Greece

Name

Main article: Names of the Greeks

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The historical name of Greece in Greek is {{Polytonic|?????}} Ellás {{IPA|/??las/}}. This name is also written Hellas in English, following the ancient Greek pronunciation {{IPA|/h??l:as/}}. In modern Greek it is called more commonly ?????? Elládha {{IPA|/??laða/}}. The mythical ancestor of the Greeks is the eponymous Hellen.

Related Topics:
Ancient - Greek - Modern - Greeks - Hellen

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The name of Greece in European languages (English: Greece, French: Grèce, Portuguese: Grécia, Spanish and Italian: Grecia, German: Griechenland, Dutch: Griekenland, Russian: ??????, etc.) comes from a different root: {{Polytonic|???????}} Graikós (via Latin Graecus) which according to Aristotle was an ancient name for the Greeks. The Japanese name is ???? (Grisha), lent from European languages. On the other hand, the name of Greece in some Middle Eastern and Eastern languages (Turkish: Yunanistan, Arabic: ?????, Hebrew: ????, ancient Persian: Yaunâ, Indian Pali: Yona, Malay and Indonesian: Yunani) derives from the Greek toponym {{Polytonic|?????}} I?nía. Norwegian and Chinese are two of the few languages apart from Greek in which the name Hellas predominates.

Related Topics:
Graecus - Aristotle - Yona - Yunani - Toponym - I?nía - Norwegian - Chinese

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Some Greeks prefer the name Hellas for the country and Hellenes for the people even in English. See Hellenes for discussion.

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