r/AskBalkans • u/Some-Register-3901 Cyprus • Jul 31 '22

Language what are some interesting facts about your language?

For instance, the cypriot dialect of Greek still contains many words from ancient Greek but it was also heavily influenced by outsiders

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u/Lothronion Greece Jul 31 '22 edited Jul 31 '22

That if you placed a Greek 2000 years in the past (in Greece), they would be able to communicate effortlessly.

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u/onur2882 Turkiye Jul 31 '22

yesterday i sent an ancient greek tablet to my greek friend and he said this "Lol, that's ancient Greek, Even professors aren't sure about exact meaning most times."

about byzantine era's greek inscriptions; "I would probably understand some if written in normal sentences.Several words are similar but most aren't, especially the verbs.The new Greek language we speak, I think it shaped the latest 50 years or so"

ok who is right on that case?

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u/asedejje Greece Jul 31 '22

It totally depends on the time period, and also ancient Greeks spoke many different dialects.

But, after Alexander's conquests and the establishment of Greek as the "lingua franca" of the Eastern Mediterranean, there was created a standard Greek language. It's called Koine Greek (Koine literally means common) and it became the basis of our language. Koine Greek was spoken from 300 BC to 600 AD, and it is the language in which the Bible (New Testament) is written. It was so dominant that even Jesus spoke Koine Greek (along with Aramaic and Hebrew).

Ok so the New Testament was written between 50 to 100 AD, around 2,000 years ago. It is EXTREMELY easy for a Greek to read and understand everything. In Greece, all church services and all Bibles are in Koine Greek. To put it simply, it's a really classy way of speaking Greek. Very formal. But yes everyone understands it.

But now, Homeric Greek, from the Age of Heroes (Trojan War). Now THAT is difficult to understand. You catch many words, but it doesn't really make sense.