Is "Ancient Greek" a mother tongue in Modern Greece?
Risto Stefov
October 06, 2008
Frankly I am tired of hearing Greeks boasting of how they can speak, read and write in the language of the so-called Ancient Greeks, but I don´t mind. What I do mind however, is when they call me ignorant for not being able to see the connection that Modern Greeks are related to the so-called Ancient Greeks because they both speak the same language. Almost every e-mail I receive from Greeks makes the statement, "how can I not see that the Greek people today speak the very same language people spoke 2,500 years ago?" Many claim they can understand every word on stone inscriptions made 2,500 years ago. I believe them!
Now suppose I picked up an Egyptian tablet from 5,000 years ago written in hieroglyphs and was able to read and understand every word, would you believe me? Yes you would! But what if I told you because I can speak, read and write Ancient Egyptian I am a direct descendent of the Ancient Egyptians? Would you still believe me? Maybe? What if I told you I learned to speak, read and write Ancient Egyptian in school would you still believe that I am a direct descendant of the Ancient Egyptians? You decide!
Now to respond to statements made by Greeks on "how can I not see that the Greek people today speak the very same language people spoke 2,500 years ago?" Yes I can see! Yes, you do speak, read and write in the language of the Ancients but what you fail to understand is how that came about. What you fail to understand is that not too long ago (early 1800´s) your state made the Ancient language the official language of Greece. Your great-grandparents were educated in school to speak, read and write that language. Your great-grandparents did not learn that language from their parents and grandparents. Also as they were learning that language they were discouraged and prohibited from speaking their own mother tongue, the language of their parents. In time and with every generation, your great-grandparent´s mother tongue was forgotten and that is how you came to speak, read and write this Ancient language.
In the 1820´s, just as Greece was about to become a state for the first time, the most prevalent languages, besides Turkish, spoken on its soil were Albanian, Vlach and Macedonian. The so-called "Greek" language was a derivation of the Ancient Koine, the root language of the Christian Orthodox Church and of the Modern Greek "Dimotiki". Koine was only spoken by educated people and Church Clergy before Greece made it its official language.
Koine is an Ancient language which made its way into Macedonia a little before Philip II´s time (circa 400 BC). Poorly worded and misspelled inscriptions written in Koine were found in the Ancient Macedonian capital which indicates that the language was not well understood and was just making its way there.
The roots of the Koine language may have started in one of the more progressive City States, most probably Athens, but by the time it made its way to the Eastern Mediterranean, it had become the language of administration and commerce, common to all Mediterranean nations.
In Macedonia, Koine was strictly the language of the educated and was used by the court administrators and the international merchants.
By the time Koine arrived in Macedonia it was already the "lingua franca" of administration and commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean world.
Koine in those days was like English is today. In Europe, for example, countries have their own languages which they use to communicate at home, but internationally they use English to communicate with other countries.
Alexander the Great was the first to take Koine out of the Mediterranean world to Asia, Africa and other worlds he conquered.
The real heroes for Koine´s success were Alexander´s successors the Antigonids, Seleucids and the Ptolemies. It is well known that the Ptolemies not only insisted on using Koine but they refused to learn any other language not even the languages of those people they ruled.
Cleopatra VII was the only Macedonian sovereign from the Ptolemaic dynasty who broke the Ptolemaic rule and learned several languages including Egyptian.
The Koine language was so deeply rooted in the old Macedonian empires that even after they were conquered by the Romans it continued to flourish. Koine was spoken by Roman intellectuals even in Rome. Almost all ancient literary works were written in Koine
Let´s not forget that throughout the Macedonian and Roman periods Koine, in spite of its popularity with the educated and elite, remained a language of administration and commerce. Koine was never a language of the common people.
While Koine served its purpose in the administrative and commercial circles, other languages, languages of the people, simultaneously also flourished in parallel but in their oral form until they were later codified by Christianity.
After the Roman Empire split into East and West, Koine again resurfaced and replaced Latin as the administrative language of the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) Empire.
Koine remained active and served the administration and commerce of the Byzantine world for over a millennium.
Interestingly, Koine also became the administrative and commercial language of the educated Christians in the Ottoman Empire and continued to exist in a religious, commercial and administrative capacity during Ottoman rule as it did during Byzantine rule.
By Islamic law, Muslims were not allowed to travel outside of their domain, handle public funds, or speak foreign languages. The Ottomans employed Christians to administer foreign affairs, banking and trade with the outside world. And yes, you guessed it; the Christians continued to employ the Koine language throughout Ottoman rule as they did during Byzantine rule.
The keepers of the Ottoman administrative and commercial services as well as the rulers of the Christian world inside the Ottoman Empire were known as the Phanariots.
The Phanariots were a Christian educated and professional middle class or the bourgeoisie of the Ottoman world. They were people from various ethnicities from every corner of the Ottoman world. They were the clerics, the translators (dragoman), the merchants and the captains of ships and of industry and they all spoke Koine. They were called Phanariots because they were based in a district of Constantinople or Istanbul known as the Phanar.
In the 19th century, during the Ottoman decline, the Phanariots were much in favour of toppling the Ottoman administration. The idea was to overthrow the Ottoman Sultan and his Muslim rule and replace it with Christian rule. Unfortunately the Great Powers did not favour the idea and it failed. After that the Phanariots worked closely with the Great Powers to establish the Greek Kingdom, and the Serbian and Bulgarian States.
Even though the people of the newly established Greek Kingdom were of many different ethnicities including Albanians, Vlahs, Macedonians, Turks, etc., each with a unique language and culture, the Great Powers instilled upon them the idea that they were the descendents of the ancient people who lived in that region over two millenniums ago.
After Greece became a country, it contemplated for a decade as to which language to use. Greek authorities finally decided to adopt the Koine language as the language of the people in their new nation. They disregarded all vibrant and living peoples´ languages in favour of the ancient administrative and commercial Koine.
Unfortunately after two millennium of evolution, the modern version of Koine contained many foreign elements and proved distasteful to the Greek purists who wanted a pure language which was close to those of the ancient City States.
After nearly a century of using Koine, the purists finally got their chance to replace it. Their new choice was a dead old Attic language used by the ancient Athenians 2,500 years ago. The Greeks called their new language the "Catharevoussa" for its linguistic purity.
Unfortunately this language had been dead for two thousand years and the Greek literary world, which was used to the bastardized impure Koine called the "Dimotiki", found it very difficult to understand and impossible to express emotion. Its use was finally terminated in the 1970´s in favour of the bastardized Koine (Dimotiki).
For those Greeks who insist that all ancient Greeks spoke a dialect of the same language, here are some simple and common everyday words in English, Ancient Attic and Modern Koine;
English, Catharevoussa(Ancient Attic), Dimotiki(Koine)
Horse, Ipos, Alogo
Donkey,Onos, Gaidaros
Hen, Ornitha, Kota
Goat, Ega, Gida (Katsika)
Kid (baby goat), Erifi,Katsiki
Bread, Artos, Psomi
Just because Greece adopted Koine as the national language for its Modern Greek nation, does not necessarily make it Greek. Koine evolved as the language of administration and commerce in the entire Eastern Mediterranean world and as such it belongs to all the people in the Eastern Mediterranean.
So if someone chose to learn the Koine language and was able to read and understand the writing on Ancient inscriptions would that make them Greek? Can they too claim to be a direct descendent of the so-called "Ancient Greeks"? Think about it!
Modern Greeks are victims of their own making!
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