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The following WikiProjects or Portals may be able to help recruit one: WikiProject Languages Languages Portal WikiProject Greece Greece Portal If another appropriate WikiProject or portal exists please adjust this template accordingly. (February 2010) History of the Greek language (see also: Greek alphabet) Proto-Greek (c. 30001600 BC) Mycenaean (c. 16001100 BC) Ancient Greek (c. 800330 BC) Dialects: Aeolic Arcadocypriot Attic-Ionic Doric Locrian Pamphylian; Homeric Greek. Macedonian. Koine Greek (c. 330 BC330) Medieval Greek (3301453)

Modern Greek (from 1453) Dialects: Cappadocian Cheimarriotika Cretan Cypriot Demotic Griko Katharevousa Pontic Tsakonian Maniot Yevanic This box: view talk

*Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from Wallace D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 12. ISBN 0310218950. 

This article is an overview of the history of Greek. Contents 1 Origins 2 Mycenaean Greek 3 Ancient Greek dialects 3.1 Attic Greek 4 Koine Greek 5 Medieval 6 Modern Greek 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Origins Main article: Proto-Greek language Further information: Hellenic languages It has been suggested that Hellenic languages be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since July 2009.

There are several theories about the origins of the Greek language. One theory suggests that it originated with a migration of proto-Greek speakers into the Greek peninsula which is dated to any period between 2500 BC and 1700 BC. Another theory maintains that the migration into Greece occurred at a pre-proto-Greek (late PIE) stage and the characteristic Greek sound-changes occurred later. Mycenaean Greek

The first known script for writing Greek was the Linear B syllabary used for the archaic Mycenaean dialect. Linear B was not deciphered until 1953. After the fall of the Mycenaean civilization during the Bronze Age collapse there was a period of about five hundred years when writing was either not used or nothing has survived to the present day. Since early classical times Greek has been written in the Greek alphabet. Ancient Greek dialects Main articles: Ancient Greek dialects and Ancient Greek

In the archaic and classical periods there were three main dialects of the Greek language: Aeolic Ionic and Doric corresponding to the three main tribes of the Greeks the Aeolians (chiefly living in the islands of the Aegean and the west coast of Asia Minor north of Smyrna) the Ionians (mostly settled in the west coast of Asia Minor including Smyrna and the area to the south of it) and the Dorians (primarily the Greeks of the coast of the Pelopennesus for example of Sparta Crete and the southernmost parts of the west coast of Asia Minor). Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were written in a kind of literary Ionic with some loan words from the other dialects. Ionic therefore became the primary literary language of ancient Greece until the ascendancy of Athens in the late fifth century. Doric was standard for Greek lyric poetry such as Pindar and the choral odes of the Greek tragedians. Attic Greek

Attic Greek a subdialect of Ionic was for centuries the language of Athens. Most surviving classical Greek literature appears in Attic Greek including the extant texts of Plato and Aristotle which were passed down in written form from classical times. Koine Greek Main article: Koine Greek

For centuries the Greek language had existed in multiple dialects. As Greek culture under Alexander the Great (356323 BC) and his successors spread from Asia Minor to Egypt and the border regions of India the Attic dialect became the basis of the Koin (; "common"). The language was also learned by the inhabitants of the regions that Alexander conquered turning Greek into a world language. The Greek language continued to thrive after Alexander during the Hellenistic period (323 BC to 31 BC). During this period the Septuagint a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible appeared. For many centuries Greek was the lingua franca of the eastern half of the Roman Empire. It was during Roman times that the Greek New Testament appeared and Koin Greek is also called "New Testament Greek" after its most famous work of literature. Medieval This section requires expansion. Main article: Medieval Greek Greek was the official language of the Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire) until Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453. Modern Greek This section requires expansion. Main article: Modern Greek After the establishment of Greece as an independent state in 1829 the Katharvusa () formGreek for "purified language"was sanctioned as the official language of the state and the only acceptable form of Greek in Greece. The whole attempt led to a linguistic war and the creation of literary factions: the Dhimotikists () who supported the common (Demotic) dialect and the Lyii () or Katharevusyni () who supported the "purified dialect". Up to that point use of Dhimotik in state affairs was generally frowned upon. Use of the Demotic dialect in state speech and paperwork was forbidden. The fall of the Junta of 1974 and the end of the era of Metapoltefsi 197476 brought the acceptance of the Demotic dialect as both the de facto and de jure forms of the language for use by the Greek government though the Katharevousa movement has left marks in the language. See also History of the Latin language References Geoffrey Horrocks Greek: A History of the Language and Its Speakers (Longman Linguistics Library). Addison Wesley Publishing Company 1997. ISBN 0-582-30709-0 External links A short biography of Karkavitsas A Brief History of the Greek Language v d eHistories of the world's languages Bulgarian  Chinese (Mandarin)  Czech  Danish  Dutch  English  Esperanto  French (Quebec)  German  Greek  Hungarian  Hindustani  Icelandic  Interlingua  Irish  Korean  Latin  Macedonian  Moldovan  Norwegian  Persian  Portuguese  Romanian  Russian  Scots  Slovak  Spanish  Swedish  Welsh v d eGreek language  E History Proto-Greek (c. 30001600 BC)  Mycenaean (c. 16001000 BC)  Ancient Greek (c. 1000330 BC)  Koine Greek (c. 330 BC330)  Medieval Greek (3301453)  Modern Greek (from 1453) Alphabet Orthography  Diacritics  History  Romanization  Numerals  Linear B  Kai  Dipylon inscription  Cypriot syllabary Letters Alpha  Beta  Gamma  Delta  Epsilon  Zeta  Eta  Theta  Iota  Kappa  Lambda  Mu  Nu  Xi  Omicron  Pi  Rho  Sigma  Tau  Upsilon  Phi  Chi  Psi  Omega  Obsolete: Digamma  Heta  Koppa  Stigma  San  Sampi Phonology Ancient Greek (accent)  Koine Greek  Modern Greek Grammar Ancient Greek (tables)  Modern Greek Dialects Cappadocian  Cretan  Cypriot  Chalkidiki  Demotic  Greek-Calabrian  Griko  Katharevousa  Misthiotica  Pontic  Tsakonian  Yevanic Literature Ancient Greek  Byzantine  Modern Greek Related Topics Greek Wikipedia  Exonyms  Morphemes  Terms of Endearment  Place names  Proverbs  Greek language question  Graeco-Armenian  Graeco-Aryan  Western Greek alphabet  Greeklish  A Greek-English Lexicon  Hellenic Quest  Pre-Greek substrate Promotion and Study Hellenic Foundation for Culture  Center for the Greek language