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Greek language

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Greek language

Greek (Modern Greek: ελληνικά, romanized: elliniká [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek: ἑλληνική, romanized: hellēnikḗ [helːɛːnikɛ́ː]) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to the territories that have had populations of Greeks since antiquity: Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, Caucasus, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon. Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of the Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute the objects of study of the discipline of Classics. During antiquity, Greek was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world. It eventually became the official language of the Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek. In its modern form, Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. It is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora. Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are highly-influential on the English language and remain the predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary.

Infobox

Pronunciation
[eliniˈka] ⓘ
Native to
Greece Cyprus Albania (Gjirokastër County and Vlorë County) Italy (Calabria, Salento and Messina) and other regions of the Balkans, Caucasus, Black Sea coast, Asia Minor and Eastern Mediterranean
Ethnicity
Greeks
Native speakers
13.5 million (2012)
Language family
Indo-European Graeco-Phrygian (?)HellenicGreek
Early form
Proto-Greek
Dialects
Ancient dialects Koine Medieval Modern dialects
Writing system
Greek alphabet
Official language in
Greece Cyprus European Union
Recognised minoritylanguage in
Albania Argentina Armenia Australia Hungary Italy (Apulia and Calabria) Romania Turkey Ukraine United States Russia
ISO 639-1
el
ISO 639-2
gre (B) ell (T)
ISO 639-3
Variously:ell – Modern Greekgrc – Ancient Greekcpg – Cappadocian Greekgmy – Mycenaean Greekpnt – Pontictsd – Tsakonianyej – Yevanic
Glottolog
gree1276
Linguasphere
56-AAA-a56-AAA-aa to -am (varieties)

Tables

· Characteristics › Morphology › Verbs
Person
Person
Col 1
Person
Ancient Greek
first, second and third
Modern Greek
also second person formal
Number
Number
Col 1
Number
Ancient Greek
singular, dual and plural
Modern Greek
singular and plural
tense
tense
Col 1
tense
Ancient Greek
present, past and future
Modern Greek
past and non-past (future is expressed by a periphrastic construction)
aspect
aspect
Col 1
aspect
Ancient Greek
imperfective, perfective (traditionally called aorist) and perfect (sometimes also called perfective; see note about terminology)
Modern Greek
imperfective and perfective/aorist (perfect is expressed by a periphrastic construction)
mood
mood
Col 1
mood
Ancient Greek
indicative, subjunctive, imperative and optative
Modern Greek
indicative, subjunctive, and imperative (other modal functions are expressed by periphrastic constructions)
Voice
Voice
Col 1
Voice
Ancient Greek
active, medio-passive, and passive
Modern Greek
active and medio-passive
Ancient Greek
Modern Greek
Person
first, second and third
also second person formal
Number
singular, dual and plural
singular and plural
tense
present, past and future
past and non-past (future is expressed by a periphrastic construction)
aspect
imperfective, perfective (traditionally called aorist) and perfect (sometimes also called perfective; see note about terminology)
imperfective and perfective/aorist (perfect is expressed by a periphrastic construction)
mood
indicative, subjunctive, imperative and optative
indicative, subjunctive, and imperative (other modal functions are expressed by periphrastic constructions)
Voice
active, medio-passive, and passive
active and medio-passive
· Writing system › Greek alphabet
Α
Α
upper case
Α
upper case
Β
upper case
Γ
upper case
Δ
upper case
Ε
upper case
Ζ
upper case
Η
upper case
Θ
upper case
Ι
upper case
Κ
upper case
Λ
upper case
Μ
upper case
Ν
upper case
Ξ
upper case
Ο
upper case
Π
upper case
Ρ
upper case
Σ
upper case
Τ
upper case
Υ
upper case
Φ
upper case
Χ
upper case
Ψ
upper case
Ω
lower case
lower case
upper case
lower case
α
α
upper case
α
upper case
β
upper case
γ
upper case
δ
upper case
ε
upper case
ζ
upper case
η
upper case
θ
upper case
ι
upper case
κ
upper case
λ
upper case
μ
upper case
ν
upper case
ξ
upper case
ο
upper case
π
upper case
ρ
upper case
σς
upper case
τ
upper case
υ
upper case
φ
upper case
χ
upper case
ψ
upper case
ω
upper case
Α
Β
Γ
Δ
Ε
Ζ
Η
Θ
Ι
Κ
Λ
Μ
Ν
Ξ
Ο
Π
Ρ
Σ
Τ
Υ
Φ
Χ
Ψ
Ω
lower case
α
β
γ
δ
ε
ζ
η
θ
ι
κ
λ
μ
ν
ξ
ο
π
ρ
σς
τ
υ
φ
χ
ψ
ω

References

  1. The map does not indicate where the language is majority or minority.
  2. A comprehensive overview in J.T. Hooker's Mycenaean Greece; for a different hypothesis excluding massive migrations and
  3. The four cases that are found in all stages of Greek are the nominative, genitive, accusative, and vocative. The dative/
  4. There is no particular morphological form that can be identified as 'subjunctive' in the modern language, but the term i
  5. Greek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)Ancient Greek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription r
    https://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/ell/
  6. 2006 Census Table: Language Spoken at Home by Sex – Time Series Statistics (1996, 2001, 2006 Census Years)
    http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/cowsredirect
  7. Αυστραλία: Τηλεδιάσκεψη «Μιλάμε Ελληνικά τον Μάρτιο»
    http://www.zougla.gr/omogenia/article/afstralia-tilediaskepsi-milame-elinika-ton-martio
  8. Tsitselikis 2013, pp. 287–288.
  9. East European Quarterly
    https://web.archive.org/web/20231011082909/https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42732
  10. Minorities and nationalism in Turkish law
    https://www.academia.edu/37557239
  11. Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey
    https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/19/qa-freedom-expression-and-language-rights-turkey
  12. "Language Use in the United States: 2011"
    https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf
  13. "gree1276"
    http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/gree1276
  14. Encyclopædia Britannica
    https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244595/Greek-language
  15. Anthropology: The Human Challenge
    https://books.google.com/books?id=nfIWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT437
  16. The World's Major Languages
    https://books.google.com/books?id=lR9WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT463
  17. A history of the Greek language : from its origins to the present
    https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/59712402
  18. Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland The text of the New Testament: an introduction to the critical 1995 p. 52.
  19. Archibald Macbride Hunter Introducing the New Testament 1972 p. 9.
  20. A small Greek world : networks in the Ancient Mediterranean
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734818.001.0001
  21. A study of the preservation of the classical tradition in the education, language, and literature of the Byzantine Empire
  22. Renfrew 2003, p. 35; Georgiev 1981, p. 192.
  23. Gray & Atkinson 2003, pp. 437–438; Atkinson & Gray 2006, p. 102.
  24. Culture
    https://web.archive.org/web/20210725055018/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/110330-oldest-writing-europe-tablet-greece-science-mycenae-greek
  25. Understanding English Homonyms: Their Origins and Usage
    https://books.google.com/books?id=h7YjEAAAQBAJ
  26. Hooker 1976, Chapter 2: "Before the Mycenaean Age", pp. 11–33 and passim
  27. Renfrew 1973, pp. 263–276, especially p. 267
  28. Hellenisms: culture, identity, and ethnicity from antiquity to modernity
    https://www.worldcat.org/title/192048201
  29. Roman Rule and Jewish Life: Collected Papers
    https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110770438-012/html
  30. Dawkins & Halliday 1916.
  31. Ethnologue
    https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ell
  32. The modern Greek language : a descriptive analysis of standard modern Greek
    https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/11134463
  33. Browning 1983, pp. vii–viii.
  34. Alexiou 1982, p. 161.
  35. Burstein, Stanley
    https://chs.harvard.edu/curated-article/snowden-lectures-stanley-burstein-when-greek-was-an-african-language/
  36. The World Factbook
    https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greece/
  37. "The Constitution of Cyprus, App. D., Part 1, Art. 3"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20120407035710/http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/0/302578ad62e1ea3ac2256fd5003b61d4?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=3&Click=
  38. Europa
    https://web.archive.org/web/20130621213949/http://europa.eu/about-eu/facts-figures/administration/index_en.htm
  39. In the Shadows of Albania-China Relations (1960–1978)
    https://books.google.com/books?id=vy5lEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20
  40. "List of Declarations Made with Respect to Treaty No. 148"
    http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23/01/05&CL=ENG&VL=1
  41. Ralli 2001, pp. 164–203.
  42. Beekes 2009.
  43. Bryn Mawr Classical Review
    https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2013/2013.11.54/
  44. "Foreign loanwords in Modern Greek"
    https://sinaahmadi.github.io/posts/foreign-loanwords-in-modern-greek.html
  45. Scheler 1977.
  46. NewsIt
    https://www.newsit.gr/ellada/poso-ellinikes-einai-oi-ksenes-glosses/2918001/
  47. Olander 2022, pp. 12, 14; van Beek 2022, pp. 190–191, 193
  48. Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea
  49. Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics
    https://books.google.com/books?id=SuR8DwAAQBAJ
  50. Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea
    https://books.google.com/books?id=XXFLDwAAQBAJ&q=ancient+macedonian+speech&pg=PT301
  51. Babiniotis 1992, pp. 29–40; Dosuna 2012, pp. 65–78
  52. The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor
    https://books.google.com/books?id=J-f_jwCgmeUC&pg=PA72
  53. Woodhouse 2009, p. 171: "This question is of course only just separable from the question of which languages within Indo
  54. Obrador-Cursach 2020, pp. 238–239: "To the best of our current knowledge, Phrygian was closely related to Greek. This af
  55. Obrador-Cursach 2020, p. 243: "With the current state of our knowledge, we can affirm that Phrygian is closely related t
  56. Ligorio & Lubotsky 2018, pp. 1816–1817: "Phrygian is most closely related to Greek. The two languages share a few unique
  57. Glottolog 3.0
    http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/grae1234
  58. van Beek 2022, pp. 193–197
  59. Renfrew 1990; Gamkrelidze & Ivanov 1990, pp. 110–116; Renfrew 2003, pp. 17–48; Gray & Atkinson 2003, pp. 435–439
  60. Olsen & Thorsø 2022, pp. 209–217; Hyllested & Joseph 2022, pp. 225–226, 228–229, 231–241
  61. Holm 2008, pp. 634–635
  62. Linear B : an introduction
    https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/7326206
  63. Britannica Academic
    http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Cypriot-syllabary/28419
  64. "Greek Unicode Issues: Punctuation"
    https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html
  65. The concise Oxford dictionary of linguistics
    https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/881847972
  66. Androutsopoulos 2009, pp. 221–249.
  67. Omniglot
    https://www.omniglot.com/writing/yevanic.htm
  68. HMML Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (27 July 2024). This month, "Greek Aljamiado" (i.e., Greek written in Arabic scrip
    https://www.vhmml.org/
  69. The Prophet's Ascension: Cross-cultural Encounters with the Islamic Mi'rāj Tales
    https://books.google.com/books?id=sjLHirJmvPUC&q=Reworking+the+Ascension+in+Ottoman+Lands:+An+Eighteenth-Century+Mi%27r%C4%81jn%C4%81ma+in+Greek+from+Epirus&pg=PA297
  70. ohchr.org
    https://www.ohchr.org/en/udhr/pages/Language.aspx?LangID=grk
  71. United Nations
    https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
  72. Venetian is either grouped with the rest of the Italo-Dalmatian or the Gallo-Italic languages, depending on the linguist
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