Greek language

History

Main article: History of the Greek language

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This article does not cover the reconstructed history of Greek prior to the use of writing. For more information, see main article on Proto-Greek language.

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Greek has been spoken in the Balkan Peninsula since the 2nd millennium BC. The earliest evidence of this is found in the Linear B tablets dating from 1500 BC. The later Greek alphabet is unrelated to Linear B, and was derived from the proto-Sinaitic writing system in parallel with Phoenician (abjad) between c. 1450 BC and 1100 BC, with minor modifications, is still used today. Greek is conventionally divided into the following periods:

Related Topics:
Balkan - 2nd millennium BC - Linear B - 1500 BC - Greek alphabet - Phoenician - Abjad - 1450 BC - 1100 BC

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• Mycenean Greek: the language of the Mycenean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 16th century BC onwards.
• Ancient Greek: In its various forms was the language both of Archaic and Classical periods of Greek civilisation. It has been studied in the Islamic world and Europe since the Middle Ages.
• Hellenistic Greek (also known as Koine Greek): The fusion of various ancient Greek dialects with Attic (the dialect of Athens) resulted in the creation of the first common Greek dialect, which gradually turned into one of the world's first international languages. Koine Greek can be initially traced within the armies and conquered territories of Alexander the Great, but after the Hellenistic colonisation of the known world, it was spoken from Egypt to the fringes of India. After the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial diglossy of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. Through Koine Greek it is also traced the origin of Christianity, as the Apostles used it to preach in Greece and the Greek-speaking world. It is also known as the Alexandrian dialect, Post-Classic Greek or even New Testament Greek (after its most famous work of literature).
• Medieval Greek: The continuation of Hellenistic Greek during medieval Greek history as the official and vernacular language of the Byzantine Empire, and continued to be used until, and after the fall of that Empire in the 15th century. Also known as Byzantine Greek.
• Modern Greek: Stemming independently from Koine Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the late Byzantine period (as early as 11th century).

Two main forms of the language have been in use since the end of the medieval Greek period: Dhimotikí (????????), the Demotic (vernacular) language, and Katharévusa (???????????), an imitation of classical Greek, which was used for literary, juridic, and scientific purposes during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Demotic Greek is now the official language of the modern Greek state, and the most widely spoken by Greeks today.

Related Topics:
Dhimotikí - Katharévusa - 19th - 20th

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Modern Greek differs in many ways from Ancient Greek, but is still recognisably the same language: it is more similar to Ancient Greek than Italian is to Latin, for example. {{dubious}} It is claimed that an "educated" speaker of the modern language can understand an ancient text, but this is surely as much a function of education as of the similarity of the languages. Still, Koin? {{IPA|/ciˈni/}}, the version of Greek used to write the New Testament and the Septuagint, is relatively easy to understand for modern speakers.

Related Topics:
Ancient Greek - Italian - Latin - New Testament - Septuagint

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Greek words have been widely borrowed into the European languages: astronomy, democracy, philosophy, thespian, etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as a basis for coinages: anthropology, photography, isomer, biomechanics etc. and form, with Latin words, the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary. See English words of Greek origin, and List of Greek words with English derivatives.

Related Topics:
Word elements - Latin - English words of Greek origin - List of Greek words with English derivatives

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