epicharmus’ fragments are only paralleled in later texts. Opinions vary concerning these forms’ origin, i.e. whether they are Sicilian innovations which entered the koiné, or whether these (alleged) anticipations of koiné may have originally had a wider diffusion than the Greek West. The aim of this paper is to investigate a number of cases, some of which have generally been overlooked, contributing to a more nuanced appreciation of the Greek vocabulary and of the ancient views about the Greek language.