DEPARTMENT OF MODERN GR εε K STUDIES SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES, LanCSAL ΜΟδερΝ G ρεε K ΙΝΤρΟδ UC ΤΙΟΝ
WH WHAT AT IS S LA LANG NGUA UAGE GE • “Language is is a code code of of sign signs of of a certain certain form form (l (lingu inguistic) istic) whic which enable enables communic communication ation wit within hin a lingui uistic stic community” . G. Ba Babi biniotis otis • The he expr press ession ion of of our our inte terna rnal worl rld … scie science nce and and life, ife, and and phil philoso osophy phy – all all th these ese are are personal personal an and nati tiona nal language” M. Trian antafill tafillidis idis
THE VALUE OF LANGUAGES • The language of every people of every race covers its needs and is absolutely respectable, no matter how primitive or simple it is! • The vocabulary people use is the mirror of their cultural level, special characteristics, attitudes, beliefs and values are expressed through words. • The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein had said : ‘the limits of my language are the limits of my world’
WHA HAT IS THE HE ROLE E OF LAN ANGU GUAG AGE • It It is is th therefore erefore clear clear that that langu language age con constitutes stitutes the the basi sic inst strumen rument of of our our comm mmunica unication tion. • Ou Our langua language ge th therefore erefore expresses expresses the the pe percep rception tions of of our our na nation, tion, its ts cultural cultural an and civi civiliz lizationa ational history history, as as well ll as as its ts inte tellectual lectual and logistica stical culture ture.
BENEFITS OF GREEK • Greek is a language with great linguistic dynamics and a solid syntax & grammar – there are approximately 25 000 greek words in the English vocabulary, in medical terminology 46 000 etc • Its linguistic abilities can help to understand how other languages function. • The morphological decomposition of Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes will help the learners to learn other languages more easily. • Moreover, the learners will be able to have a mastery of this vocabulary which will be useful for the learning of French, Italian and Spanish. • These are very useful tools for future Language Practitioners, Translators and Language Teachers. • Greek though and philosophy provides a different aspect to life, most of the disciplines have greek names, • Georgraphy, anthropology, politics, psychology, history, • Biology, philosophy etc
Its or origin gin – Ind ndo-Eu Europe ropean an roo oots • The The Greek Greek language language belongs belongs to to the the large arge fami family ly of of Indo Indo-European European langu guages ages. • The The Greek Greek alphabet al phabet was was based based on on the he Phoenicia Phoenician alp alphabet, habet, which which only only had had conson sonants ants. To To this is the the Greeks eks added added vowels ls .
THE UNIVERSAL SAL CONTRI RIBUTIO BUTION N OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE AGE • The he Gree Greek lan langua guage ge and and Greek Greek writ writin ing as as th their ir do document cumented ed works orks reveal reveal are are of of the the old oldest est in in the the world world , in in Europ Europe and and Africa frica. It It is is the the lan langua guage ge and and scrip script of of hu human man sp spirit iritual ual expressi expression on in in it its firs first great reat mo mome ments nts of of devel develop opmen ment, t, as as the the ev evol oluti ution on of of man man in in anc ancient ient times imes, but but als also later, later, in in sci science ences, s, arts and civiliza lizati tions ons wa was documen mented ted in in the the Gr Greek languag uage.
Th The Gr Greek ek language guage is considered sidered to be valuable able for r the univers ersal al langu guage age and civilisat ilisation ion becau ause: se: • Modern ern Greek ek but also o a series ries of other ers s such as La Latin in and the so- called led Latin in langu guag ages es (Italian alian, English, ish, Fr French nch etc.) are reliant iant on it.
• There re is no language guage today that does not contain tain Greek ek words, , and it is for exactly tly this reason on that many y schola olars rs cons nsider ider it to be the mother er language guage of all l langua guage ges. . When en others s cult ltures ures translated lated ancient cient Greek ek script pts, s, scientif entific ic and literar rary, y, in their ir mother er tongue, gue, they transf sferred erred to their r language guage not just the Greek ek spirit it, , but many y Greek ek words as well. l. The number mber of internat ernational ional Greek ek words are innumerab numerable le. . The internat ernational ional Englis glish h language guage for examp mple le, , today uses s more e than 75,000 0 words which h are estimat mated ed to be of Greek origin, such as “Europe, alphabet, Grammar, mar, syllabus, abus, grammar mar, , diphthongs, ongs, Angel el, , Bible, le, Bibliog liograp raphy, hy, Cube, e, Dialo logu gue, e, Ethnic ic, , Fantas tasy, y, Geogra graph phy, y, History, y, Idol, , Kilometre…”.
The e Gr Gree eek lang nguag uage e and nd wr writing ing ga gave e birth h to an o and dev evelope eloped d sci cienc ences es and nd arts Di Discov scoveri ering ng th the firs first Gre Greek ek wri writi ting ng system, system, they hey were were give gi ven the the op opport portun unity ity to to re record cord th their eir ex exper perien ience ce and nd the then study st udy it it. Th Thus us they hey wer were fir first st dist isting inguis uishe hed in in lett letters, ers, arts arts and and sciences es.
We me mention n some me special cial ones in their ir area: a: • Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, Thucydides, Heraclitus, Demokritos, Platon, Aristotle, Aeschylus, Sofoklis, Euripides .... • The first texts of Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Law, Medicine, History, Linguistics etc. were written in Greek and written. Also the first theatrical plays as well as the Byzantine literary works are written in the Greek language.
Th The Gr Greek ek language guage wa was an International rnational langu guage age • The Greek language was an International language both at the time of Alexander the Great, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, but also during the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople (1453 AD). Greek was spoken and written in all the known Ancient World: Romans, Jews, Phoenicians, Indians, Persians, Egyptians. It should be noted that most of the Romans had a Greek education and were familiar with the Greek language.
It is the e lang nguag uage e of of the e Ch Christia tian n rel eligion gion • The Greek language and Greek writing are those with which the Christian Religion was written and spread all over the world. Most Apostles had Greek education and were knowledgeable of Greek language and writing, and so they wrote the Gospels straight to Greek in order to become known throughout the world. Also, the Old Testament became known to the world after its translation into Greek.
The Greek ek langu guage age and texts ts assist isted d in deciphering iphering many ancient ent scrip riptures. tures. • This was carried out because from the period of Alexander the Great onwards, the Greek language and scripts were universal and in those days many boards were bilingually written, for example the Rosetta Stone with Greek and Egyptian, the Rabad inscription in Alep in Greek, Syrian and Arabic, the inscription Arran in Auran in Greek and Arabic.
Mo Modern ern Gr Greek ek is an evolution lution of ancient ent Gr Greek. ek. • Finally it should be mentioned that the Greek language is timeless and a continuation of the language of Classical Greek philosophy and literature. The surviving literary, philosophical and historical texts of antiquity, the texts of the Holy Bible are the continuity of Hellenism and the Greek language from antiquity to our days.
GRE REEK K WOR ORDS IN TH THE ENGLIS LISH H LANGUA UAGE GE • There are about 500 Greek key-words that, if deleted from our dictionary or the dictionaries of world languages, there will be failure of communication. The professor of applied linguistics and chair of the Greek Foundation of Culture Mr. George Babiniotis (2004) provides us with some examples of such words/concepts that infiltrated European languages like English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese … ..
in in pol polit itics ics • po poli litics tics, dia dialo logue gue, rhetor rhetor, democrac democracy, ideol deology ogy, (idea dea) (ar aristocr istocracy acy), ), (mon monarchy rchy), ), (an anarchy archy), ), (despotism despotism), ), (hegem hegemony ony/hegemo hegemonism nism), ), (tyr tyranny anny), ), (monol onologue ogue), ), (de demag agogue ogue).
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