Greek language

{{short description|Indo-European language}}
{{Hatnote|For the Greek language used during particular eras, see [[Proto-Greek language]], [[Mycenaean Greek]], [[Ancient Greek]], [[Koine Greek]], [[Medieval Greek]], and [[Modern Greek]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Greek
| nativename       = {{lang|el|Ελληνικά}}<br>{{transliteration|el|Elliniká}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA-el|eliniˈka|}}
| ethnicity        = [[Greeks]]
| states           = {{plainlist|
*[[Greece]]
*[[Cyprus]]
*[[Albania]] ([[Gjirokastër County]] and [[Vlorë County]])
*[[Italy]] ([[Calabria]], [[Salento]] and [[Messina]])
*and other regions of the [[Balkans]], [[Black Sea]] coast, [[Asia Minor]] and [[Eastern Mediterranean]]}}
| nation           = {{plainlist|
*{{flag|Greece}}
*{{flag|Cyprus}}
*{{flag|European Union}}
*{{flag|Akrotiri and Dhekelia}}
}}
| minority         = {{plainlist|
*{{flag|Albania}}
*{{flag|Argentina}}
*{{flag|Armenia}}
*{{flag|Australia}}<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/cowsredirect  2006 Census Table: Language Spoken at Home by Sex – Time Series Statistics (1996, 2001, 2006 Census Years)]</ref><ref>[http://www.zougla.gr/omogenia/article/afstralia-tilediaskepsi-milame-elinika-ton-martio Αυστραλία: Τηλεδιάσκεψη «Μιλάμε Ελληνικά τον Μάρτιο»]</ref><br />
*{{flag|Hungary}}
*{{flag|Italy}} ([[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]])
*{{flag|Romania}}
*{{flag|Turkey}}{{sfn|Tsitselikis|2013|pp=287–288}}<ref name=Toktaş2006/><ref name=Bayır2013/><ref name=HRWLanguageRights/>
*{{flag|Ukraine}}
*{{flag|USA}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf|title=Language Use in the United States: 2011|publisher=[[United States Census]]|access-date=17 October 2015}}</ref><br />
*{{flag|Russia}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/gree1276 |title=gree1276 | publisher=Council of Europe |date= |accessdate=8 December 2008}}</ref><br /> }}
| speakers         = 13.5&nbsp;million
| date             = 2012
| ref              = e18
| refname          = Greek<!--name as shown at Ethnologue reference-->
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Graeco-Phrygian]] (?)
| fam3             = [[Hellenic languages|Hellenic]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Greek]]
| dia1             = [[Ancient Greek dialects|Ancient dialects]]
| dia2             = [[Koine Greek|Koine]]
| dia3             = [[Medieval Greek|Medieval]]
| dia4             = [[Varieties of Modern Greek|Modern dialects]]
| stand1           = 
| script           = [[Greek alphabet]]
| iso1             = el
| iso2b            = gre
| iso2t            = ell
| lc1              = ell
| ld1              = [[Modern Greek]]<!-- main ISO 639-3 code, list first -->
| lc2              = grc
| ld2              = [[Ancient Greek]]
| lc3              = cpg
| ld3              = {{nowrap|[[Cappadocian Greek]]}}
| lc4              = gmy
| ld4              = [[Mycenaean Greek]]
| lc5              = pnt
| ld5              = [[Pontic Greek|Pontic]]
| lc6              = tsd
| ld6              = [[Tsakonian language|Tsakonian]]
| lc7              = yej
| ld7              = [[Yevanic]]
| glotto           = gree1276
| glottorefname    = Greek<!--name as shown at Glottolog reference-->
| lingua           = {{ublist|class=nowrap |56-AAA-a |56-AAA-aa {{small|to}} -am {{small|(varieties)}} }}
| map              = Idioma Griego.PNG
| mapcaption       = Areas where Modern Greek is spoken (in dark blue those areas where it is the official language){{NoteTag|The map does not indicate where the language is majority or minority.}}
| notice           = IPA
}}
'''Greek''' ({{lang-el|label=[[Modern Greek]]|Ελληνική|Elliniká}}, {{IPA-el|eliniˈka|pron}}; {{lang-grc|Ἑλληνική|Hellēnikḗ}}) is an independent branch of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family of languages, native to [[Greece]], [[Cyprus]], [[Italy]] (in [[Calabria]] and [[Salento]]), southern [[Albania]], and other regions of the [[Balkans]], the [[Black Sea]] coast, [[Asia Minor]], and the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]. It has the [[list of languages by first written accounts|longest documented history]] of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records.<ref name=":1">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Greek language|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=29 April 2014|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244595/Greek-language}}</ref> Its writing system is the [[Greek alphabet]], which has been used for approximately 2,800 years;<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Haviland|first1=William A.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfIWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT437|title=Anthropology: The Human Challenge|last2=Prins|first2=Harald E. L.|last3=Walrath|first3=Dana|last4=McBride|first4=Bunny|date=2013|publisher=[[Cengage|Cengage Learning]]|isbn=978-1-285-67758-3|pages=394|language=en|chapter=Chapter 15: Language and Communication|quote=Most of the alphabets used today descended from the Phoenician one. The Greeks adopted it about 2,800 years ago, modifying the characters to suit sounds in their own language.|author-link2=Harald Prins|author-link4=Bunny McBride}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Comrie|first=Bernard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lR9WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT463|title=The World's Major Languages|date=1987|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-29049-0|publication-date=2018|language=en|quote=... the Greek alphabet has served the Greek language well for some 2,800 years since its introduction into Greece in the tenth or ninth century BC.|author-link=Bernard Comrie}}</ref> previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as [[Linear B]] and the [[Cypriot syllabary]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A history of the Greek language : from its origins to the present|author=Adrados, Francisco Rodríguez|date=2005|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-12835-4|location=Leiden|oclc=59712402}}</ref> The alphabet arose from the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician script]] and was in turn the basis of the [[Latin script|Latin]], [[Cyrillic]], [[Coptic alphabet|Coptic]], [[Gothic alphabet|Gothic]], and many other writing systems.

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 [[Bible|Christian Bible]] was also originally written in Greek.<ref>Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland The text of the New Testament: an introduction to the critical 1995 p. 52.</ref><ref>Archibald Macbride Hunter Introducing the New Testament 1972 p. 9.</ref> Together with the [[Latin language|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 [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]], Greek was by far the most widely spoken [[lingua franca]] in the [[History of the Mediterranean region|Mediterranean world]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malkin |first1=Irad |title=A small Greek world : networks in the Ancient Mediterranean |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734818.001.0001 |isbn=9780199918553 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734818.001.0001}}</ref> It eventually became the official language of the [[Byzantine Empire]] and developed into [[Medieval Greek]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A study of the preservation of the classical tradition in the education, language, and literature of the Byzantine Empire|last=Manuel|first=Germaine Catherine|year=1989|location=HVD ALEPH}}</ref> In its [[Modern Greek|modern form]], Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 [[Languages of the European Union#Official EU languages|official languages of the European Union]]. It is spoken by at least 13.5&nbsp;million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, [[Turkey]], and the many other countries of the [[Greek diaspora]].

Greek [[Root (linguistics)|roots]] have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; [[List of Greek and Latin roots in English|Greek and Latin]] are the predominant sources of [[international scientific vocabulary]].

[[File:Homer British Museum.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Idealised portrayal of the author [[Homer]]]]

==History==
{{Main|History of Greek}}
Greek has been spoken in the [[Balkans|Balkan peninsula]] since around the 3rd millennium BC,<ref name=BVG>{{harvnb|Renfrew|2003|p=35}}; {{harvnb|Georgiev|1981|p=192}}.</ref> or possibly earlier.<ref>{{harvnb|Gray|Atkinson|2003|pp=437–438}}; {{harvnb|Atkinson|Gray|2006|p=102}}.</ref> The earliest written evidence is a [[Linear B]] [[clay tablet]] found in [[Messenia]] that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC,<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 April 2011|title=Ancient Tablet Found: Oldest Readable Writing in Europe|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/110330-oldest-writing-europe-tablet-greece-science-mycenae-greek|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725055018/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/110330-oldest-writing-europe-tablet-greece-science-mycenae-greek|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 July 2021|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Culture|language=en}}</ref> making Greek the world's [[List of languages by first written accounts|oldest recorded]] [[Modern language|living language]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Tulloch | first=A. | title=Understanding English Homonyms: Their Origins and Usage | publisher=Hong Kong University Press | year=2017 | isbn=978-988-8390-64-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7YjEAAAQBAJ | access-date=2023-11-30|page=153|quote=Greek is the world's oldest recorded living language.}}</ref> Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now-extinct [[Anatolian languages]].

===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.

===Diglossia===
{{Main|Greek language question}}
In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of [[diglossia]]: the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the [[Greek language question]] was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: [[Demotic Greek|Dimotiki]], the vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and [[Katharevousa]], meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and [[Ancient Greek]] developed in the early 19th century that was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to [[Standard Modern Greek]], used today for all official purposes and in [[education in Greece|education]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The modern Greek language : a descriptive analysis of standard modern Greek|last=Peter|first=Mackridge|date=1985|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-815770-0|location=Oxford [Oxfordshire]|oclc=11134463}}</ref>

===Historical unity===
[[File:Modern Greek dialects en.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|The distribution of major modern Greek dialect areas]]
The historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to the extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language.<ref>{{harvnb|Browning|1983|pp=vii–viii}}.</ref> It is also often{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, "[[Homeric Greek]] is probably closer to [[Demotic Greek|Demotic]] than 12-century [[Middle English]] is to [[Modern English|modern spoken English]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Alexiou|1982|p=161}}.</ref>

==Geographic distribution==
{{Further|Greeks|Greek diaspora}}
[[File:Greek language in the Russian Empire (1897).svg|thumb|Geographic distribution of Greek language in the Russian Empire (1897 census)]]
Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable [[Greeks in Albania|Greek-speaking minority in Albania]] near the Greek-Albanian border.<ref name=" Ethnologue" /> A significant percentage of Albania's population has  knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greco-Turkish War]] and the resulting [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|population exchange in 1923]] a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in [[Greeks in Turkey|Turkey]], though very few remain today.<ref name=":1" /> A small Greek-speaking community is also found in [[Greeks in Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable [[Greek diaspora]] which has notable communities in the [[Greek Americans|United States]], [[Greek Australians|Australia]], [[Greek Canadians|Canada]], [[Greek South Africans|South Africa]], [[Greek Chilean|Chile]], [[Greek Brazilians|Brazil]], [[Greek Argentines|Argentina]], [[Greeks in Russia and the Soviet Union|Russia]], [[Greeks in Ukraine|Ukraine]], the [[Greeks in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], and throughout the [[European Union]], especially in [[Greeks in Germany|Germany]].

Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout the [[Eastern Mediterranean]], in what are today [[Southern Italy]], Turkey, Cyprus, [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], [[State of Palestine|Palestine]], Israel, [[Egypt]], and [[Libya]]; in the area of the [[Black Sea]], in what are today Turkey, [[Bulgaria]], [[Romania]], [[Ukraine]], Russia, Georgia, [[Armenia]], and [[Azerbaijan]]; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] in and around [[Greek colonisation|colonies]] such as [[Massalia]], [[Monoikos]], and [[Mainake (Greek settlement)|Mainake]]. It was also used as the official language of government and religion in the [[Nubia#Christian Nubia|Christian Nubian kingdoms]], for most of their history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burstein |first=Stanley |date=2 November 2020 |title=When Greek was an African Language |url=https://chs.harvard.edu/curated-article/snowden-lectures-stanley-burstein-when-greek-was-an-african-language/ |quote=The revelation of the place of Greek cultural elements in the lives of these kingdoms has been gradual and is still ongoing, but already it is clear that Greek was the official language of government and religion for most of their history.{{nbsp}}... Greek remained the official language of Nubian Christianity right to the end of its long and remarkable history.{{nbsp}}... But these three factors do suggest how Greek and Christianity could have become so intimately intertwined and so entrenched in Nubian life and culture by the seventh century AD that Greek could resist both Coptic and Arabic and survive for almost another millennium before both disappeared with the conversion of Nubia to Islam in the sixteenth century AD. |institution=[[Center for Hellenic Studies]] |author-link=Stanley M. Burstein}}</ref>

===Official status===
Greek, in its modern form, is the [[official language]] of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greece/|title=Greece|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=23 January 2010}}</ref> It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside [[Turkish language|Turkish]]) and the [[British Overseas Territory]] of [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] (alongside [[English_language|English]]).<ref name=GreekCyprus>{{cite web|title=The Constitution of Cyprus, App. D., Part 1, Art. 3 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/0/302578ad62e1ea3ac2256fd5003b61d4?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=3&Click=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407035710/http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/0/302578ad62e1ea3ac2256fd5003b61d4?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=3&Click=|archive-date=7 April 2012}} states that ''The official languages of the Republic are Greek and Turkish''. However, the official status of Turkish is only nominal in the Greek-dominated Republic of Cyprus; in practice, outside Turkish-dominated [[Northern Cyprus]], Turkish is little used; see A. Arvaniti (2006): Erasure as a Means of Maintaining Diglossia in Cyprus, ''San Diego Linguistics Papers'' 2: pp. 25–38 [27].</ref> Because of the membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's [[languages of the European Union#Official EU languages|24 official languages]].<ref name="European Union">{{cite web|title=The EU at a Glance – Languages in the EU|url=http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/languages/index_en.htm|work=Europa|publisher=European Union|access-date=30 July 2010|archive-date=21 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621213949/http://europa.eu/about-eu/facts-figures/administration/index_en.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Greek is recognized as a [[minority language]] in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of [[Gjirokastër District|Gjirokastër]] and [[Sarandë District|Sarandë]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bytyçi |first=Enver |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy5lEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=In the Shadows of Albania-China Relations (1960–1978) |date=2022 |publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-5275-7909-5 |page=20 |language=en |quote=Albania's official language is Albanian, but in municipalities where minorities reside, the languages of these minorities are also used, including Greek in several municipalities in Gjirokastra and Saranda, and Macedonian in a municipality in the East of the country.}}</ref> It is also an official minority language in the regions of [[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]] in Italy. In the framework of the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]], Greek is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, [[Hungary]], Romania, and Ukraine.<ref name="CouncilofEurope">{{cite web|url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23/01/05&CL=ENG&VL=1|title=List of Declarations Made with Respect to Treaty No. 148|publisher=Council of Europe|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410102457/https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/search-on-treaties/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations|archive-date=10 April 2020|access-date=8 December 2008}}</ref> It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]].{{sfn|Tsitselikis|2013|pp=287–288}}<ref name=Toktaş2006>{{Cite journal |last= Toktaş |first= Şule |date=2006 |title=EU enlargement conditions and minority protection : a reflection on Turkey's non-Muslim minorities |url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42732 |journal=East European Quarterly |language=en |volume=40|issue=4 |pages=489–519 |issn=0012-8449|quote-page=514|quote=This implies that Turkey grants educational right in minority languages only to the recognized minorities covered by the Lausanne who are the Armenians, Greeks and the Jews.}}</ref><ref name=Bayır2013>{{Cite book |last=Bayır |first=Derya |title=Minorities and nationalism in Turkish law |date=2013 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4094-7254-4 |series=Cultural Diversity and Law |location=Farnham|url=https://www.academia.edu/37557239| pages=89–90 |quote=Oran farther points out that the rights set out for the four categories are stated to be the 'fundamental law' of the land, so that no legislation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations or prevail over them (article 37). [...] According to the Turkish state, only Greek, Armenian and Jewish non-Muslims were granted minority protection by the Lausanne Treaty. [...] Except for non-Muslim populations – that is, Greeks, Jews and Armenians – none of the other minority groups' language rights have been ''de jure'' protected by the legal system in Turkey. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014083317/https://www.academia.edu/37557239/DERYA_BAYIR_MINORITIES_AND_NATIONALISM_IN_TURKISH_LAW |archive-date= Oct 14, 2023 }}</ref><ref name=HRWLanguageRights>{{cite book |title = Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey |publisher = Human Rights Watch |date = April 19, 2002 |location = New York |url =https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/19/qa-freedom-expression-and-language-rights-turkey |quote=The Turkish government accepts the language rights of the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities as being guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020130644/https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/19/qa-freedom-expression-and-language-rights-turkey |archive-date= Oct 20, 2023 }}</ref>

==Characteristics==
{{See also|Ancient Greek grammar|Koine Greek grammar|Modern Greek grammar}}

The [[phonology]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[syntax]], and [[vocabulary]] of the language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to the modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it.

===Phonology===
{{Main article|Modern Greek phonology|Koine Greek phonology|Ancient Greek phonology}}
[[File:Seferisrede.ogg|thumb|Spoken [[Modern Greek]]]]
Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows a mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only [[oral vowels]] and a fairly stable set of consonantal [[Phonemic contrast|contrasts]]. The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see [[Koine Greek phonology]] for details):
* replacement of the [[pitch accent]] with a [[stress (linguistics)|stress accent]].
* simplification of the system of [[vowel]]s and [[diphthong]]s: loss of vowel length distinction, monophthongisation of most diphthongs and several steps in a [[chain shift]] of vowels towards {{IPA|/i/}} ([[iotacism]]).
* development of the [[voicelessness|voiceless]] [[aspirated consonant|aspirated]] [[stop consonant|plosives]] {{IPA|/pʰ/}} and {{IPA|/tʰ/}} to the voiceless [[fricative consonant|fricatives]] {{IPA|/f/}} and {{IPA|/θ/}}, respectively; the similar development of {{IPA|/kʰ/}} to {{IPA|/x/}} may have taken place later (the phonological changes are not reflected in the orthography, and both earlier and later phonemes are written with [[Phi (letter)|φ]], [[Theta|θ]], and [[Chi (letter)|χ]]).
* development of the [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]] plosives {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} to their voiced fricative counterparts {{IPA|/β/}} (later {{IPA|/v/}}), {{IPA|/ð/}}, and {{IPA|/ɣ/}}.

===Morphology===
In all its stages, the [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of Greek shows an extensive set of [[Productive (linguistics)|productive]] [[derivational affix]]es, a limited but productive system of [[Compound (linguistics)|compounding]]<ref>{{harvnb|Ralli|2001|pp=164–203}}.</ref> and a rich [[inflection]]al system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in the [[Nominal (linguistics)|nominal]] and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the [[dative case]] (its functions being largely taken over by the [[Genitive case|genitive]]). The verbal system has lost the [[infinitive]], the [[Synthetic (linguistics)|synthetically]]-formed future, and [[perfect tense]]s and the [[optative mood]]. Many have been replaced by [[periphrastic]] ([[Analytic language|analytical]]) forms.

====Nouns and adjectives====
Pronouns show distinctions in [[grammatical person|person]] (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), [[grammatical number|number]] (singular, [[Dual (grammatical number)|dual]], and plural in the ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and [[grammatical gender|gender]] (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and [[Declension (linguistics)|decline]] for [[grammatical case|case]] (from six cases in the earliest forms attested to four in the modern language).{{NoteTag|The four cases that are found in all stages of Greek are the nominative, genitive, accusative, and vocative. The dative/locative of Ancient Greek disappeared in the late Hellenistic period, and the instrumental case of Mycenaean Greek disappeared in the Archaic period.}} Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both [[Attributive adjective|attributive]] and [[Predicative adjective|predicative]] adjectives [[Agreement (linguistics)|agree]] with the noun.

====Verbs====
The inflectional categories of the Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have [[synthetic language|synthetic]] inflectional forms for:

{| class="wikitable"
!
! Ancient Greek
! Modern Greek
|-
! Person
| first, second and third || also [[T–V distinction|second person formal]]
|-
! Number
| singular, [[dual (grammatical number)|dual]] and plural || singular and plural
|-
! [[Grammatical tense|tense]]
| [[Present tense|present]], [[past tense|past]] and [[future tense|future]]
| past and non-past (future is expressed by a [[Periphrasis|periphrastic construction]])
|-
! [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]]
| [[Imperfective aspect|imperfective]], [[perfective aspect|perfective]] (traditionally called ''[[aorist]]'') and [[perfect (grammar)|perfect]] (sometimes also called ''perfective''; see [[Perfective aspect#Perfective vs. perfect|note about terminology]])
| imperfective and perfective/aorist (perfect is expressed by a periphrastic construction)
|-
! [[Grammatical mood|mood]]
| [[realis mood|indicative]], [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]], [[imperative mood|imperative]] and [[optative mood|optative]]
| indicative, subjunctive,{{NoteTag|There is no particular morphological form that can be identified as 'subjunctive' in the modern language, but the term is sometimes encountered in descriptions even if the most complete modern grammar (Holton et al. 1997) does not use it and calls certain traditionally-'subjunctive' forms 'dependent'. Most Greek linguists advocate abandoning the traditional terminology (Anna Roussou and Tasos Tsangalidis 2009, in ''Meletes gia tin Elliniki Glossa'', Thessaloniki, Anastasia Giannakidou 2009 "Temporal semantics and polarity: The dependency of the subjunctive revisited", Lingua); see [[Modern Greek grammar#The verb|Modern Greek grammar]] for explanation.}} and imperative (other modal functions are expressed by periphrastic constructions)
|-
! Voice
| [[active voice|active]], [[Mediopassive voice|medio-passive]], and [[passive voice|passive]]
| [[Active voice|active]] and [[mediopassive voice|medio-passive]]
|}

===Syntax===
Many aspects of the [[syntax]] of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow the noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However, the morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the [[Modern Greek grammar|modern form of the language]]. Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks the infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of the dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO.

===Vocabulary===
Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of [[Pre-Greek substrate|borrowings]] from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greeks,<ref>{{harvnb|Beekes|2009}}.</ref> some documented in [[Linear B|Mycenaean texts]]; they include a large number of Greek [[toponym]]s. The form and meaning of many words have changed. [[Loanword]]s (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, [[Venetian language#History|Venetian]], and [[Turkish language|Turkish]]. During the older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] ([[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]/[[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]) and [[Eastern Romance languages]] ([[Aromanian language|Aromanian]] and [[Megleno-Romanian language|Megleno-Romanian]]).

==Greek loanwords in other languages==
{{details|English words of Greek origin|List of Greek and Latin roots in English}}
Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: ''mathematics'', ''[[physics]]'', ''[[astronomy]]'', ''democracy'', ''philosophy'', ''[[:wikt:athletics|athletics]], theatre, [[rhetoric]]'', ''[[baptism]]'', ''[[:wikt:evangelist|evangelist]]'', etc. Moreover, Greek words and [[morpheme|word elements]] continue to be productive as a basis for coinages: ''[[anthropology]]'', ''photography'', ''[[telephony]]'', ''[[isomer]]'', ''[[biomechanics]]'', ''[[cinematography]]'', etc. Together with [[Scientific Latin|Latin words]], they form the [[International scientific vocabulary|foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary]]; for example, all words ending in ''–logy'' ("discourse"). There are many [[English words of Greek origin]].<ref>{{harvnb|Scheler|1977}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsit.gr/ellada/poso-ellinikes-einai-oi-ksenes-glosses/2918001/|title=Πόσο "ελληνικές" είναι οι ξένες γλώσσες|date=18 November 2019|website=NewsIt}}</ref>

==Classification==
Greek is an independent branch of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be [[Ancient Macedonian language|ancient Macedonian]], which, by most accounts, was a distinct [[Ancient Greek dialects|dialect of Greek]] itself.<ref name="Olander-van Beek-2022">{{harvnb|Olander|2022|pp=12, 14}}; {{harvnb|van Beek|2022|pp=190–191, 193}}</ref><ref name= Crespo2018>{{cite book | last = Crespo | first = Emilio | chapter = The Softening of Obstruent Consonants in the Macedonian Dialect | title = Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea | editor1-last = Giannakis | editor1-first = Georgios K. | editor2-last = Crespo | editor2-first = Emilio | editor3-last = Filos | editor3-first = Panagiotis | date = 2018 | publisher = Walter de Gruyter | page = 329 | isbn = 978-3-11-053081-0 }}</ref><ref name= Hatzopoulos2018>{{cite book | last = Hatzopoulos | first = Miltiades B. | chapter = Recent Research in the Ancient Macedonian Dialect: Consolidation and New Perspectives | title = Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea | editor1-last = Giannakis | editor1-first = Georgios K. | editor2-last = Crespo | editor2-first = Emilio | editor3-last = Filos | editor3-first = Panagiotis | date = 2018 | publisher=Walter de Gruyter | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XXFLDwAAQBAJ&q=ancient+macedonian+speech&pg=PT301 | page=299 | isbn = 978-3-11-053081-0 }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Babiniotis|1992|pp=29–40}}; {{harvnb|Dosuna|2012|pp=65–78}}</ref> Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical [[isogloss]]es, with some being exclusive between them.<ref name="Olander-van Beek-2022" /><ref>{{harvnb|Woodhouse|2009|p=171}}: "This question is of course only just separable from the question of which languages within Indo-European are most closely related to Phrygian, which has also been hotly debated. A turning point in this debate was Kortlandt's (1988) demonstration on the basis of shared sound changes that Thraco-Armenian had separated from Phrygian and other originally Balkan languages at an early stage. The consensus has now returned to regarding Greek as the closest relative."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Obrador-Cursach|2020|pp=238–239}}: "To the best of our current knowledge, Phrygian was closely related to Greek. This affirmation is consistent with the vision offered by Neumann (1988: 23), Brixhe (2006) and Ligorio and Lubotsky (2018: 1816) and with many observations given by ancient authors. Both languages share 34 of the 36 features considered in this paper, some of them of great significance:{{nbsp}}... The available data suggest that Phrygian and Greek coexisted broadly from pre-historic to historic times, and both belong to a common linguistic area (Brixhe 2006: 39–44)."</ref> Scholars have proposed a [[Graeco-Phrygian]] subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated.<ref name="Olander-van Beek-2022" /><ref>{{harvnb|Obrador-Cursach|2020|p=243}}: "With the current state of our knowledge, we can affirm that Phrygian is closely related to Greek. This is not a surprising conclusion: ancient sources and modern scholars agree that Phrygians did not live far from Greece in pre-historic times. Moreover, the last half century of scientific study of Phrygian has approached both languages and developed the hypothesis of a Proto-Greco-Phrygian language, to the detriment to other theories like Phrygio-Armenian or Thraco-Phrygian."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ligorio|Lubotsky|2018|pp=1816–1817}}: "Phrygian is most closely related to Greek. The two languages share a few unique innovations,{{nbsp}}... It is therefore very likely that both languages emerged from a single language, which was spoken in the Balkans at the end of the third millennium BCE."</ref><ref>{{Glottolog|grae1234|Graeco-Phrygian}}</ref>

Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to [[Armenian language|Armenian]] (see [[Graeco-Armenian]]) or the [[Indo-Iranian languages]] (see [[Graeco-Aryan]]), but little definitive evidence has been found.<ref>{{harvnb|van Beek|2022|pp=193–197}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Renfrew|1990}}; {{harvnb|Gamkrelidze|Ivanov|1990|pp=110–116}}; {{harvnb|Renfrew|2003|pp=17–48}}; {{harvnb|Gray|Atkinson|2003|pp=435–439}}</ref> In addition, [[Albanian language|Albanian]] has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other [[extinct language]]s of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Palaeo-Balkan]], and Greek has a central position in it.<ref>{{harvnb|Olsen|Thorsø|2022|pp=209–217}}; {{harvnb|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|pp=225–226, 228–229, 231–241}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Holm|2008|pp=634–635}}</ref>

==Writing system==
{{Greek Alphabet}}
{{See also|Greek Braille}}
===Linear B===
{{Main|Linear B}}

[[Linear B]], attested as early as the late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek.<ref name=":0"/> It is basically a [[syllabary]], which was finally deciphered by [[Michael Ventris]] and [[John Chadwick]] in the 1950s (its precursor, [[Linear A]], has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Linear B : an introduction|last=Hooker|first= J. T. |date=1980|publisher=Bristol Classical Press|isbn=978-0-906515-69-3|location=Bristol|oclc=7326206}}</ref> The language of the Linear B texts, [[Mycenaean Greek language|Mycenaean Greek]], is the earliest known form of Greek.<ref name=":0" />

===Cypriot syllabary===
{{Main|Cypriot syllabary}}
[[File: Cypriot syllabic inscription 600-500BC.jpg|thumb|Greek inscription in Cypriot syllabic script]]
Another similar system used to write the Greek language was the [[Cypriot syllabary]] (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate [[Cypro-Minoan syllabary]]), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Cypriot-syllabary/28419|title=Cypriot syllabary|work=Britannica Academic|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref>

===Greek alphabet===
{{Main|Greek alphabet|Greek orthography}}
[[File:Greek alphabet variants.png|thumb|Ancient epichoric variants of the Greek alphabet from [[Euboea]], [[Ionia]], Athens, and [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] comparing to modern Greek]]
Greek has been written in the Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the [[Phoenician alphabet]], with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late [[Ionic Greek|Ionic]] variant, introduced for writing classical [[Attic Greek|Attic]] in 403&nbsp;BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit a faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of [[ink]] and [[quill]].

The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ([[capital letter|majuscule]]) and lowercase ([[lower case|minuscule]]) form. The letter [[sigma]] has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! colspan="33" | [[upper case]]
|-
|[[Alpha|Α]]||[[Beta|Β]]||[[Gamma|Γ]]||[[Delta (letter)|Δ]]||[[Epsilon|Ε]]||[[Zeta|Ζ]]||[[Eta|Η]]||[[Theta|Θ]]||[[Iota|Ι]]||[[Kappa|Κ]]||[[Lambda|Λ]]||[[Mu (letter)|Μ]]||[[Nu (letter)|Ν]]||[[Xi (letter)|Ξ]]||[[Omicron|Ο]]||[[Pi (letter)|Π]]||[[Rho|Ρ]]||[[Sigma|Σ]]||[[Tau|Τ]]||[[Upsilon|Υ]]||[[Phi|Φ]]||[[Chi (letter)|Χ]]||[[Psi (letter)|Ψ]]||[[Omega|Ω]]
|-
! colspan="33" | [[lower case]]
|-
|α||β||γ||δ||ε||ζ||η||θ||ι||κ||λ||μ||ν||ξ||ο||π||ρ||σ<br />ς||τ||υ||φ||χ||ψ||ω
|}

====Diacritics====
{{main|Greek diacritics}}
In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of [[diacritic|diacritical signs]]: three different accent marks ([[acute accent|acute]], [[grave accent|grave]], and [[circumflex]]), originally denoting different shapes of [[pitch accent]] on the stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ([[rough breathing|rough]] and [[smooth breathing]]), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the [[trema (diacritic)|diaeresis]], used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in [[penmanship|handwriting]] saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of the acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in [[typography]].

After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified [[Greek diacritics|monotonic orthography]] (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system), is still used internationally for the writing of [[Ancient Greek]].

====Punctuation====
In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ''[[Interpunct#Ano teleia|ano teleia]]'' ({{lang|grc|άνω τελεία}}). In Greek the [[comma]] also functions as a [[silent letter]] in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing {{lang|el|{{linktext|ό,τι}}}} (''ó,ti'', 'whatever') from {{lang|el|ότι}} (''óti'', 'that').<ref>{{cite web |last=Nicolas |first=Nick |title=Greek Unicode Issues: Punctuation |year=2005 |url=http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html |access-date=7 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html |archive-date=6 August 2012 }}</ref>

Ancient Greek texts often used ''scriptio continua'' ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The concise Oxford dictionary of linguistics|last=Hugoe|first=Matthews Peter|date=March 2014|others=Oxford University Press.|isbn=978-0-19-967512-8|edition=Third|location=Oxford|oclc=881847972 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> [[Boustrophedon]], or bi-directional text, was also used in Ancient Greek.

===Latin alphabet===
Greek has occasionally been written in the [[Latin script]], especially in areas under [[Stato da Màr|Venetian rule]] or by [[Roman Catholicism in Greece|Greek Catholics]]. The term {{lang|grc-Latn|Frankolevantinika}} / {{lang|grc|Φραγκολεβαντίνικα}} applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because {{lang|grc-Latn|Frankos}} / {{lang|grc|Φράγκος}} is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe was under the control of the [[Frankish Empire]]). {{lang|grc-Latn|Frankochiotika}} / {{lang|grc|Φραγκοχιώτικα}} (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of [[Chios]]. Additionally, the term [[Greeklish]] is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications.<ref>{{harvnb|Androutsopoulos|2009|pp=221–249}}.</ref>

The Latin script is nowadays used by the [[Griko dialect|Greek-speaking]] communities of [[Southern Italy]].

===Hebrew alphabet===
The [[Yevanic]] dialect was written by [[Romaniote Jews|Romaniote]] and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the [[Hebrew Alphabet]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/yevanic.htm|title=Yevanic alphabet, pronunciation and language|website=www.omniglot.com|access-date=18 April 2020}}</ref>

===Arabic alphabet===
Some [[Greek Muslim]]s [[Cretan Muslim|from Crete]] wrote their [[Cretan Greek]] in the [[Arabic alphabet]]. The same happened among Epirote Muslims in [[Ioannina]]. This usage is sometimes called [[aljamiado]], as when [[Romance language]]s are written in the Arabic alphabet.<ref name="Kotzageorgis">{{cite book 
|last=Kotzageorgis
|first= Phokion
|editor1-last=Gruber |editor1-first=Christiane J. |editor2-last=Colby |editor2-first=Frederick Stephen |title=The Prophet's Ascension: Cross-cultural Encounters with the Islamic Mi'rāj Tales |date=2010 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-35361-0 |pages=297 |url=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 |language=en |quote=The element that makes this text a ''[[wiktionary:unicum|unicum]]'' is that it is written in Greek script. In the Ottoman Empire, the primary criterion for the selection of an alphabet in which to write was religion. Thus, people who did not speak—or even know—the official language of their religion used to write their religious texts in the languages that they knew, though in the alphabet where the sacred texts of that religion were written. Thus, the Grecophone Catholics of Chios wrote using the Latin alphabet, but in the Greek language (''[[frangochiotika]]''); the Turcophone Orthodox Christians of Cappadocia wrote their Turkish texts using the Greek alphabet (''[[karamanlidika]]''); and the Grecophone Muslims of the Greek peninsula wrote in Greek language using the Arabic alphabet (''[[tourkogianniotika]]'', ''[[tourkokretika]]''). Our case is much stranger, since it is a quite early example for that kind of literature and because it is largely concerned with religious themes."; p. 306. The audience for the Greek ''[[Mi'rājnāma]]'' was most certainly Greek-speaking Muslims, in particular the so-called ''[[Tourkogianniot]]es'' (literally, the Turks of Jannina). Although few examples have been discovered as yet, it seems that these people developed a religious literature mainly composed in verse form. This literary form constituted the mainstream of Greek ''[[Aljamiado]]'' literature from the middle of the seventeenth century until the [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] in 1923. Tourkogianniotes were probably of Christian origin and were Islamized sometime during the seventeenth century. They did not speak any language other than Greek. Thus, even their frequency in attending mosque services did not provide them with the necessary knowledge about their faith. Given their low level of literacy, one important way that they could learn about their faith was to listen to religiously edifying texts such as the Greek ''Mi'rājnāma''.}}</ref>

==Example text==
Article 1 of the ''[[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]'' in Greek:
:{{lang|el|Όλοι οι άνθρωποι γεννιούνται ελεύθεροι και ίσοι στην αξιοπρέπεια και τα δικαιώματα. Είναι προικισμένοι με λογική και συνείδηση, και οφείλουν να συμπεριφέρονται μεταξύ τους με πνεύμα αδελφοσύνης.}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights|website=ohchr.org|url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/udhr/pages/Language.aspx?LangID=grk}}</ref>

[[Romanization of Greek|Transcription]] of the example text into [[Latin alphabet]]:
:{{transliteration|el|Óloi oi ánthropoi gennioúntai eléftheroi kai ísoi stin axioprépeia kai ta dikaiómata. Eínai proikisménoi me logikí kai syneídisi, kai ofeíloun na symperiférontai metaxý tous me pnévma adelfosýnis.}}

Article 1 of the ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' in English:
:"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights|newspaper=United Nations}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Greece|Language}}
* [[List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes]]

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book |last=Alexiou|first=Margaret|year=1982|chapter=Diglossia in Greece|pages=156–192|editor-last=Haas|editor-first=William|title=Standard Languages: Spoken and Written|location=Manchester|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-389-20291-2|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sza8AAAAIAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Androutsopoulos|first=Jannis |chapter='Greeklish': Transliteration Practice and Discourse in a Setting of Computer-Mediated Digraphia|pages=221–249|editor1-last=Georgakopoulou|editor1-first=Alexandra|editor2-last=Silk|editor2-first=Michael|title=Standard Languages and Language Standards: Greek, Past and Present|year=2009|location=Aldershot|publisher = Ashgate Publishing Limited |chapter-url = http://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/document/file.php/MEDIA139/Αναγνώσματα/Androutsopoulos,Greeklish(2009).pdf }}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book |last1=Atkinson|first1=Quentin D. |last2=Gray|first2=Russel D. |editor1-last=Forster |editor1-first=Peter|editor2-last=Renfrew |editor2-first=Colin |chapter=Chapter 8: How Old is the Indo-European Language Family? Illumination or More Moths to the Flame? |title = Phylogenetic Methods and the Prehistory of Languages |pages=91–109 |year=2006 |location=Cambridge, England |publisher=McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research |isbn=978-1-902937-33-5 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VlRiAAAAMAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Babiniotis|first=George|chapter=The Question of Mediae in Ancient Macedonian Greek Reconsidered|pages=29–40|editor1-first=Bela|editor1-last=Brogyanyi|editor2-first=Reiner|editor2-last=Lipp|year=1992|title=Historical Philology: Greek, Latin and Romance|location=Amsterdam and Philadelphia|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=9789027277473|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eNBAAAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Beekes|first=Robert Stephen Paul|title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek|year=2009|location=Leiden and Boston|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-17418-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wffLMgEACAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Browning|first=Robert|title=Medieval and Modern Greek|year=1983|orig-year=1969|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-23488-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b55B1J7I99AC}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dawkins|first1=Richard McGillivray|last2=Halliday|first2=William Reginald|title=Modern Greek in Asia Minor: A Study of Dialect of Silly, Cappadocia and Pharasa with Grammar, Texts, Translations and Glossary|year=1916|location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/moderngreekinas00hallgoog }}
* {{cite book|last=Dosuna|first=Julián Víctor Méndez|chapter=Ancient Macedonian as a Greek Dialect: A Critical Survey on Recent Work|pages=65–78|editor1-last=Giannakis|editor1-first=Georgios K. |title=Ancient Macedonia: Language, History and Culture|year=2012|location=Thessaloniki|publisher=Centre for the Greek Language |language= el |chapter-url= https://www.academia.edu/2342614 }}
* {{cite journal|last1=Gamkrelidze |first1=Tamaz V. |last2=Ivanov |first2=Vyacheslav |title=The Early History of Indo-European Languages |journal=Scientific American |volume=262 |issue=3 |date=March 1990 |pages=110–116 |url=http://rbedrosian.com/Classic/sciam1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106143844/http://rbedrosian.com/Classic/sciam1.htm |archive-date=6 January 2014 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0390-110 |bibcode=1990SciAm.262c.110G |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book|last=Georgiev|first=Vladimir Ivanov|title=Introduction to the History of the Indo-European Languages|year=1981|location=Sofia|publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences|isbn=9789535172611|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmZiAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Gray|first1=Russel D.|last2=Atkinson|first2=Quentin D.|title=Language-tree Divergence Times Support the Anatolian Theory of Indo-European Origin|journal=Nature|volume=426|year=2003|pages=435–439|doi=10.1038/nature02029|issue=6965|pmid=14647380|bibcode=2003Natur.426..435G|s2cid=42340|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d6aef57c-ce30-40fb-8786-f64c4a70afd1}}
* {{cite journal|last=Hamp|first=Eric P.|title=The Expansion of the Indo-European Languages: An Indo-Europeanist's Evolving View|journal=Sino-Platonic Papers|date=August 2013|volume=239|url=http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222134950/http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf |archive-date=2014-02-22 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last=Holm|first=Hans J.|chapter=The Distribution of Data in Word Lists and its Impact on the Subgrouping of Languages|pages=628–636|editor1-last=Preisach|editor1-first=Christine|editor2-last=Burkhardt|editor2-first=Hans|editor3-last=Schmidt-Thieme|editor3-first=Lars|editor4-last=Decker|editor4-first=Reinhold|title=Data Analysis, Machine Learning, and Applications. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Gesellschaft für Klassifikation e.V., Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, March 7–9, 2007|year=2008|location=Berlin-Heidelberg|publisher=Springer-Verlag|isbn=978-3-540-78246-9|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEmMvrOkQ-YC}}
* {{cite book|last=Hooker|first=J.T.|title=Mycenaean Greece|year=1976|location=London|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0YbAAAAYAAJ|isbn=9780710083791}}
* {{cite book|last=Jeffries|first=Ian|title=Eastern Europe at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to the Economies in Transition|year=2002|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis)|isbn=978-0-415-23671-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kqCnCOgGc5AC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ligorio |first1=Orsat |last2=Lubotsky |first2=Alexander |editor-last1=Klein |editor-first1=Jared |editor-last2=Joseph |editor-first2=Brian |editor-last3=Fritz |editor-first3=Matthias |editor-last4=Wenthe |editor-first4=Mark |date=2018 |chapter=Phrygian |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |volume=3 |pages=1816–1831 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110542431-022/html |publisher=[[De Gruyter#Imprints and partnerships|De Gruyter Mouton]] |doi=10.1515/9783110542431-022 |hdl=1887/63481 |isbn=978-3-11-054243-1|s2cid=242082908 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Obrador-Cursach |first=Bartomeu |date=9 April 2020 |title=On the place of Phrygian among the Indo-European languages |journal=[[Journal of Language Relationship]] |volume=17 |issue=3–4 |pages=233–245 |doi=10.31826/jlr-2019-173-407 |doi-access=free |s2cid=215769896}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Olander |editor-first=Thomas |year=2022 |title=The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/indoeuropean-language-family/4B44B5ACF0D3BBA89B9408050F112A52 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/9781108758666 |isbn=978-1-108-49979-8|s2cid=161016819 }} 
** {{harvc |last=van Beek |first=Lucien |year=2022 |c=Chapter 11: Greek |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/D7ECB74210D90E01F00D41B9930BC70A/9781108499798c11_173-201.pdf/greek.pdf |in=Olander}}
** {{harvc |last1=Olsen |first1=Birgit Anette |last2=Thorsø |first2=Rasmus |year=2022 |c=Chapter 12: Armenian |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/BE08E658A526CBC9A058F25812443F99/9781108499798c12_202-222.pdf/armenian.pdf |in=Olander}}
** {{harvc |last1=Hyllested |first1=Adam |last2=Joseph |first2=Brian D. |year=2022 |c=Chapter 13: Albanian |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/235881199CF63D7E9D60E32DA7362DD9/9781108499798c13_223-245.pdf/albanian.pdf |in=Olander}}
* {{cite book|last=Ralli|first=Angeliki|title=Μορφολογία [Morphology]|year=2001|location=Athens|publisher=Ekdoseis Pataki|language=el}}
* {{cite book|last=Renfrew|first=Colin|chapter=Problems in the General Correlation of Archaeological and Linguistic Strata in Prehistoric Greece: The Model of Autochthonous Origin|pages=263–276|editor-last1=Crossland|editor-first1=R. A.|editor-last2=Birchall|editor-first2=Ann|title=Bronze Age Migrations in the Aegean; Archaeological and Linguistic Problems in Greek Prehistory: Proceedings of the first International Colloquium on Aegean Prehistory, Sheffield|location=London|publisher=Gerald Duckworth and Company Limited|year=1973|isbn=978-0-7156-0580-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUkbAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Renfrew|first=Colin|chapter=Time Depth, Convergence Theory, and Innovation in Proto-Indo-European: 'Old Europe' as a PIE Linguistic Area|pages=17–48|editor-last1=Bammesberger|editor-first1=Alfred|editor-last2=Vennemann|editor-first2=Theo|title=Languages in Prehistoric Europe|year=2003|location=Heidelberg|publisher=Universitätsverlag Winter GmBH|isbn=978-3-8253-1449-1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VxiAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Renfrew|first=Colin|title=Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins|year=1990|orig-year=1987|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-38675-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R645AAAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Scheler|first=Manfred|year=1977|title=Der englische Wortschatz [English Vocabulary]|location=Berlin|publisher=E. Schmidt|language=de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GchZAAAAMAAJ|isbn=978-3-503-01250-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Tsitselikis|first=Konstantinos|chapter=A Surviving Treaty: The Lausanne Minority Protection in Greece and Turkey|pages=287–315|title=The Interrelation between the Right to Identity of Minorities and their Socio-economic Participation|editor1-last=Henrard|editor1-first=Kristin|location=Leiden and Boston|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|year=2013|isbn=9789004244740|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUYzAQAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite journal |last=Woodhouse |first=Robert |date=2009 |title=An overview of research on Phrygian from the nineteenth century to the present day |url=https://www.ejournals.eu/Studia-Linguistica/2009/2009/art/5400/ |journal=Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis |volume=126 |issue=1 |pages=167–188 |doi=10.2478/v10148-010-0013-x |issn=2083-4624 |doi-access=free}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book |last=Allen|first=W. Sidney|title=Vox Graeca – A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Greek|location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1968|isbn=978-0-521-20626-6 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5i89AAAAIAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last1=Crosby|first1=Henry Lamar|last2=Schaeffer|first2=John Nevin|year=1928|title=An Introduction to Greek|location=Boston, MA; New York, NY |publisher=Allyn and Bacon, Inc. |url = https://archive.org/details/introductiontogr00cros |url-access=registration|author1-link=Henry Lamar Crosby|author2-link=John Nevin Schaeffer}}
* {{cite book |author = Dionysius of Thrace |title = Bibliotheca Augustana |author-link = Dionysius of Thrace  |script-title = el:Τέχνη Γραμματική |trans-title = Art of Grammar |url = http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/graeca/Chronologia/S_ante02/DionysiosThrax/dio_tech.html |language = el}}
* {{cite book|last1=Holton|first1=David|last2=Mackridge|first2=Peter|last3=Philippaki-Warburton|first3=Irene|title=Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Language|year=1997|location=London and New York |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-10002-1 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=K7Nhs6tfk-wC }}
* {{cite book |last=Horrocks|first=Geoffrey|title=Greek: A History of the Language and Its Speakers|year=1997|location=London and New York|publisher=Longman Linguistics Library (Addison Wesley Longman Limited) |isbn=978-0-582-30709-4 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QlpiAAAAMAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Krill|first=Richard M. |title=Greek and Latin in English Today|year=1990|location=Wauconda, IL|publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers|isbn=978-0-86516-241-9|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=V9Jhl4aMrFMC }}
* {{cite book |last=Mallory|first=James P. |chapter=Greek Language|pages=240–246|editor1-last=Mallory|editor1-first=James P. |editor-last2=Adams|editor2-first=Douglas Q. |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|year=1997|location=Chicago, IL|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |isbn=9781884964985 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC }}
* {{cite book|last=Newton|first=Brian|title=The Generative Interpretation of Dialect: A Study of Modern Greek Phonology |year=1972|location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-08497-0 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pi44AAAAIAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Sihler|first=Andrew L. |author-link=Andrew L. Sihler |title=New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin|year=1995|location=New York, NY |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-508345-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PLNfAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Smyth|first1=Herbert Weir|last2=Messing|first2=Gordon|title=Greek Grammar|year=1956|orig-year=1920|location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-36250-5 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=M3EyjIa6IPgC }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|code=el|Standard Greek}}
{{InterWiki|code=pnt|Pontic Greek}}
{{Wikibooks}}
{{Wiktionary category}}
{{Incubator|grc|lang=Ancient Greek}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage|Greek phrasebook|Greek|a phrasebook}}

; General background
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051013090119/http://www.bartleby.com/65/gr/Greeklan.html Greek Language], Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.
* [http://greeklinguistics.com The Greek Language and Linguistics Gateway], useful information on the history of the Greek language, application of modern Linguistics to the study of Greek, and tools for learning Greek.
* Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, [http://www.greek-language.gr/greekLang/index.html The Greek Language Portal], a portal for Greek language and linguistic education.
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ The Perseus Project] has many useful pages for the study of classical languages and literatures, including dictionaries.
* [http://ucbclassics.dreamhosters.com/ancgreek/ancient_greek_start.html Ancient Greek Tutorials], Berkeley Language Center of the University of California, Berkeley

; Language learning
{{Wikiquote |code = el }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171222162856/https://greeklinguistics.com/grammar/ Hellenistic Greek Lessons] Greek-Language.com provides a free online grammar of Hellenistic Greek.
* [http://www.komvos.edu.gr/ komvos.edu.gr], a website for the support of people who are being taught the Greek language.
* [http://www.ntgreek.net/ New Testament Greek] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206230904/http://www.ntgreek.net/ |date=6 February 2009 }} Three graduated courses designed to help students learn to read the Greek New Testament
* [http://www.pi-schools.gr/lessons/hellenic/ Books on Greek language that are taught at schools in Greece] {{in lang|el}}
* [[:wikt:Appendix:Greek Swadesh list|Greek Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words]] (from Wiktionary's [[:wikt:Appendix:Swadesh lists|Swadesh list appendix]])
* [https://www.livelingua.com/fsi-greek-course.php USA Foreign Service Institute Modern Greek basic course]
* {{cite web | url = https://isidore.co/LatinInflector/greek/ | title = Greek Inflector | first=Alan | last=Aversa }} Identifies the grammatical functions of all the words in sentences entered, using Perseus.

; Dictionaries
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190711164623/https://www.greeklinguistics.com/Dictionaries.html Greek Lexical Aids], descriptions of both online lexicons (with appropriate links) and Greek Lexicons in Print.
* [http://www.greek-language.gr/greekLang/index.html The Greek Language Portal], dictionaries of all forms of Greek (Ancient, Hellenistic, Medieval, Modern)
* scanned images from [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/Woodhouse/ S. C. Woodhouse's English–Greek dictionary], 1910

; Literature
* [http://www.snhell.gr/en/index.html Center for Neo-Hellenic Studies], a non-profit organization that promotes modern Greek literature and culture
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070219040636/http://www.kenef.phil.uoi.gr/static/digital.htm Research lab of modern Greek philosophy], a large e-library of modern Greek texts/books

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