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History of the
Greek language
(see also: Greek alphabet)
Proto-Greek (c. This article is an overview of the history of Greek. Origins See also Proto-Greek language There are several theories about the origins Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Greek alphabet (Ελληνικό αλφάβητο is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early The Proto-Greek language is the assumed last common ancestor of all known varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean, the classical Greek dialects 2000 BC)
Mycenaean (c. Mycenaean is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, spoken on the Greek mainland and on Crete in the 16th to 11th centuries BC, before the 1600–1100 BC)
Ancient Greek (c. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c 800–300 BC)
Dialects:
Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, Attic-Ionic,
Doric, Pamphylian; Homeric Greek. Ancient Greek, in Classical antiquity before the development of the Koiné (κοινή as the Lingua franca of Hellenism, was divided Aeolic Greek (also known as Lesbian Greek) is a linguistic term used to describe a set of rather archaic Greek sub- Dialects spoken Arcadocypriot or southern Achaean was an ancient Greek dialect spoken in Arcadia in the central Peloponnese and Cyprus. Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects) For the modern Doric dialect of Scotland see Doric dialect (Scotland Doric was a dialect of ancient Greek. Pamphylian is a little-attested and isolated dialect of Ancient Greek which was spoken in Pamphylia, on the southern coast of Asia Minor Homeric Greek is the form of Ancient Greek that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey.
Possibly Macedonian. For the unrelated modern Slavic language see Macedonian language.
Koine Greek (c. Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in 300 BC–c. 500)
Medieval Greek (c. 500–1453)
Modern Greek (from 1453)
Dialects:
Cappadocian, Cretan, Cypriot,
Demotic, Griko, Katharevousa,
Pontic, Tsakonian, Yevanic
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Medieval Greek (Greek: Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική) is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit The linguistic varieties of Modern Greek can be classified along two principal dimensions Cappadocian, also known as Cappadocian Greek or Asia Minor Greek is a dialect of the Greek language, formerly spoken in Cappadocia (Central Turkey Cretan Greek ( Cretan dialect &mdash in Greek, Kritikí diálektos &ndash Κρητική διάλεκτος or Kritiká Κρητικά The Cypriot Dialect of Greek ( Cypriot Greek ( Κυπριακή διάλεκτος) or Kypriaka ( Greek: Κυπριακά Dimotiki (δημοτική, " of the people" or Demotic is the modern Vernacular form of the Greek language. Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is a Modern Greek dialect which is spoken by people in the Magna Graecia region in southern Italy, and it Katharevousa (Καθαρεύουσα, lit "the purified one" is a form of the Greek language conceived in the early 19th century by Greek intellectual Pontic Greek is a form of the Greek language originally spoken in the Pontus area on the southern shores of the Black Sea, and today mainly in Greece Tsakonian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic ( Greek Τσακωνικά) is a dialect of modern Greek spoken in the Tsakonian region Yevanic, otherwise known as Romaniote and Judeo-Greek, was the Dialect of the Romaniotes, the group of Greek Jews whose existence in Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Its symbolic boundaries start with the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium (Constantinople) in 330 AD, and end with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD, therefore spanning more than a millennium. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM Events By Place Roman Empire May 11 — Constantine I refounds Byzantium, renames it New Rome Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish As medieval Greek co-exists with the history of the Byzantine Empire, another term often used to describe the language of the period is Byzantine Greek.

Contents

History

The Jireček Line.
The Jireček Line. The Jireček Line is an imaginary line through the ancient Balkans that divided the influences of the Latin (in the north and Greek (in the south languages

When the capital of the Roman Empire was transferred to Constantinople in the 4th century AD, the official language of the state continued to be Latin, yet the literary and spoken language of the entire eastern part of the empire continued to be Greek. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini / Common era) was that Century Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek was also the language of the church and education, while the university preserved a diglossia between the two. In Linguistics, diglossia is a situation where in a given society there are two (often closely-related languages one of high prestige, which is generally used Even though this new Greco-Latin diglossia lasted more than two centuries, the Byzantine emperors had been favouring the official use of Greek over Latin since the beginning. This is a list of the Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians Latin was preserved on inscriptions and coinage until the 11th century AD. The separation of the mixed or non Greek-speaking populations of the Western part of the Empire, accelerated the Hellenisation of the Eastern one. The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285 the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Later, when Greek dynasties of emperors established themselves on the Byzantine throne and changed the official language of the public services, Greek displaced Latin completely. The Greeks of the Eastern Roman Empire retained the Roman name, and the medieval Greek state of Byzantium continued to refer to itself as "Ρωμανία" (Romania, or land of the Romans), long after the city of Rome and the western half of the Roman Empire were overrun by barbarians. Since the time of Homer, some Greeks have called themselves Hellenes ( in Homer "Hellas" (Eλλάς and "Hellenes" were names of Eventually, "Romans" (Ρωμαίοι) became a synonym for "Greeks" (Έλληνes). The name "Ρωμαίοι" (Romans) was used as a broad title of political prestige whereas the term "Ρωμιοί" ("Romioi") was developed in order to describe both the ethno-cultural identity of the Greeks and their Roman citizenship. The name "Ρωμαίοι" symbolised the awe of the old Roman Empire, and typically declared the land claims of the Byzantine state. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial

Evolution from Hellenistic to Medieval Koine

The cultural and linguistic center of the Greek World during the Byzantine era, as it had once been Athens, was Constantinople. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS The capital acted as a linguistic center on Byzantine Hellenism, for both literary (Atticist) and popular-vulgar (spoken) forms of speech. The diglossia in Byzantium was defined by the medieval literary Koine, which had elements of archaism (equivalent to the Hellenistic Atticism), and the spoken or popular Koine which was the authentic successor of Koine Greek. In Linguistics, diglossia is a situation where in a given society there are two (often closely-related languages one of high prestige, which is generally used Atticism (meaning favouring Attica, the region that includes Athens) in Greece) was a rhetorical movement that began in the first quarter Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in In the way that Western scholars used Classical Latin for their literary work, the Byzantines tended to use archaisms with elements of Atticism, and usually tried to imitate in their works, in speech and manner, the great attic writers-models of the classical period. Paul the Silentiary wrote at the time of Justinian I his "Description of Hagia Sophia" (Έκφρασις του Ναού της Αγίας Σοφίας) with iambs and Homeric hexameters that were characterised as a dark and poetic language. Paul the Silentiary, also known as Paulus Silentiarius (d Constantinople, 575-580 AD was an officer in the imperial household of the Byzantine emperor Justinian Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ( Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ιουστινιανός; known in English as Justinian I or Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya Αγία Σοφία " Holy Wisdom " Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal Basilica, later An iamb or iambus is a Metrical foot used in various types of Poetry. Hexameter is a literary and poetic form consisting of six metrical feet per line as in the Iliad. The historians Procopius and Critobulus imitated Thucydides while Anna Komnene had a general Atticist literary style. Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek Anna Komnene or Comnena (Greek Άννα Κομνηνή Anna Komnēnē December 1, 1083 &ndash1153 was a Byzantine princess and scholar daughter of The members of the Church up until the 4th century AD followed the example of the Apostles and use the Medieval Koine. However from the 4th century and forth, the language of the church became Atticistic due to the intervention of the Cappadocian Fathers who had been educated in Greek schools of rhetoric. Atticism (meaning favouring Attica, the region that includes Athens) in Greece) was a rhetorical movement that began in the first quarter The Cappadocians (or Cappadocian philosophers, Cappadocian Fathers) are significant figures in the history of the Church Fathers, who significantly Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice In that respect, the Church was using the older language of the Greeks in order to fight off their older pagan religion. Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller rustic" is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world By that time most of the popular masses had already been converted to Christianity, however the introduction of the Atticistic language attracted also rich Greek pagans of higher social status. Thus the Atticist rhetoric helped the Byzantine state to fight off the heresies, and the vernacular Koine enhanced the literary speech with elements from the spoken language. Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief While there was a constant interaction and mutual influence between the written (namely the widely diffused text of the Gospels) and the spoken language, both vary significantly depending on the time or place that they were spoken, written or recorded. Thus, while the spoken language of the early centuries is still similar to the Hellenistic Koine , from the eighth century onwards it takes up a form much nearer to Modern Greek, even though in vernacular texts, in their most part written down by educated monks and literati, the language is distorted so as to match the rules of classical Greek grammar. Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit

Vocabulary

Due to the long-term diglossia between Latin and Greek, Medieval Greek borrowed various linguistic elements from the Latin language, many of which survive in Modern Greek — most having to do with administration, politics, public life, as well as everyday objects. In Linguistics, diglossia is a situation where in a given society there are two (often closely-related languages one of high prestige, which is generally used Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit A number of Latin words and popular phrases can be traced in Medieval Greek include the following (bold marking signifies assimilation to the language and survival into Modern Greek):

Common phrases

Court titles

Αύγουστος (Avgustos, Augustus), Καίσαρ (Kesar, Caesar), πρίγκιψ (Prinkips, princeps, Prince), κόμης (Komis, comes, 'Count' (certain type of officer)), μάγιστρος (magistros, magister), κοιαίστωρ (kyestor, quaestor), σιλεντιάριος, (silentiarios, silentiarius, a certain type of court officer), παλάτιον (palation, palatium, palace), κουροπαλάτης (kuropalatis, from curator + palatium), ακτουάριος (aktuarios, actuarius, a court physician)[1], καγκελλάριος (kankellarios, cancellarius, chancellor), σακελλάριος (sakellarios, saccellarius, treasurer), τιτουλάριος (titularios, titularius, title-bearer), οφφικιάλος (offikialos, officialis, an official).

Names

Μαγναύρα (from Latin magna aula, "great hall")[2] [3], Γερμανός, etc.

Nouns

Αξούγγιον (axungion, xigi, animal fat (from axis, axis, + unguen (grease)), βερίκοκον (verikokon, apricot, from praecoquium), βίγλα (vigla, sentry, vigilia), βούκα/μπούκα (bouka, point of entry, mouth, from bucca), γούλα, from gula, εξέμπλιον, from exemplum, καλαμάριον (kalamarion, squid, from calamarium, "pen case" (in its turn from Greek kalamos, reed)), καλλίγιον, κάγκελον (kankellon, railing), κάρβουνον (karvounon, coal), κουβούκλιον (kouvouklion, cubiculum, cubicle), στέρνα (sterna, cistern), λουκάνικον (loukanikon, sausage), λωρίον (> λουρί) (lorion, strap), μάγκιψ, μάγουλον (magoulon, cheek), μακελλάρης (makellaris, butcher), μανίκιον (manikion, sleeve), μαρούλιον (maroulion, lettuce), μενσάλιον, μίλλιον (million, mile), μουλλάριον (moularion, mule), οσπίτιον (ospition, hospitium, house), παλούκιον (paloukion, stake or pike), πανάριον (panarion, breadbasket), πέδικλον, πουγγίον (poungion, purse), σέλλα (sella, saddle), σέρβουλον, σκαμνίον (skamnion, sitting stool), σκουτέλλιον, στάβλος (stavlos, stabula, stable), ταβέρνα (taverna, tavern), τάβλα (tavla, table), φλάσκα (flaska, flask), φόρος (foros, forum, later: tax), φούρκα (fourka, pitchfork), φούρνος (fournos, furnace), λάβαρον (lavaron, banner), βούλλα (voula, bulla, seal), τίτλος (titlos, title), αντιμήνσιον, κανδήλιον (kandilion, candle), μανουάλιον (manoualion, manual), φαιλόνιον (felonion, a priestly vestment), καλένδαι (kalendai, kalends), βίσεκτος/δίσεκτος (visektos, disektos, a leap year), etc.

Adjectives

Βαρβάτος (varvatos, bearded), βένετος, μπλάβος (blavos, blue) etc.

Verbs

Ακκομβίζω, βουλλώνω (voulono, to seal), καβαλικεύω (kavalikevo, to mount a horse), κανακεύω (kanakevo, to dote), μισσεύω (missevo, to emigrate), πλουμίζω (ploumizo, to embellish), φουρνίζω (fournizo, to bake) etc.

Suffixes

Phonology

In phonology, both rare and common innovations described in Koine Greek become more generalised. Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in

Notes

  1. ^ LacusCurtius • The Greek and Roman Doctor (Smith's Dictionary, 1875)
  2. ^ Middle
  3. ^ Magnaura
  4. ^ See S. B. Psaltes, Grammatik der Byzantinischen Chroniken, Göttingen 1974, pp. 16-17.

See also

References

External links


Ages of Greek
c. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly 2000 BC   c. 1600–1100 BC   c. 800–300 BC   c. 300 BC–AD 330   c. 330–1453   1453–present
Proto-Greek   Mycenaean   Ancient Greek   Koine Greek   Medieval Greek   Modern Greek
The Proto-Greek language is the assumed last common ancestor of all known varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean, the classical Greek dialects Mycenaean is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, spoken on the Greek mainland and on Crete in the 16th to 11th centuries BC, before the The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit
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