What do you know about one of Europe’s first languages, which developed over 37 centuries? What do you know about the Hellenic language?

The Hellenic language (Greek) is one of the Indo-European languages spoken by 1.4% of Europe’s population. It is the official language in Greece and the Hellenic side of Cyprus. It is recognized as a minority language in several countries, like Italy, Albania, the Ukraine and Armenia, and is also spoken in many other countries throughout the world by Greeks living in different countries. The total number of Greek speakers is estimated to be around 10.5-12.5 million. But where and when did this language come from?

Well, the development of the Greek language can be divided into four periods:

The form of the language which started being used in 2000 BC was called proto-Hellenic. From this period comes the Linear A, a scripture that still cannot be decoded to this day. In the 16th century BC this language was named Mycenaean. The first written document in Greek was written in Linear B, a second syllabic script with around 300 signs, each of them representing syllables and words. It was deciphered by the architect Ventris and the philologist Chanwick in 1953!

In the classical period, several Greek dialects emerged. There was: the Doric dialect, named after the tribe of Dorians, who abolished the Mycenae civilization’s land; the Aeolic dialect, used in some islands and Asia Minor (2000 BC); and the Ionic dialect, which was spoken in Euboea. Attic Greek, is Ionic’s closest relative. Most surviving classical Greek literature appears in Attic Greek, including the surviving texts of Plato and Aristotle.

Attic evolved to Koine language, which was spread from Egypt to India by the conquests of Alexander the Great (356–323 BC), and became the lingua franca throughout the Mediterranean, turning Greek into the second language of the great Roman Empire.

Greek was the official language of the Byzantine Empire until its fall in 1453. From 1700, thanks to the rise of literature and science, Greek developed into the language we speak today. The current form of the Greek alphabet has 24 letters, 7 of which are vowels, and has huge differences in structure from most alphabets. This is why Greek is considered to be one of the hardest languages to learn. Greek grammar has 3 genders: feminine, masculine and neutral. The Greek vocabulary is huge – well it is one of the oldest languages in use!

The influence that Greek has had on languages worldwide is enormous. To give you an idea, an estimated 12% of English vocabulary is of Greek origin. Here there are some examples of English words borrowed from Greek: mathematics, physics, astronomy, enthusiasm, democracy, philosophy, strategic, athletics, theatre, rhetoric etc.

To finish, here’s a mini-course in Greek conversation. I hope you found this interesting and are encouraged to study this fantastic language! You may love it!