The Greek Republic is a unique country. Homeland of art, philosophy and even history itself. In ancient times, the Greek language was one of the most popular. And in the Renaissance, he again became the main language of science and philosophy instead of Latin in the Middle Ages. In this article we will consider which language in Greece is now official. We study the features of modern Greek and its dialects. Let’s figure out which dictionaries and study guides are better for tourists. And finally, we pick up a few words and phrases that will help communicate with the Greeks in their native language.
People inhabiting Greece
Before talking about the language of any country, it is worth saying about the people who speak it. In Greece, 96% of the total population are Greeks. They used to be called Hellenes.
This people is very ancient, about two thousand years BC they settled the territory of modern Greece. Proto-Greek tribes assimilated the local inhabitants of the Pelasgians. The history of the Great Greek civilization began.
The heyday of the culture of the ancient Hellenes began from the fifth century BC. The Greeks gave the world tremendous wealth for humanity. Including an incredibly logical and concise, beautiful language. It wrote myths, poems, poems, philosophical treatises. What language is spoken in Greece? We will study below.
The ancient history of the Greek language
The tribes inhabiting the Aegean area spoke Hellenic. Where did the name "Greek" come from. And it happened on behalf of a very influential Hellenic tribe, which was called "Greek, Gresi." They themselves never called themselves that, and there was Hellas, not Greece.
The ancient Greek language has Indo-European roots. However, the assimilation of languages was already happening at that time. Despite the Indo-European basis, traces of Semitic, Persian and Sanskrit can be found in Greek.
The very first stage of the development of the language was that the ancient Greeks tried to find writing. To do this, they used the Minoan letter (linear letter B).
History of the Greek alphabet
Minoan writing was very uncomfortable. Writing could not develop fully. It was the Phoenician merchants who were the first to use the alphabet for writing in Greece.
The first alphabet appeared in the 9th century BC and existed in this form until about 8. That is, the Hellenic alphabet developed on the basis of the Phoenician language and writing.
It is incredible that it is in Greek that we immediately find vowels and consonants. The Greeks changed the phonetics of the Phoenician letters and transferred the sound to their own language. Regarding the ancient Greek language, there are several schools that suggest how it looked before. Some read the letter "b" as Russian "b" - betta, and others as "c" - witt.
The modern Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters. It is also worth noting that it was from him that both Latin and Cyrillic were formed. The Greek alphabet has become a model, the basis for many other languages.
The official language of Greece
Ancient Greek is very similar to modern, but this similarity is easy to compare with Russian and Church Slavonic, for example. Yes, the Greeks understand their ancient language. But for them it is already out of date.
What is the official language of Greece now? Naturally, this is not ancient Greek. Such a language is the modern Greek language. It, in turn, is divided into literary, colloquial and local dialects. Need to understand what language is spoken in Greece?
On some islands, for example, in Crete, there are two languages: one official, which is widespread throughout Greece, and the other is a local dialect.
So, which language in Greece is official is clear - it is a modern Greek language (dimotica).
Features of the Greek language
In the 18-19 centuries, transformation began in phonetics. The Greek language appeared. The changes affected primarily the pronunciation of vowels. Longitude and brevity of sounds have lost their former meaning. A variety of stresses were also reduced - sharp and dull.
In the case system, too, a simplification occurred - the dative case is eliminated. The dual number has been lost . The infinitive has disappeared. The Balkan languages had a huge impact on the modern Greek language.
Archaisms from ancient Greek are still present along with new layers of Slavic, Turkic and Romanesque. This is also indicated by various special local dialects, which will be discussed below.
What dialects do the Greeks speak?
The phenomenon of branches from the main common language is very common. It was in the ancient Greek language. A special role was played by the geographical position of Greece, as an island state, uniting the city-policies on the islands and continents. Throughout development, these dialects have changed. But nevertheless, several main ones can be distinguished, from which the modern ones have in some way evolved:
- Ionian dialect (Herodotus wrote on it).
- Attic.
- Dorian.
- Aeolian.
What official language in Greece we found out is the Greek language. However, he also has views: literary and regional dialects.
The literary language is divided into Kafarevus (continuation of the classical Attic dialect) and dimotik (based on dialects of Central Greece or folk).
Dialects of modern Greece:
- Ponti language (Pontic). This is a modified Greek, which differs from the mainland by the presence of Turkic borrowings, as well as the pronunciation of some sounds.
- Tsakonsky (Novolakonsky). The new development of the Spartan dialect, which was formerly called laconic.
It is clear that there are many dialects, but still what language is common in Greece, that is, one that is understood by all Greeks. At school they teach the Hellenic. In essence, it is dimotics (the language of the people, from the street), but enriched in literary language.
Travel Guides in Greece
It becomes obvious the question of what to do to foreign guests, what language to speak with locals?
Will they understand you if you know ancient Greek? This is a big question, but most likely the answer is yes. Understand, but bad. After all, the pronunciation of the ancient Greek dead language is already unknown. Yes, and modern Greek is significantly different from it.
Then, what will help a tourist in mastering the necessary knowledge of modern Greek? Of course, dictionaries and study guides, phrasebooks.
So, an excellent tool for studying modern Greek will be the book "Practical Course of Conversational Greek" by Olga Nikolaenkova. Here she focuses on the spoken language and describes simple everyday situations.
What Russian-Greek dictionaries are better to use? If you spend a lot of time at the computer, on the Internet, then it is best to use electronic online dictionaries.
However, if you are a fan of always and everywhere to have a dictionary in hand at hand, it is better to pay attention to dictionaries:
- I.P. Khorikova and M.G. Maleva "Modern Greek-Russian Dictionary".
A. Salnova "Greek-Russian and Russian-Greek Dictionary".
A. Vostrikova, V. Telizhenko "Russian-Greek dictionary-phrasebook of the Orthodox pilgrim."
These tutorials provide useful information for those who want to understand what language is in Greece.
Set of basic words and phrases for tourists
Indigenous people of any country are pleased to hear their native language from foreigners. Therefore, it is so important for tourists to learn at least a couple of phrases. Believe me, any Greek will be pleased, by this you express your respect.
So, here are a few words and phrases that you can learn:
- The word of greeting and goodbye is YASAS (for you), YASU (for you).
- Good - KALI.
- Morning - MERA.
- Evening - SPERA.
- Good - KALA.
- Thanks - EFRASTO.
- Please - ORISTE.
- Sorry - SIGNALS.
- No - OKHI.
- Yes - NE.
- How much is POSO KANI?
- Mr. - KIRIOS.
- Madam - CHIRIA.
- Request - PARACALO.
- How are you - TI CANIS.
- What is your name - ME LENE.
- My name is TO ONOMA MU INE.
- I got lost - HATK.
- Help me - VOITYSTE ME.
- Where are you from - APO PU ISE.
- I am from Russia - IME APO TIN RUSSIA.
- What it is? - TI INE AFTO?
- When? - POTE.
- I want to eat - PINAO.
- I am thirsty - DIPSAO.
- Bon appetit - KALI OREXI.
What language is in Greece - we figured it out. You can learn about it in textbooks and dictionaries. However, it is best to come to this amazing country yourself and try to talk with the Greeks. Ask them what features are in the Greek language, what dialects. And learn about the ancient Greek language. In fact, this people is very proud of its language and culture.
The main question of the article - which state language in Greece - is resolved. This is modern Greek (enriched dimotica), which differs sharply from ancient Greek.