Editing Greek language (section)

{{short description|Indo-European language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Greek
| nativename       = {{lang|el|Ελληνικά}}<br>{{transliteration|el|Elliniká}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|el|eliniˈka||El-ελληνικά.oga}}
| ethnicity        = [[Greeks]]
| states           = {{plainlist|
*[[Greece]]
*[[Cyprus]]
*[[Albania]] ([[Gjirokastër County]] and [[Vlorë County]])
*[[Italy]] ([[Calabria]], [[Salento]] and [[Messina]])
*and other regions of the [[Balkans]], [[Caucasus]], [[Black Sea]] coast, [[Asia Minor]] and [[Eastern Mediterranean]]}}
| nation           = {{plainlist|
*[[Greece]]
*[[Cyprus]]
*[[European Union]]
*[[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]]
}}
| minority         = {{plainlist|
*[[Albania]]
*[[Argentina]]
*[[Armenia]]
*[[Australia]]<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/cowsredirect  2006 Census Table: Language Spoken at Home by Sex – Time Series Statistics (1996, 2001, 2006 Census Years)]</ref><ref>[http://www.zougla.gr/omogenia/article/afstralia-tilediaskepsi-milame-elinika-ton-martio Αυστραλία: Τηλεδιάσκεψη «Μιλάμε Ελληνικά τον Μάρτιο»]</ref>
*[[Hungary]]
*[[Italy]] ([[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]])
*[[Romania]]
*[[Turkey]]{{sfn|Tsitselikis|2013|pp=287–288}}<ref name=Toktaş2006/><ref name=Bayır2013/><ref name=HRWLanguageRights/>
*[[Ukraine]]
*[[United States]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf|title=Language Use in the United States: 2011|publisher=[[United States Census]]|access-date=17 October 2015}}</ref>
*[[Russia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/gree1276 |title=gree1276 | publisher=Council of Europe |date= |accessdate=8 December 2008}}</ref> }}
| speakers         = 13.5&nbsp;million
| date             = 2012
| ref              = e18
| refname          = Greek<!--name as shown at Ethnologue reference-->
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Graeco-Phrygian]] (?)
| fam3             = [[Hellenic languages|Hellenic]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Greek]]
| dia1             = [[Ancient Greek dialects|Ancient dialects]]
| dia2             = [[Koine Greek|Koine]]
| dia3             = [[Medieval Greek|Medieval]]
| dia4             = [[Varieties of Modern Greek|Modern dialects]]
| stand1           = 
| script           = [[Greek alphabet]]
| iso1             = el
| iso2b            = gre
| iso2t            = ell
| lc1              = ell
| ld1              = [[Modern Greek]]<!-- main ISO 639-3 code, list first -->
| lc2              = grc
| ld2              = [[Ancient Greek]]
| lc3              = cpg
| ld3              = {{nowrap|[[Cappadocian Greek]]}}
| lc4              = gmy
| ld4              = [[Mycenaean Greek]]
| lc5              = pnt
| ld5              = [[Pontic Greek|Pontic]]
| lc6              = tsd
| ld6              = [[Tsakonian language|Tsakonian]]
| lc7              = yej
| ld7              = [[Yevanic]]
| glotto           = gree1276
| glottorefname    = Greek<!--name as shown at Glottolog reference-->
| lingua           = {{ublist|class=nowrap |56-AAA-a |56-AAA-aa {{small|to}} -am {{small|(varieties)}} }}
| mapscale         = 1
| map              = Idioma Griego.PNG
| mapcaption       = Areas where Modern Greek is spoken (Dark blue represents areas where it is the official language.){{NoteTag|The map does not indicate where the language is majority or minority.}}
| notice           = IPA
}}
'''Greek''' ({{langx|el|label=[[Modern Greek]]|Ελληνικά|Elliniká}}, {{IPA|el|eliniˈka||audio=El-ελληνικά.oga}}; {{langx|grc|Ἑλληνική|Hellēnikḗ}}) is an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]], constituting an independent [[Hellenic languages|Hellenic branch]] within the Indo-European language family. It is native to [[Greece]], [[Cyprus]], [[Italy]] (in [[Calabria]] and [[Salento]]), southern [[Albania]], and other regions of the [[Balkans]], [[Caucasus]], the [[Black Sea]] coast, [[Asia Minor]], and the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]. It has the [[list of languages by first written accounts|longest documented history]] of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records.<ref name=":1">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Greek language|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=29 April 2014|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244595/Greek-language}}</ref> Its writing system is the [[Greek alphabet]], which has been used for approximately 2,800 years;<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Haviland|first1=William A.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfIWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT437|title=Anthropology: The Human Challenge|last2=Prins|first2=Harald E. L.|last3=Walrath|first3=Dana|last4=McBride|first4=Bunny|date=2013|publisher=[[Cengage|Cengage Learning]]|isbn=978-1-285-67758-3|pages=394|language=en|chapter=Chapter 15: Language and Communication|quote=Most of the alphabets used today descended from the Phoenician one. The Greeks adopted it about 2,800 years ago, modifying the characters to suit sounds in their own language.|author-link2=Harald Prins|author-link4=Bunny McBride}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Comrie|first=Bernard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lR9WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT463|title=The World's Major Languages|date=1987|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-29049-0|publication-date=2018|language=en|quote=... the Greek alphabet has served the Greek language well for some 2,800 years since its introduction into Greece in the tenth or ninth century BC.|author-link=Bernard Comrie}}</ref> previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as [[Linear B]] and the [[Cypriot syllabary]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A history of the Greek language : from its origins to the present|author=Adrados, Francisco Rodríguez|date=2005|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-12835-4|location=Leiden|oclc=59712402}}</ref> 

The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of [[Homer]], [[ancient Greek literature]] includes many works of lasting importance in the [[European canon]]. Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The [[New Testament]] of the [[Bible|Christian Bible]] was also originally written in Greek.<ref>Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland The text of the New Testament: an introduction to the critical 1995 p. 52.</ref><ref>Archibald Macbride Hunter Introducing the New Testament 1972 p. 9.</ref> Together with the [[Latin language|Latin]] texts and traditions of the [[Roman world]], the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute the objects of study of the discipline of [[Classics]].

During [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]], Greek was by far the most widely spoken [[lingua franca]] in the [[History of the Mediterranean region|Mediterranean world]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malkin |first1=Irad |title=A small Greek world : networks in the Ancient Mediterranean |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734818.001.0001 |isbn=9780199918553 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734818.001.0001}}</ref> It eventually became the official language of the [[Byzantine Empire]] and developed into [[Medieval Greek]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A study of the preservation of the classical tradition in the education, language, and literature of the Byzantine Empire|last=Manuel|first=Germaine Catherine|year=1989|location=HVD ALEPH}}</ref> In its [[Modern Greek|modern form]], Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 [[Languages of the European Union#Official EU languages|official languages of the European Union]]. It is spoken by at least 13.5&nbsp;million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, [[Turkey]], and the many other countries of the [[Greek diaspora]].

Greek [[Root (linguistics)|roots]] have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; [[List of Greek and Latin roots in English|Greek and Latin]] are the predominant sources of [[international scientific vocabulary]].

[[File:Homer British Museum.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Idealised portrayal of the author [[Homer]]]]