2026-09-02

Pre-Greek Substrate Shaped Ancient Greek Vocabulary

Ancient Greek contains roughly a thousand words that cannot be traced to Indo-European roots, indicating a lost Pre-Greek language influenced its lexicon. Examples include labyrinth, olive, and the names of gods and cities. Surveys of Greek etymology show that more than half of the vocabulary has obscure origins, while less than forty percent derives from Indo-European, supporting the idea of a substantial Pre-Greek substrate.