Hellenic | |
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Greek | |
Geographic distribution | Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Anatolia and the Black Sea region |
Linguistic classification |
Indo-European
|
Proto-language | Proto-Greek |
Subdivisions |
|
ISO 639-5 | grk |
Linguasphere | 56= (phylozone) |
Glottolog | gree1276 |
Part of a series on |
Indo-European topics |
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Hellenic is the branch of the Indo-European language family whose principal member is Greek. [2] In most classifications, Hellenic consists of Greek alone, [3] [4] but some linguists use the term Hellenic to refer to a group consisting of Greek proper and other varieties thought to be related but different enough to be separate languages, either among ancient neighboring languages [5] or among modern varieties of Greek. [6]
While the bulk of surviving public and private inscriptions found in ancient Macedonia were written in Attic Greek (and later in Koine Greek), [7] [8] fragmentary documentation of a vernacular local variety comes from onomastic evidence, ancient glossaries and recent epigraphic discoveries in the Greek region of Macedonia, such as the Pella curse tablet. [9] [10] [11] This local variety is usually classified by scholars as a dialect of Northwest Doric Greek, [note 1] and occasionally as an Aeolic Greek dialect [note 2] or a distinct sister language of Greek; [note 3] due to the latter classification, a family under the name "Hellenic" has been suggested to group together Greek proper and the ancient Macedonian language. [5] [23]
In addition, some linguists use the term "Hellenic" to refer to modern Greek in a narrow sense together with certain other, divergent modern varieties deemed separate languages on the basis of a lack of mutual intelligibility. [24] Separate language status is most often posited for Tsakonian, [24] which is thought to be uniquely a descendant of Doric rather than Attic Greek, followed by Pontic and Cappadocian Greek of Anatolia. [25] The Griko or Italiot varieties of southern Italy are also not readily intelligible to speakers of standard Greek. [26] Separate status is sometimes also argued for Cypriot, though this is not as easily justified. [27] In contrast, Yevanic (Jewish Greek) is mutually intelligible with standard Greek but is sometimes considered a separate language for ethnic and cultural reasons. [27] Greek linguistics traditionally treats all of these as dialects of a single language. [3] [28] [29]
Hellenic |
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Hellenic constitutes a branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient languages that might have been most closely related to it, ancient Macedonian [30] [31] (either an ancient Greek dialect or a separate Hellenic language) and Phrygian, [32] are not documented well enough to permit detailed comparison. Among Indo-European branches with living descendants, Greek is often argued to have the closest genetic ties with Armenian [33] (see also Graeco-Armenian) and Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan). [34] [35]
Many surviving public and private inscriptions indicate that in the Macedonian kingdom there was no dominant written language but standard Attic and later on koine Greek.
Hellenic | |
---|---|
Greek | |
Geographic distribution | Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Anatolia and the Black Sea region |
Linguistic classification |
Indo-European
|
Proto-language | Proto-Greek |
Subdivisions |
|
ISO 639-5 | grk |
Linguasphere | 56= (phylozone) |
Glottolog | gree1276 |
Part of a series on |
Indo-European topics |
---|
Hellenic is the branch of the Indo-European language family whose principal member is Greek. [2] In most classifications, Hellenic consists of Greek alone, [3] [4] but some linguists use the term Hellenic to refer to a group consisting of Greek proper and other varieties thought to be related but different enough to be separate languages, either among ancient neighboring languages [5] or among modern varieties of Greek. [6]
While the bulk of surviving public and private inscriptions found in ancient Macedonia were written in Attic Greek (and later in Koine Greek), [7] [8] fragmentary documentation of a vernacular local variety comes from onomastic evidence, ancient glossaries and recent epigraphic discoveries in the Greek region of Macedonia, such as the Pella curse tablet. [9] [10] [11] This local variety is usually classified by scholars as a dialect of Northwest Doric Greek, [note 1] and occasionally as an Aeolic Greek dialect [note 2] or a distinct sister language of Greek; [note 3] due to the latter classification, a family under the name "Hellenic" has been suggested to group together Greek proper and the ancient Macedonian language. [5] [23]
In addition, some linguists use the term "Hellenic" to refer to modern Greek in a narrow sense together with certain other, divergent modern varieties deemed separate languages on the basis of a lack of mutual intelligibility. [24] Separate language status is most often posited for Tsakonian, [24] which is thought to be uniquely a descendant of Doric rather than Attic Greek, followed by Pontic and Cappadocian Greek of Anatolia. [25] The Griko or Italiot varieties of southern Italy are also not readily intelligible to speakers of standard Greek. [26] Separate status is sometimes also argued for Cypriot, though this is not as easily justified. [27] In contrast, Yevanic (Jewish Greek) is mutually intelligible with standard Greek but is sometimes considered a separate language for ethnic and cultural reasons. [27] Greek linguistics traditionally treats all of these as dialects of a single language. [3] [28] [29]
Hellenic |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hellenic constitutes a branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient languages that might have been most closely related to it, ancient Macedonian [30] [31] (either an ancient Greek dialect or a separate Hellenic language) and Phrygian, [32] are not documented well enough to permit detailed comparison. Among Indo-European branches with living descendants, Greek is often argued to have the closest genetic ties with Armenian [33] (see also Graeco-Armenian) and Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan). [34] [35]
Many surviving public and private inscriptions indicate that in the Macedonian kingdom there was no dominant written language but standard Attic and later on koine Greek.