Atticism in second declension nominal categories in the language of Achilles Tatius

Abstract

The language of the Ancient Greek novelist, Achilles Tatius, is often described as ‘Atticist’ (that is, imitating or recalling the Attic dialect). To date, however, no precise analysis on the Atticist nature of his language has been undertaken. This paper will look at evidence for Atticist practices in Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Clitophon as revealed by his choices relating to two groups of second declension words: contract nouns and adjectives and those of the so-called ‘Attic declension’. Qualitatively, I will look at quotations from ancient grammarians and lexicographers regarding the Atticist nature of these morphological categories and individual words in these classes. Quantitatively, I will compare Achilles’ actual use and preferences with those of other authors from both the Classical Attic and Hellenistic Koinē periods.