| History of the Greek language (see also: Greek alphabet) |
| Proto-Greek (c. This article is an overview of the history of Greek. Origins See also Proto-Greek language There are several theories about the origins Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Greek alphabet (Ελληνικό αλφάβητο is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early The Proto-Greek language is the assumed last common ancestor of all known varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean, the classical Greek dialects 2000 BC)
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| Mycenaean (c. Mycenaean is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, spoken on the Greek mainland and on Crete in the 16th to 11th centuries BC, before the 1600–1100 BC)
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| Ancient Greek (c. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c 800–300 BC) Dialects: Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, Attic-Ionic, Doric, Pamphylian; Homeric Greek. Ancient Greek, in Classical antiquity before the development of the Koiné (κοινή as the Lingua franca of Hellenism, was divided Aeolic Greek (also known as Lesbian Greek) is a linguistic term used to describe a set of rather archaic Greek sub- Dialects spoken Arcadocypriot or southern Achaean was an ancient Greek dialect spoken in Arcadia in the central Peloponnese and Cyprus. Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects) For the modern Doric dialect of Scotland see Doric dialect (Scotland Doric was a dialect of ancient Greek. Pamphylian is a little-attested and isolated dialect of Ancient Greek which was spoken in Pamphylia, on the southern coast of Asia Minor Homeric Greek is the form of Ancient Greek that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. Possibly Macedonian. For the unrelated modern Slavic language see Macedonian language. |
| Koine Greek (c. 300 BC–c. 500)
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| Medieval Greek (c. Medieval Greek (Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. 500–1453)
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| Modern Greek (from 1453) Dialects: Cappadocian, Cretan, Cypriot, Demotic, Griko, Katharevousa, Pontic, Tsakonian, Yevanic |
Koine Greek (Greek: Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, IPA: [ciˈni eliniˈci], "common Greek", or ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, IPA: [i ciˈni ˈðialektos], "the common dialect") is the popular form of Greek which emerged in post-Classical antiquity (c. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean 300 BC – AD 300), and marks the third period in the history of the Greek language. This article is an overview of the history of Greek. Origins See also Proto-Greek language There are several theories about the origins [1] Other names are Alexandrian, Hellenistic, Common, or New Testament Greek. Koine is important not only to the history of the Greeks for being their first common dialect and main ancestor of modern Greek, but also for its impact on Western culture as a lingua franca for the Mediterranean. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely [1] It was also the original language of the New Testament of the Christian Bible as well as the medium for the teaching and spreading of Christianity. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings [1] Koine Greek was unofficially the second language in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial [1]
Contents |
History
Koine Greek arose as a common dialect within the armies of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' [1] As the allied Greek states under the leadership of Macedon conquered and colonised the known world, their newly formed common dialect was spoken from Egypt to the fringes of India. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country [1] Though elements of Koine Greek took shape during the late Classical Era, the post-Classical period of Greek dates from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, when cultures under Hellenistic sway in turn began to influence the language. In the context of the art architecture and culture of Ancient Greece, the classical period corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' This article focuses on the historical aspects of the Hellenistic age for the cultural aspects see Hellenistic civilisation. The passage into the next period, known as Medieval Greek, dates from the foundation of Constantinople by Constantine I in 330. Medieval Greek (Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine The post-Classical period of Greek thus refers to the creation and evolution of Koine Greek throughout the entire Hellenistic and Roman eras of history until the start of the Middle Ages. [1]
The term Koine
Koine (Κοινή), Greek for "common", is a term which had been previously applied by ancient scholars to several forms of Greek speech. A school of scholars such as Apollonius Dyscolus and Aelius Herodianus maintained the term Koine to refer to the Proto-Greek language, while others would use it to refer to any vernacular form of Greek speech which differed from the literary language. Aelius Herodianus (Latin Greek) or Herodian, ca 180-250 was one of the most celebrated grammarians of Greco-Roman antiquity The Proto-Greek language is the assumed last common ancestor of all known varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean, the classical Greek dialects [1] When Koine gradually became a language of literature, some people distinguished it in two forms: Hellenic (Greek) as the literary post-classical form, and Koine (common) as the spoken popular form. [1] Others chose to refer to Koine as the Alexandrian dialect (Περὶ τῆς Ἀλεξανδρέων διαλέκτου) or the dialect of Alexandria, a term often used by modern classicists. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια
Roots
The linguistic roots of the Common Greek dialect had been unclear since ancient times. During the Hellenistic age, most scholars thought of Koine as the result of the mixture of the four main Ancient Greek dialects, "ἡ ἐκ τῶν τεττάρων συνεστῶσα" (the composition of the Four). This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c This view was supported in the early 20th century by Austrian linguist P. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Kretschmer in his book "Die Entstehung der Koine" (1901), while the German scholar Wilamowitz and the French linguist Antoine Meillet, based on the intense Attic elements of Koine — such as σσ instead of ττ and ρσ instead of ρρ (θάλασσα — θάλαττα, ἀρσενικός — ἀρρενικός) — considered Koine to be a simplified form of Ionic. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Antoine Meillet ( Paul-Jules-Antoine Meillet, November 11, 1866 - September 21, 1936) was one of the most important French linguists The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects) [1] The final answer which is academically accepted today was given by the Greek linguist G. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία N. Hatzidakis, who proved that, despite the "composition of the Four", the "stable nucleus" of Koine Greek is Attic. Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. In other words, Koine Greek can be regarded as Attic with the admixture of elements especially from Ionic, but also from other dialects. The degree of importance of the non-Attic linguistic elements on Koine can vary depending on the region of the Hellenistic World. [1] In that respect, the idioms of Koine spoken in the Ionian colonies of Asia Minor and Cyprus would have more intense Ionic characteristics than others. Geography Physical Ionia was of small extent not exceeding 90 geographical miles in length from north to south with a breadth varying from 40 to 55 miles but to this Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects) The literary Koine of the Hellenistic age resembles Attic in such a degree that it is often mentioned as Common Attic. [1]
Sources of Koine
The first scholars who studied Koine, both in Alexandrian and contemporary times, were classicists whose prototype had been the literary Attic language of the Classical period, and would frown upon any other kind of Hellenic speech. Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Koine Greek was therefore considered a decayed form of Greek which was not worthy of attention. [1] The reconsideration on the historical and linguistic importance of Koine Greek began only in the early nineteenth century, where renowned scholars conducted series of studies on the evolution of Koine throughout the entire Hellenistic and Roman period which it covered. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The sources used on the studies of Koine have been numerous and of unequal reliability. The most significant ones are the inscriptions of the post-Classical periods and the papyri, for being two kinds of texts which have authentic content and can be studied directly[1]. Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus Other significant sources are the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and the New Testament. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The teaching of the Testaments was aimed at the most common people, and for that reason they use the most popular language of the era. Information can also be derived from some Atticist scholars of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, who, in order to fight the evolution of the language, published works which compared the supposedly "correct" Attic against the "wrong" Koine by citing examples. Atticism (meaning favouring Attica, the region that includes Athens) in Greece) was a rhetorical movement that began in the first quarter This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. For example, Phrynichus Arabius during the second century AD wrote:
- Βασίλισσα οὐδείς τῶν Ἀρχαίων εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ βασίλεια ἢ βασιλίς.
- "Basilissa (Queen) none of the Ancients said, but Basileia or Basilis".
- Διωρία ἑσχάτως ἀδόκιμον, ἀντ' αυτοῦ δὲ προθεσμίαν ἐρεῖς.
- "Dioria (deadline) is badly illiteral, instead use Prothesmia".
- Πάντοτε μὴ λέγε, ἀλλὰ ἑκάστοτε καὶ διὰ παντός.
- "Do not say Pantote (always), but Hekastote and Dia pantos".
Other sources can be based on random findings such as inscriptions on vases written by popular painters, mistakes made by Atticists due to their imperfect knowledge of pure Attic, or even some surviving Greco-Latin glossaries of the Roman period[2], e. Atticism (meaning favouring Attica, the region that includes Athens) in Greece) was a rhetorical movement that began in the first quarter Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. g:
- "Καλήμερον, ἦλθες; — Bono die, venisti?" (Good day, you came?).
- "Ἐὰν θέλεις, ἐλθὲ μεθ' ἡμῶν. — Si vis, veni mecum. " (If you want, come with us (The Latin actually says with me, not us) ).
- "Ποῦ; — Ubi?" (Where?).
- "Πρὸς φίλον ἡμέτερον Λεύκιον. — Ad amicum nostrum Lucium. " (To our friend Lucius).
- "Τί γὰρ ἔχει; — Quid enim habet?" (Indeed, what does he have?—What is it with him?).
- "Ἀρρωστεῖ. — Aegrotat. " (He's sick).
Finally, a very important source of information on the ancient Koine is the modern Greek language with all its dialects and its own Koine form and idioms, which have preserved most of the ancient language's oral linguistic details which the written tradition has lost. Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit For example the Pontic and Cappadocian dialects preserved the ancient pronunciation of η as ε (νύφε, συνέλικος, τίμεσον, πεγάδι etc), while the Tsakonic preserved the long α instead of η (ἁμέρα, ἀστραπά, λίμνα, χοά etc) and the other local characteristics of Laconic. Pontic Greek is a form of the Greek language originally spoken in the Pontus area on the southern shores of the Black Sea, and today mainly in Greece Cappadocian, also known as Cappadocian Greek or Asia Minor Greek is a dialect of the Greek language, formerly spoken in Cappadocia (Central Turkey For the modern Doric dialect of Scotland see Doric dialect (Scotland Doric was a dialect of ancient Greek. [1] Idioms from the Southern part of the Greek-speaking regions (Dodecanese, Cyprus etc), preserve the pronunciation of the double similar consonants (ἄλ-λος, Ἑλ-λάδα, θάλασ-σα), while others pronounce in many words υ as ου or preserve ancient double forms (κρόμμυον — κρεμ-μυον, ράξ — ρώξ etc). The Dodecanese ( Greek Δωδεκάνησα Dodekánisa 'twelve islands' are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía Linguistic phenomena like the above imply that those characteristics survived within Koine, which in turn had countless idiomatic variations in the Greek-speaking world[1].
Evolution from ancient Greek
The study of all sources from the six centuries which are symbolically covered by Koine reveals linguistic changes from ancient Greek on phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary and other elements of the spoken language. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Phonology ( Greek φωνή (phōnē voice sound + λόγος (lógos word speech subject of discussion is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning Most new forms start off as rare and gradually become more frequent until they are established. From the linguistic changes which took place in Koine, Greek gained such a resemblance to its medieval and modern successors that almost all characteristics of modern Greek can be traced in the surviving texts of Koine. Medieval Greek (Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit [1] As most of the changes between modern and ancient Greek were introduced via Koine, Koine is largely intelligible to speakers of the modern language.
Phonology
During the period generally designated as "Koine" Greek, a great deal of phonological change occurred: at the start of the period, the pronunciation was virtually identical to classical ancient Greek, whereas in the end it had much more in common with modern Greek. Koine Greek is phonologically a transition period at the start of the period the language was generally virtually identical to Classical Ancient Greek, whereas in
The three most significant changes during this period were the loss of vowel length distinction, the substitution of the pitch accent system with a stress accent system, and the monophthongization of several diphthongs.
Evolution in phonology is summarised below:
- The ancient distinction between long and short vowels was gradually lost, and from the 2nd century BC all vowels were isochronic. [1]
- Since the 2nd century BC, the means of accenting words changed from pitch to stress, meaning that the accented syllable is not pronounced in a musical tone but louder and/or stronger. Pitch accent is a linguistic term of convenience for a variety of restricted tone systems that use variations in pitch to give prominence to a Syllable In Linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain Syllables in a word [1]
- The aspirate breathing (aspiration), which was already lost in the Ionic idioms of Asia Minor and the Aeolic of Lesbos, stopped being pronounced and written in popular texts. Description Voiceless consonants are produced with the Vocal cords open and voiced consonants are produced when the vocal folds are fractionally closed Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects) An idiom is a Phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal Definition, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Aeolic Greek (also known as Lesbian Greek) is a linguistic term used to describe a set of rather archaic Greek sub- Dialects spoken Lesbos (Λέσβος also transliterated Lesvos, Midilli is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. [1]
- Long diphthongs, which in older times were written with a subscript of ι after a long vowel, stopped being pronounced and written in popular texts. [1]
- The diphthongs αι, ει, and οι became single vowels. In this manner 'αι', which had already been converted by the Boeotians into a long ε since the 4th century BC and written η (e. g. πῆς, χῆρε, μέμφομη), became in Koine, too, first a long ε and then short. The diphthong 'ει' had already merged with ι in the 5th century BC in regions such as Argos or in the 4th c. Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor BC in Corinth (e. Corinth, or Korinth ( Greek Κόρινθος ( is a city in Greece. g. ΛΕΓΙΣ), and it acquired this pronunciation also in Koine. The diphthong 'οι' acquired the pronunciation of the modern French 'U' (IPA: [y]), which lasted until the 10th century AD. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The diphthong 'υι' came to be pronounced [yj], and subsequently became treated as two consecutive vowels (as if 'υϊ'). The diphthong 'ου' had already acquired the pronunciation of Latin 'U' since the 6th century BC and preserved it in modern times. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. [1]
- The diphthongs αυ and ευ came to be pronounced [av] and [ev] (via [aβ], [eβ]), but are partly assimilated to [af], [ef] before the voiceless consonants θ, κ, ξ, π, σ, τ, φ, χ, and ψ. Assimilation is a common Phonological process by which the phonetics of a speech segment becomes more like that of another segment in a word (or at a word boundary Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless [1]
- Simple vowels have preserved their ancient pronunciations, except η which is pronounced as ι, and υ, which retained the pronunciation [y] of modern French 'U' only until the 10th c. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people AD, and was later also pronounced as ι. With those changes in phonology there were common spelling mistakes between υ and οι, while the sound of ι was multiplied (iotacism). For the Palatalization of certain consonants in Slavic languages, see Iotation. [1]
- The consonants also preserved their ancient pronunciations to a great extent, except β, γ, δ, φ, θ, χ and ζ. Β, Γ, Δ (Beta, Gamma, Delta), which were originally pronounced as b, g, d, acquired the sound of v, gh, and dh ([v] (via β), [ɣ], [ð] in IPA), which they still have today, except when preceded by a nasal consonant (μ, ν); in that case, they retain their ancient sounds (e. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic g. γαμβρός — γαmbρός, άνδρας — άndρας, άγγελος — άŋgελος). The latter three (Φ, Θ, Χ), which were initially pronounced as aspirates (/pʰ/, /tʰ/ and /kʰ/ respectively), developed into the fricatives [f] (via [ɸ]), [θ], and [x]. Finally the letter Ζ, which is still categorised as a double consonant with ξ and ψ, because it was initially pronounced as σδ (sd), later acquired the sound of Z as it appears in Modern English and Greek. Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift, completed in roughly 1550 Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit [1]
Biblical Koine
"Biblical Koine" refers to the varieties of Koine Greek used in the Christian Bible and related texts. Its main sources are:
- the Septuagint, a 3rd century B. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the C. Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, which includes the Deuterocanonical books, a series of books not now in the Jewish canon, but whose earlier acceptance led to their inclusion in the non-Protestant Old Testament. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic " Deuterocanonical books " is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. Most of the texts are translations, but there are some portions and texts composed in Greek. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Sirach, for instance, has been found in Hebrew;
- the New Testament, compiled originally in Greek (although some books may have had a Hebrew-Aramaic substrate and contain some Semitic influence on the language). Ben Sira was the author of the deuterocanonical book Sirach. His name The evidence seems to show that the author's name was Shimon (Simon son of Yeshua (Jesus/Joshua
There has been some debate to what degree Biblical Greek represents the mainstream of contemporary spoken Koine and to what extent it contains specifically Semitic substratum features (cf. The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, In Contact linguistics, a substratum ( lat sub: under + stratum: layer → lower layer) is a Language Aramaic primacy). Aramaic primacy is the view that the Christian New Testament and/or its sources were originally written in the Aramaic language. These could have been induced either through the practice of translating closely from Hebrew or Aramaic originals, or through the influence of the regional non-standard Greek spoken by the originally Aramaic-speaking Jews. Biblical Hebrew, also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language in which the Hebrew Bible and various Israelite inscriptions Aramaic is a Semitic language with Some of the features discussed in this context are the Septuagint's normative absence of the particles μεν and δε, and the use of εγενετο to denote "it came to pass. " Some features of Biblical Greek which are thought to have originally been non-standard elements eventually found their way into the main of the Greek language.
The term Patristic Greek is sometimes used for the Greek written by the Church Fathers, the early Christian theologians in late antiquity. The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church Christian writers in the earliest time tended to use a simple register of Koiné, relatively close to the spoken language of their time, following the model of the Bible. After the 4th century, when Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire, more learned registers of Koiné influenced by Atticism came also to be used. [3]
New Testament Greek
The Koine Greek in the table represents the New Testament Koine Greek, deriving to some degree from the dialect spoken in Judaea and Galilaea during the 1st century and similar to the dialect spoken in Alexandria, Egypt. Note, the realizations of certain phonemes differ from the more standard Attic dialect of Koine. Note the soft fricative "bh", the hard aspirated "th", the preservation of a distinction between the four front vowels "i", "ê", "e", and "y" (which is still rounded), and other features.
| letter | Greek | English | IPA |
| Alpha | α | a | ɑ |
| Beta | β (-β-) | b (-bh-) | b (-β-) |
| Gamma | γ | gh | ɣ |
| Delta | δ | d | d |
| Epsilon | ε | e | ɛ |
| Zeta | ζ | zz | zː |
| Eta | η | ê | e |
| Theta | θ | th | tʰ |
| Iota | ι | i | i |
| Kappa | κ | k | k |
| Lambda | λ | l | l |
| Mu | μ | m | m |
| Nu | ν | n | n |
| Xi | ξ | ks | ks |
| Omicron | ο | o | o |
| Pi | π | p | p |
| Rho | ρ | r | ɾ |
| Sigma | σ (-σ-/-σσ-) | s (-s-/-ss-) | s (-z-/-sː-) |
| Tau | τ | t | t |
| Upsilon | υ | y | y |
| Phi | φ | ph | pʰ |
| Chi | χ | kh | kʰ |
| Psi | ψ | ps | ps |
| Omega | ω | ô | o |
| . The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic | αι | ai | ɛ |
| . | ει | ei | i |
| . | οι | oi | y |
| . | αυ | au | ɑw |
| . | ευ | eu | ɛw |
| . | ηυ | êu | ew |
| . | ου | ou | u |
Sample Koine Texts
The following excerpts illustrate the phonological development within the period of Koine. The phonetic transcriptions are tentative, and are intended to illustrate two different stages in the reconstructed development, an early conservative variety still relatively close to Classical Attic, and a somewhat later, more progressive variety approaching Modern Greek in some respects.
Sample 1
The following excerpt, from a decree of the Roman Senate to the town of Thisbae in Boeotia in 170 BC, is rendered in a reconstructed pronunciation representing a hypothetical conservative variety of mainland Greek Koiné in the early Hellenistic era. Boeotia, Beotia, or Bœotia ( Greek: Βοιωτία - English biːˈoʊʃiə formerly Cadmeis was a region of Ancient Greece, north of the [4] The transcription shows partial, but not yet completed raising of η and ει to /i/, retention of pitch accent, fricativization of γ to /j/ but no fricativisation of the other stops as yet, and retention of word-initial /h/.
- περὶ ὧν Θισ[β]εῖς λόγους ἐποιήσαντο· περὶ τῶν καθ᾿αὑ[τ]οὺς πραγμάτων, οίτινες ἐν τῇ φιλίᾳ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἐνέμειναν, ὅπως αὐτοῖς δοθῶσιν [ο]ἷς τὰ καθ᾿ αὑτοὺς πράγματα ἐξηγήσωνται, περὶ τούτου τοῦ πράγματος οὕτως ἔδοξεν· ὅπως Κόιντος Μαίνιος στρατηγὸς τῶν ἐκ τῆς συνκλήτου [π]έντε ἀποτάξῃ οἳ ἂν αὐτῷ ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων πρα[γμ]άτων καὶ τῆς ἰδίας πίστεων φαίνωνται.
- IPA: [ˈperì hôːn tʰizbîːs lóɡuːs epojéːsanto; perì tôːn katʰ hautùːs praɡmátoːn, hoítines en tîː pʰilíaːi tîː heːmetéraːi enémiːnan, hópoːs autoîs dotʰôːsin hoîs tà katʰ hautùːs práɡmata ekseːɡéːsoːntai, perì túːtuː tûː práɡmatos húːtoːs édoksen; hópoːs ˈkʷintos ˈmainios strateːɡòs tôːn ek têːs syŋkléːtuː pénte apotáksiː, hoì àn autôːi ek tôːn deːmosíoːn praɡmátoːn kaì têːs idíaːs písteoːs pʰaínoːntai]
- "Concerning those matters about which the citizens of Thisbae made representations. Concerning their own affairs: the following decision was taken concerning the proposal that those who remained true to our friendship should be given the facilities to conduct their own affairs; that our governor Quintus Maenius should delegate five members of the senate who seemed to him suitable in the light of their public actions and individual good faith. "
Sample 2
The following excerpt, the beginning of the Gospel of St John, is rendered in a reconstructed pronunciation representing a progressive popular variety of Koiné in the early Christian era, with vowels approaching those of Modern Greek. The Gospel of John (literally According to John; Greek, Κατὰ Ἰωάννην Kata Iōannēn) is the fourth Gospel in the canon [5]
- ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. πάντα δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν. ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων̣· καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.
- [ˈen arˈkʰi in o ˈloɣos, ke o ˈloɣos im bros to(n) tʰeˈo(n), ke tʰeˈos in o ˈloɣos. ˈutos in en arˈkʰi pros to(n) tʰeˈo(n). ˈpanda di aɸˈtu eˈjeneto, ke kʰoˈris aɸˈtu eˈjeneto ude ˈen o ˈjeɣonen. en aɸˈto zoˈi in, ke i zoˈi in to pʰos ton anˈtʰropon; ke to pʰos en di skoˈtia ˈpʰeni, ke i skoˈti(a) a(ɸ)ˈto u kaˈtelaβen]
- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shone in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. "
External links
- Song of the Lamb self studies in basic New Testament Greek and Hebrew (requires a Java plugin)
- New Testament Greek Online
- Greek-Language.com
- Koine Greek at WikiChristian and Dictionary
Notes
References
- Randall Buth, Ἡ κοινὴ προφορά: Koine Greek of Early Roman Period
- Abel, F. -M. Grammaire du grec biblique.
- Andriotis, Nikolaos P. History of the Greek Language.
- Smyth, Herbert Weir, Greek Grammar, Harvard University Press, 1956. ISBN 0-674-36250-0
- Cornybeare, F. C, and Stock, St. George. Grammar of Septuagint Greek: With Selected Readings, Vocabularies, and Updated Indexes.
- Allen, W. Sidney, Vox Graeca: a guide to the pronunciation of classical Greek – 3rd ed. , Cambridge University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-521-33555-8
| Ages of Greek | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly 2000 BC | c. 1600–1100 BC | c. 800–300 BC | c. 300 BC–AD 330 | c. 330–1453 | 1453–present |
| Proto-Greek | Mycenaean | Ancient Greek | Koine Greek | Medieval Greek | Modern Greek |
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