History of Greek: Difference between revisions

[[Greek language|Greek]] is an [[Indo-European language]], the sole surviving descendant of the [[Hellenic languages|Hellenic]] sub-family. Although it split off from other Indo-European languages before 2000 BC, it is first attested in the [[Bronze Age]] as ''Mycenaean Greek''. During the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] and [[Classical Greece|Classical]] eras, Greek speakers wrote numerous texts in a variety of dialects knownknownf collectively as ''Ancient Greek''. In the [[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic]] era, these dialects underwent [[dialect levelling]] to form ''Koine Greek'' which was used as a [[lingua franca]] throughout the eastern [[Roman Empire]], and later grew into ''Medieval Greek''. For much of the period of ''Modern Greek'', the language existed in a situation of [[diglossia]], where speakers would switch between informal varieties known as ''[[Dimotiki]]'' and a formal one known as ''[[Katharevousa]]''. Present-day ''Modern Standard Greek'' is largely an outgrowth of Dimotiki, with some features retained from Katharevousa.