Greek language

The Greek language is an Indo-European language. It is the official language of Greece (Hellas) and Cyprus. It was first spoken in Greece and was also once spoken along the coast of Asia Minor (now a part of Turkey) and in southern Italy. It was also widely used in Western Asia and Northern Africa at one time. In Greek, the language is called Ελληνικά (elliniká).

Greek
elliniká
Eλληνικά
Pronunciation[eliniˈka]
RegionGreece, southern Mediterranean
Native speakers
13 million (2012)[1]
Dialects
  • Ancient dialects
  • Modern dialects
Official status
Official language in
 Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-1el
ISO 639-2gre (B)
ell (T)
ISO 639-3Variously:
ell  Modern Greek
grc  Ancient Greek
cpg  Cappadocian Greek
gmy  Mycenaean Greek
pnt  Pontic
tsd  Tsakonian
yej  Yevanic
Glottologgree1276
Linguasphere
  • 56-AAA-a
  • 56-AAA-aa to -am (varieties)

Greeks write their language using the Greek alphabet. The Latin alphabet (used to write English and many other languages) came from the Greek alphabet. Many other alphabets around the world also came from the Greek one.

Greek has an unbroken history of being a written language for over 3,000 years. This is longer than any other Indo-European language spoken today. This history is often divided into three parts, ancient Greek, medieval Greek, and modern Greek. The years 330-1453 are called medieval Greek because that's the time of the Byzantine Empire.

Over 13 million people in the world speak Greek as of 2021. These speakers mostly live in Greece (almost 11 million) and Cyprus (over 1 million). There are also people in other countries around the world who speak the language. This is largely because people left Greece and emigrated, meaning they moved to other countries. Countries like the United States and Australia have a large Greek diaspora.

References

  1. Greek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Ancient Greek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Cappadocian Greek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Mycenaean Greek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Pontic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Tsakonian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    (Additional references under 'Language codes' in the information box)
  2. "List of Declarations Made with Respect to Treaty No. 148". Council of Europe. Retrieved 8 December 2008.

Other websites

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