Definitions and Description
The Greek language is separated into periods based upon the era of history and the different linguistic features and characteristics that accompany these eras, and although the periods differ from one another they are more alike than not. Ancient Greek, also known as Classical Greek, was the primary language of the Greek city states and their colonies and was used from the 9th Century BCE until the 4th century BCE, (Jorgensen, P. 2017). Modern Greek symbolically dates from the fall of the byzantine empire that occurred in 1453 CE and is the current language of Greece and its decadents (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2017). Linguistics features that are prevalent in both periods comprise of the presence of regional
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Ancient Greek has a rich vowel system with varying degrees of vowel-height levels, distinct lengths and multiple diphthongs (Ruijgh, Malikouti-Drachman, Lejeune, & Newton, 2018). Modern Greek in turn only has 5 unique vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, and /u/ (Joseph, n.d.). The decline in vowels is mostly attributed to merging, in particularly, the process of iotacism where the unique sounding η, ι, υ, ει, οι all become pronounced as /i/. Consonants underwent changes as well. The voiceless aspirated plosives / tʰ /, / pʰ /, /k ʰ / became the voiceless fricatives /θ/, /f/, /x/ and the voiced plosives /b/, /d/, /g/ transitioned into the voiced fricatives /v/, /ð/, /ɣ/. In Modern Greek, the ancient /b/ and /d/ pronunciation can be made through the diagraphs μπ and ντ respectfully. Furthermore, Ancient Greek contains the sound /h/ which is not in the modern pronunciation. Both pronunciations include /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /r/ and /l/. This change of pronunciation influences the orthography of the two periods (Ager, n.d.). They both used the Greek alphabet, however the ancient period had different variations with each dialect. Ancient Greek also had no lowercase until the end of the 4th century BC and this time was when a definitive standard alphabet was formed. Due to the phonological changes from Ancient to Modern Greek, multiple different …show more content…
Ancient Greek had numerous regional dialects with relatively many differences, which arose as Greece was not a unified country, merely a collection of independent city-states with a similar culture (Jorgensen, P. 2017). At this stage in history the city-states were prone to war and fearful of foreigners and outsiders. By having distinct regional dialects individuals were able to recognise their own, and to some extent communicate in ways that people of other dialects wouldn’t understand. For example, it was common for each dialect to have their own military slang (Joseph, n.d.). As a result, Individuals travelling between areas of different dialects were recognised and often treated with caution and unpleasantness. Two different dialect speakers would be able to generally understand each other with the main complications coming from slang words, accent, and writing and reading (if they were literate). Modern Greek dialects have a high mutual intelligibility as the differ only slightly from each other making communication effortless between two different dialect speakers. This can be attributed to the unification of Greece caused by the strong need for a national image after the rule of the byzantine
185-196. Dillon, Mathew, and Garland, Lynda. Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Socrates. Routledge International Thompson Publishing Company, 1994, pp. 179-215 Lefkowitz, Mary.
The Ancient Greek contribution ranged by the 1900-133 BC, however its influence on the Western Literate Society lasts to this day. As the Greeks expanded their empire, they spread their ideas to other countries, while also borrowing from other cultures. During this period of time, the Greeks made many significant and long-lasting contribution to our modern culture in Philosophy, Art, Democracy, Drama, Math, and Science. These givings of important ideas, inventions, and structures have had an extraordinary influence on the surrounding environment, society, and in the future. The essential contribution of Greeks to the Western Civilization are Democracy, Art, and Philosophy.
The language is also made up of 25 consonants; “B (be), C (ce), CH (che), D (de), F (efe), G (ge), H (hache) J (jota), K (ka), L (ele), LL (elle), M (eme), N (ene), Ñ (eñe), P (pe), Q (cu), R (ere), RR (erre), S (ese), T (te), V (uve), W (doble ve), X (equis), Y (i griega), Z (zeta).” These letters can be stressed when the indicated with the symbol //. (Warren 2016)
The Greeks were notorious for their disability to unite. In Ancient Greece, the Greek would never have considered themselves as Greek. They were loyal to their city state. There were at least three main reasons for the Greeks’ inability to unite, which are the geographical region of the land, the competitiveness of the people, and extreme narcissism.
At one time Egypt was accepted as European, but that status began to erode and in the 1790’s Egypt was regarded as an African Nation. Prior to the 1820’s the most widely accepted theory of the origins of Greece was the Ancient Model. In this model, primitive tribes, Pelasigians, and others inhabited Greece. In certain regions of Greece, the Egyptians and Phoenicians settled, built cities, and civilized the natives. The Phoenicians were credited with having introduced the alphabet while the Egyptians taught the Pelasgians about irrigation (Bernal, p. 7).
Overall, the U.S. and Ancient Greek have different values because the U.S. values appearance and humor while the Greeks value honesty.
Sometime around 750-600 B.C.E., the Greek poet Hesiod produced what is generally thought to be the oldest surviving Greek poetic works. During this time, Greece was near the middle of its Archaic period, a period of technological, social, political, and cultural innovations. This was the period in which the first true alphabet system arose, the system which allowed Hesiod and other poets like him to record permanently the oral stories and lyrics so important to Greek culture. This was also the time in which the Greek polis emerged – what is today translated as “city-state” – as a result of increases in population size. Hand in hand with the increase in population and formation of political bodies like the polis comes the colonization of foreign land which marked this period. Colonies arose all around the Aegean Sea and onto the coast of North Africa, spreading the Greek culture well beyond its homeland (Earth 128-131).
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.
The Greeks came to America in different times and over a number of decades. There are five periods, which encompass the historical development of the Greek population in America. The first period cover the Years 1528 to 1821,a time when Greece was under the domination of the Ottoman Rulers. It was a period of little movement and very few records which could provide information on those who left their homeland in search of adventure in the New world, except the accounts of the New Smyrna Colony.
Nilsson, Martin, and Hesiod. Greek Popular Religion. New York: New York: Columbia University Press, 1940.
The Classical Greece era dates back to 500-323 BCE and was considered to be the period of maturity, discovery and achievement. During this era Athens was governed by a democratic government, there came a more rational approach to exploring and explaining the world and the Greeks took art to a more realistic and humanistic approach for the first time. (Sakoulas, 2002) During the Classical era the culture was based on a blend of their old culture and the new. The old is based upon religious beliefs while the new happens largely in part due to trade routes.
Language also changes easy whenever speakers come into contact with each other. No two individuals speak identically: people from different geographical places clearly speak differently, but even within the same small community there are variations according to a speaker’s age, gender, social and educational background. Through our interactions with these different
Dialects do not merely differ according to country, however. Within a single country, there may be many dialects. In the United States, one can usually tell if a person is from the South, East, West, or Midwest based on the way that they speak. There are regional dialects within states and even within cities as well. Every dialect has its own phonological and syntactic patterns, as well as some unique vocabulary.
In the year approximately 500 B.C., the Greek civilization came upon a time of peace. Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave
“The Melian Dialogue” covers a dispute of nations' futures goes on between two Ancient Greek