Greek language

===Periods===
[[File:Proto Greek Area reconstruction.png|thumb|[[Proto-Greek language|Proto-Greek]]-speaking area according to linguist [[Vladimir I. Georgiev]]]]
The Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods:
* '''[[Proto-Greek language|Proto-Greek]]''': the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the [[Geography of Greece|Greek peninsula]] sometime in the [[Neolithic]] era or the [[Bronze Age]].{{NoteTag|A comprehensive overview in J.T. Hooker's ''Mycenaean Greece'';<ref>{{harvnb|Hooker|1976|loc=Chapter 2: "Before the Mycenaean Age", pp. 11–33 and passim}}</ref> for a different hypothesis excluding massive migrations and favoring an autochthonous scenario, see Colin Renfrew's "Problems in the General Correlation of Archaeological and Linguistic Strata in Prehistoric Greece: The Model of Autochthonous Origin"<ref>{{harvnb|Renfrew|1973|pp=263–276, especially p. 267}}</ref> in ''Bronze Age Migrations'' by R.A. Crossland and A. Birchall, eds. (1973).}}
* '''[[Mycenaean Greek]]''': the language of the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean civilization]]. It is recorded in the [[Linear B]] script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards.
* '''[[Ancient Greek]]''': in its various [[Ancient Greek dialects|dialects]], the language of the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] and [[Classical Greece|Classical]] periods of the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek civilization]]. It was widely known throughout the [[Roman Empire]]. Ancient Greek fell into disuse in Western Europe in the [[Middle Ages]] but remained officially in use in the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] world and was reintroduced to the rest of Europe with the [[Fall of Constantinople]] and [[Greeks|Greek]] migration to western Europe.
* '''[[Koine Greek]]''' (also known as '''Hellenistic Greek'''): The fusion of [[Ionian Greek|Ionian]] with [[Attic Greek|Attic]], the dialect of [[Classical Athens|Athens]], began the process that resulted in the creation of the first common Greek dialect, which became a [[lingua franca]] across the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] and [[Near East]]. Koine Greek can be initially traced within the armies and conquered territories of [[Alexander the Great]]; after the Hellenistic colonization of the known world, it was spoken from [[Egypt]] to the fringes of India. After the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] conquest of Greece, an unofficial [[Multilingualism|bilingualism]] of Greek and [[Latin]] was established in the city of [[Rome]] and Koine Greek became the first or second language in the [[Roman Empire]]. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek because the [[Twelve Apostles|Apostles]] used this form of the language to spread Christianity. Because it was the original language of the [[New Testament]], and the [[Old Testament]] was translated into it as the [[Septuagint]], that variety of Koine Greek may be referred to as '''New Testament Greek''' or sometimes '''Biblical Greek'''.
[[File: Anatolian Greek dialects.png|thumb|Distribution of varieties of Greek in [[Anatolia]], 1910. [[Modern Greek#Demotic|Demotic]] in yellow. [[Pontic Greek|Pontic]] in orange. [[Cappadocian Greek]] in green, with green dots indicating individual Cappadocian Greek villages.<ref>{{harvnb|Dawkins|Halliday|1916}}.</ref>]]
* '''[[Medieval Greek]]''' (also known as '''Byzantine Greek'''): the continuation of Koine Greek up to the demise of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in the 15th century. ''Medieval Greek'' is a cover phrase for a whole continuum of different speech and writing styles, ranging from vernacular continuations of spoken Koine that were already approaching Modern Greek in many respects, to highly learned forms imitating classical Attic. Much of the written Greek that was used as the official language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine.
* '''[[Modern Greek]]''' (also known as '''Neo-Hellenic'''):<ref name="Ethnologue">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ell|title=Greek|website=Ethnologue|language=en|access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref> Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period, as early as the 11th century. It is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several [[Varieties of Modern Greek|dialects]] of it.