> Peter, I thought Aeolian was a fusion of Ionian and Thessalian
> elements?
No. Thessalian is a term for a pair of Aeolic dialects, but there are other
dialects as well, including Lesbian (the best known literary form of
Aeolic), Boeotian, and mainland dialects.
Some writers are now suggesting that Thessalian is the "purest" form of
Aeolic, but this is debateable, and depends partly on assumptions. The old
view was that Thessalian had been contaminated from Northern Doric.
Lesbian and Boeotian share features against Thessalian, e.g.:
-ss- futures and aorists on contract verbs
peda for meta (as Arcado-Cyprian)
Lesbian and Thessalian share features against Boeotian, e.g.:
double liquids and nasals
-y- from -i- before vowels
-mi inflection of contract verbs
on for ana
apu for apo
ke for an
Thessalian and Boeotian share features against Lesbian, e.g.:
infinitive in -(e)men
both long e's collapse to what is spelled ei (not eta, as in Lesbian)
both long o's collapse to what is spelled ou (not omega as in Lesbian)
-ti- remains in verb forms, ikati (= eikosi) and -otioi forms (-osioi)
iaros is found for Lesbian iros.
Aeolic differs from Ionic in a number of features, including retaining long
original a: (as does Doric).
Peter