As most of you know, even though a native English speaker, I grew up in Greece. My bilingual status makes me uniquely qualified to describe the unusually passionate relationship Greeks have with their language.
Incidentally, this post came to be because of a question my editor had regarding the correct usage of a common Greek name (hi, Lorelei). She had encountered it as both Demetrios and Dimitris, and could not understand when each form would be used. When I explained that Demetrios might be used in official documents, but everyone will use Dimitris in everyday life, I felt compelled to offer some back story.
During the 400-year-long Ottoman occupation, the language picked up a number of Turkish words. Following Greece’s 1821 war of independence, a number of scholars led by Adamantios Korais rejected these influences and argued in favor of a return to a more classical language.
But the language itself had changed significantly through the ages: 9th-century BC Homeric Greek was quite different from the 5th-century language Pericles used. The language had changed even more in the years leading to Alexander’s Hellenistic period, when Greek picked a number of words used in Alexander’s empire. And the Byzantine era had further changed Greek.
At the same time, Greek was spoken differently in various parts of the country. Even today, Cretan Greek has marked differences from, say, Corfiot Greek.
Korais and the rest of the so-called archaists solved this conundrum by creating a hybrid language called Katharevousa (“Clean”). They arbitrarily chose the language of the Hellenistic period as a point of reference, probably because this was the language the Gospels were written in, therefore people were more familiar with it. By doing so, they gained an important ally: the Greek Orthodox Church. Predictably, Katharevousa became the formal language of the new state.
However, a number of other scholars rebelled against Katharevousa and supported Demotiki (from “Demos,” or community – ie the language of the community). This is the language as it had been shaped by the centuries, acknowledging and accepting the various influences, from the Byzantine to the Ottoman empire.
Once political factions started taking sides, the passions surrounding the two versions of the language became so strong, that in the late 19th/early 20th century their respective defenders actually fought in the streets, triggering, quite literally, a minor civil war. On one hand, you had the ruling classes (conservatives, royalists and the Church) who favoured Katharevousa. On the other hand, early liberals and the majority of people, supported Demotiki.
The picture below dates from November 8th, 1901, when 11 people died and 80 were injured during street fights for and against the translation of the Gospels into Demotiko. Because of the troubles, the government of Theotokis resigned and Theotokis himself was almost killed at the victims’ funeral.
Tensions ebbed and flowed throughout the 20th century. During Greece’s civil war (1946-1949, or 1943-1949 according to others) both Communists and Royalists used the language to easily distinguish their followers from their opponents.
Finally, in 1982, the left came to power after more than 50 years, following a seven-year-long military junta (1967-1974). Interestingly enough, one of the first laws passed concerned the language. The Colonels had supported wholeheartedly Katharevousa, despite the fact that the vast majority of people preferred Demotiki. The association between the hated junta and Katharevousa proved to be the final stroke against it, and the Socialists (PASOK) were able to pass a series of laws collectively referred to as “linguistic reformation” in favour of using Demotiki as the state’s official language.
Part of this reformation referred to the use of a single dot above vowels to indicate intonation (monotonic), replacing the Hellenistic usage of half a dozen different signs (polytonic). I vividly remember the fiery reaction against this, especially by the Church, as I was a highschool student at the time – and had finally managed to master the old spelling…
Thus ended an over-a-century linguistic war that saw quite a few casualties – and I mean this in the most literal sense. Nowadays you can still hear Katharevousa at church, where some priest or other will occasionally give a speech in a bastardized version of it. Church documents also use it on an everyday basis, complete with the Hellenistic spelling.
Interested in finding out more about Katharevousa? As always, Wikipedia comes to the rescue.
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What a succinct explanation of the two Greek forms. The best I’ve ever read.
Wow, high praise indeed. Thank you, Philip 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed the history of this Nicholas! So much I didn’t know and I am grateful you could share it. Well done! I’ve been honored with your choice to let me read Runaway Smile early on and I can vouch for its delightful story and the utterly sweet ending. You have another big success in front of you Nicholas! I won’t even say good luck ‘cos you don’t need it. I’ll just say, enjoy the torrent of compliments coming your way 🙂
Aw, thank you so much!! Your support means a lot. 🙂
Let’s hope you’re right, God willing! 🙂
Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.
So interesting how language is a tool to separate “us” from “them.” Nothing new and unfortunately still alive and well on our planet. Good detail for world-building. Thanks.
Couldn’t agree more. It’d almost be funny if people didn’t end up dead! We’re a a weird species alright… 🙂
Ultra fascinating read both in terms of main content and comments! I’ll have to share with a lot of American friends with Greek roots who’d be delighted to know more about their ancestors’ language. And I can’t help but feel proud seeing so many of your readers appreciating the extra insight into the history of Greek language.
Thanks for liking it – and thanks in advance for sharing! 🙂
Some linguists think that Greek is the basis of Latin, therefore the foundation for most Southern-European languages (French, Italian, Spanish, Romanian). The Anglo-Saxon languages originated as Germanic ones, of course, but also have been heavily influenced by Latin. Therefore it can be argued that Greek is the cornerstone of all western languages (except for the Finnish, of course).
Well, ancient Greek and Latin were cousins and Latin did borrow from Greek, so it relation is a little like English to French, but not like French to Latin. Of course, Germanic languages are cousins to Greek as well (also Persian and Indian and Slavic languages — which latter also borrowed a lot from Greek — and a bunch more). But Finnish and Hungarian are from a different group (not provably related to Greek) and Turkish even more so, though all have borrowed from one another over the centuries.
I’m worried that a fifth Greek got lost in the lists. The koine of the New Testament and early common era is clearly different from Classical (the move from second year to third was even worse that first (Classical) to second (Homeric)) and seems markedly different from either modern form or the stuff that ciruclated for a millennium in the Byzatine world.
Are you referring to Mihran’s list? Because you’re absolutely right – I, too, mentioned the Koine (aka Hellenistic) in my reply to him.
I’m surprised by your statement that it’s dissimilar to the rest. It’s the one I’m personally more familiar with, among the three BC languages. I find it quite similar to the Classical one, at least as spoken by Lysias. The Homeric language, on the other hand, is a really tough nut to crack, at least for me. Also, the Koine is fairly similar to Katharevousa, as Korais based the latter on it.
You are correct, though, that it’s different to the Classical one from the point of view of the alphabet. The Koine introduced pneumata, the little signs above vowels that indicate pronunciation, to standardize pronunciation of Greek among the many peoples who formed Alexander’s empire. It also introduced periods and capitalization, thus making it easier to learn the language.
Just to push the “there are four Greek languages” meme a notch, a linguist, Giannes Kenanides, has devised to conlangs on Greek bases, “Free Greek” (glosssa Ellenike eleuthera [done from memory, so don’t punch me, his name , too] and Sostematiko, an extension of toki pona but not polyglot..
That’s fascinating, I’ll have to look it up. Thanks for the comment and welcome! 🙂
What a fascinating history for a language! Curious, though – is the internet having an effect on Greek as it is on many other languages?
Yes, of course. There are all sorts of new words popping up, from τουιτάρω (to tweet) to Λάικ (Like).
Wonderful article! I’m going to share it in at least two places! And the comments are as interesting as the post! Re the “you’re welcome” bit (ambiguous meanings for phrases), my French professor retired after my freshman year in college and I worked hard at corresponding with him in French. I wanted to wish him well, so I wrote “Bonne fortune!” He wrote back that that phrase meant “do well financially” and what I should have said was “Bonne chance!” (good luck!)
Thanks for liking it! 🙂
Ah, the pitfalls of automatic translation… I have a scheduled post that deals with that subject, which I think you will enjoy 🙂
Absolutely loved this article! I’m a bit of a history buff, and I’ve never heard this story. I have no doubt I’ll find a way to work this into my writing!
I have no doubt that you will. A priest cast with its own language, perhaps? 🙂
Now there’s an intriguing idea! 🙂
Hi Nicholas,
I’d never heard that there was any friction betwee the two Greek languages. Now someone has written that there are four formal Greek languages. Thank goodness I choose to study Latin at school.
Juliet C.B. Aharoni
Lol – and if you check out John Clifford’s and my comment, you’ll realize it’s actually five languages… 😀
Very interesting post!
Thanks! I was thinking of you when I was writing it, and your fascinating posts on Irish history and mythology. 🙂
Seriously??? That’s awesome! Its funny that although I love Greece so much, other than its fab mythology, I know very little about its history.
Which probably explains why you still love the country… 😉
Συγχαρητήρια!
Lol – ευχαριστώ! 🙂
Είστε ευπρόσδεκτοι! BTW: if Google translates gets it wrong, it’s not my fault!
Lol – that was waaay too literal!
You’d say παρακαλώ in this case. What you wrote is the literal translation for “you’re welcome” – ie what you’d use when a guest arrives to your house. 🙂
I would have had no occasion to hear of this had I not read it here. Thank you.
Yes, it’s not exactly common knowledge, even in Greece. Weird.
Maybe the new generations are too busy looking ahead rather than behind as is happening everywhere these days.
Sigh… Yes, plus too many subjects are left out of Greek classrooms for fear of offending one group or another.
Pity, isn’t it? In Canada, we are called the melting pot. We don’t even say Merry Christmas anymore because newcomers are offended or can be because it is contrary to their religious beliefs. Whose country is it again? Same in schools. No this and no that because…same reasons.
Great post. I learned similar things about Latin while doing book research. I wonder if a similar language barrier formed prior to the French Revolution. Maybe it’s an indicator of a rift between aristocrats and the public. Ebonics anyone?
Language has always been used to reinforce group cohesion. A typical example is the army and the clergy, who use specific words and acronyms. Indeed, I’d go as far as to suggest that every society is segregated along linguistic barriers; I’m thinking of teenagers here who traditionally develop ways of communication that exclude “grownups”.
Ancient Egypt also comes to mind, where the clergy were the only ones who knew how to read and write.
Having said all that, I have no idea what the story behind Latin is. Any links?
I am not where I can look it all up. I learned there was formal Latin, clergy Latin, and common Latin. The common version has a more impressive name, but it escapes me at the moment. It was the language of the streets and legions.
Thanks! Biggus Dickus (from Life of Brian) comes to mind… 😀
I love that bit.
How very interesting, Nicholas. One thing rather delighted me – I’ve not met anyone yet with the name of Lorelei so I had no idea it was a common Greek name. It just so happens that one of my nieces is called Lorelei!
Lol – Lorelei is American, not Greek! 😀 Apologies for the confusion. The Greek translation for Lorelei is probably Δάφνη, or Daphne, as laurel/bay is translated into Greek. If that’s the case, then it’s a fairly common name, although not as common as, say, Maria or Eleni.
Did you just add the ‘hi’ or was I being very stupid?!
What ‘hi’? 😮
The ‘hi, Lorelei’. I don’t remember the ‘hi’ from before which was why I got confused.
Lol – no, it’s been there from the start. Sorry! 😀
Actually, it’s more common a mistake than you might think. I’m amazed at how many times I could have sworn I’ve read something, only to read something quite different afterwards. My mind seems to, well, have a mind of its own… 🙂
Very interesting. I didn’t know any of this history.
Thanks! Even in Greece most people have forgotten all about it.
I love history. This was one of those little known (outside of Greece, obviously) historical items that I love to learn. I found it fascinating, though sorry to hear some of it ended with people dying.
In 1956 the Institute for Modern Greek Studies was founded with the aim of promoting the survival and expansion of the pro-Demotiki ideology. There are four major forms of the Greek language.
THe Homeric Greek , the Classical Greek , Medieval Greek and the Modern Greek. The most dificcult in the understanding and the comprehension are the Homeric. Absoloutely you need higher level of education. The last two are more easy to read and to understand general the meaning.
Fascinating information, thanks! I would add Hellenistic Greek to this list; the language in which the Gospels were written. It’s also the one Katharevousa was largely based on.
You are right; Homeric Greek is hard even for me to understand.
Also, some dates for anyone not familiar with these: Homeric Greek is circa 9th century BC; Classical Greek is the Athenian Greek of 5th century BC; Hellenistic Greek was ca. 1st century BC; Medieval Greek is the language of the Byzantine Empire and Modern Greek is Demotiki as spoken since the 19th century.
It’s great that you know so much about our language, Mihran!
What an interesting article! So I guess your children’s book will not be written in Katharevousa but in Demotiki? Who said man only fights for religion or freedom…something as simple as language can trigger fierce passion!
Lol – yes, definitely Demotiki.
In my experience, man will find any excuse to fight. You will probably enjoy this post: https://www.cracked.com/article_17123_the-5-most-retarded-wars-ever-fought.html , with its list of five weird excuses for going to war. These include the war that started when someone sat on the wrong piece of furniture (“war of the golden stool”) and a ten-month-long war that started when someone chopped down a flagpole…
Lol! I can’t wait to read this! Thank you.