Each part of Greece had their own dialect. In some cases, English words come from one or more of the dialects.

• The prefix "tetra" means four, but so does
• the prefix "tessera".

In Genesis 10, after the worldwide flood of Noah, the Old Testament describes the descendants of Noah and, in some cases, provides some additional information. In many cases, the areas of these descendants are named after the original descendant of Noah.

The three sons of Noah are as follows.

• Japheth (Indo-European nations, perhaps Asia)
• Shem (Semitic nations, perhaps China and North America)
• Ham (Egypt, Africa)

Of course there are exceptions, as when one group later migrates to another area. Here we are mostly concerned with Japheth and the sons of Japheth.

There are some interesting prophecies of Noah about his sons, from about 2400 B.C. Note that Canaan is the son of Ham.

The Hebrew for "Japheth" is "יָפֶת/יֶפֶת". The Greek is «ιαφεθ».

Many make the following connections, some of which are referenced by other historians (omitted).

• "Javan" is «ιωυαν» which is "Ionia" an important part of Greece and the Greek language (see following verses)p
• "Tiras" is «θιρας» which are the "Thracians" and, later, the "Etruscans" which become the Romans.

From the Bible perspective, Japheth is considered the father of the Indo-European nations and the Indo-European languages.

The nations of "Javan" (later, Greece and the Greek language) and "Tiras" (later, Rome and the Latin language) indicate that Greek and Latin are related through a common ancestor - Japheth. Greek and Latin do have many similarities, but also significant differences. And, over time, each has borrowed words from the other, back and forth.

More: Sky father: Jupiter, Zeus and Japheth

From the Bible, we know that Shem lived 600 years and was still alive in the time of Abraham. It is not clear how long Japheth lived.

Many make the following connections, some of which are referenced by other historians (omitted).

• "Javan" is «ιωυαν» which is "Ionia".
• "Elishah" is «ελισα» which are the "Aeolians".
• "Kittim" is «κιτιοι» which refers to a city on the coast of Cyprus.
• "Dodanim" is «ροδιοι» which refers to "Rhodes".

In the case of "Dodanim" and/or "Rodanim" it appears that a Hebrew transcription error was made at some point between the Hebrew "D" as "ד" and the Hebrew "R" as "ר" which appear very similar when manually written.

Note that languages, or tongues, were already dividing, in part due to the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel.

More: The original Babel and Babylon

More: Tower of Babel: Two houses attempted using sand

More: Traditions from Babel to Pergamus to Rome

More: John 19:19-22 Languages on the cross

More: Greek digamma

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