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Demotic Greek (Greek:Δημοτική Γλώσσα,Dimotikí Glóssa,[ðimotiˈciˈɣlo.sa],lit. 'language of the people') is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of theGreek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece.[1] "Demotic Greek" (with a capital D) contrasts with the conservativeKatharevousa, which was used in formal settings, during the same period. In that context, Demotic Greek describes the specific non-standardizedvernacular forms of Greek used by the vast majority of Greeks during the 19th and 20th centuries.[2]
As is typical ofdiglossic situations, Katharevousa and Demotic complemented and influenced each other. Over time, Demotic became standardized. In 1976, it was made the official language of Greece. It continued to evolve and is now calledStandard Modern Greek. The term "demotic Greek" (with a minuscule d) also refers to any variety of theGreek language which has evolved naturally fromAncient Greek and is popularly spoken.
Demotic Greek differs in a few ways from Ancient Greek and from subsequent learned forms of Greek. Syntactically, it favoursparataxis oversubordination. It also heavily employsredundancy, such asμικρόκοριτσάκι (small little-girl) andξανακοιμήθηκεπάλι (he-went-back-to-sleep again). Demotic also employs thediminutive with great frequency,[3]: XI to the point that many Demotic forms are in effectneuter diminutives of ancient words, especially irregular ones, e.g.νησί fromνήσιον (island) from ancientνῆσος (island).
Greek noun declensions underwent considerable alteration, with irregular and less productive forms being graduallyregularized (e.g. ancientἀνήρ being replaced byάντρας (man)). Another feature is the merging of classical accusative and nominative forms: They are only distinguished in Demotic by their definite articles, which continued to be declined as in Ancient Greek. This was especially common with nouns of the third declension, such asπατρίς (hometown,fatherland) which became nominativeη πατρίδα, accusativeτην πατρίδα in Demotic.[3]: X
A result of this regularization of noun forms in Demotic is that most native words end in a vowel,s (ς), orn (ν). Thus, the set of possible word-final sounds is even more restricted than in Ancient Greek. Exceptions are foreign loans likeμπαρ (bar), learned formsύδωρ (from Ancient Greekὕδωρ,water), andexclamations likeαχ! (ach!,oh!). Many dialects even append the vowel -e (ε) to third-person verb forms:γράφουνε instead ofγράφουν (they write). Word-finalconsonant clusters are also rare, again mainly occurring in learned discourse and via foreign loans:άνθραξ (coal – scientific) andμποξ (boxing – sport).[4]: 8–9
Theindirect object is usually expressed by prepending the wordσε to theaccusative[3]: X (where Ancient Greek hadεἰς for accusative of motion toward)[clarify][citation needed] orgenitive[3]: X (especially with regard to means or instrument).[citation needed] Bareσε is used without the article to express an indefinite duration of time, or contracted with the definite article fordefiniteness (especially with regard to place where or motion toward).[citation needed]Using one noun with an unmarked accusative article-noun phrase followed byσε contracted with the definite article of a second noun distinguishes between definite direct and indirect objects, whether real or figurative, e.g. «βάζω το χέρι μου στο ευαγγέλιο» or «...στη φωτιά» (lit.I put my hand upon the Gospel or...in the fire, i.e.I swear it's true,I'm sure of it).[clarify][citation needed] By contrast, Katharevousa continued to employ the olderεἰς in place ofσε.[citation needed]
The verb system inherited from Ancient Greek gradually evolved. The perfect, pluperfect, future perfect, and past conditional tenses were gradually replaced with conjugated forms of the verbέχω (I have).[3]: X The future tense and the subjunctive and optative moods, and eventually the infinitive, were replaced by the modal/tense auxiliariesθα andνα[citation needed] used with either the simplified or fused future/subjunctive forms.[3]: X In contrast to this, Katharevousa employed older perfective forms and infinitives that had been mostly lost in the spoken language.[citation needed] However, Katharevousa did sometimes employ the sameaorist or perfective forms as the spoken language, but preferred an archaizing form of the present indicative, e.g.κρύπτω for Demoticκρύβω (I hide), which both have the same aorist formέκρυψα.[3]: XI
Demotic Greek also borrowed a significant number of words from other languages, including Italian and Turkish, something which Katharevousa avoided.[citation needed]
Demotic is commonly used interchangeably with "Standard Modern Greek" (Νέα Ελληνικά). Nonetheless, these terms are not necessarily synonyms. While today's Standard Modern Greek is fundamentally a continuation of earlier Demotic, it also contains—especially in its written form andformal registers—numerous words, grammatical forms, and phonetical features that did not exist in the most "pure" and consistent forms of Demotic during the period of diglossia in Greece. Due to these admixtures, it could even be described as a product of a "merger" between earlier Demotic and Katharevousa.[1]
Furthermore, in a broader sense, the Greek termΔημοτική (Dimotikí) can also describe any naturally evolved colloquial language of the Greeks, not just that of the period of diglossia.
The following examples are intended to demonstrate Katharevousa features in Modern Greek. They were not present in traditional Demotic and only entered the modern language through Katharevousa (sometimes asneologisms), where they are used mostly in writing (for instance, in newspapers), but also orally, especially words and fixed expressions are both understood and actively used also by non-educated speakers. In some cases, the Demotic form is used for literal or practical meanings, while theKatharevousa is used for figurative or specialized meanings: e.g.φτερό for the wing or feather of a bird, butπτέρυξ for the wing of a building or airplane or arm of an organisation.[3]: 180 : 203
Special dative forms:
Modern Greek features many letter combinations that were avoided in traditional Demotic:
Native Greek speakers, depending upon their level of education, may often make mistakes in these "educated" aspects of their language; one can often see mistakes likeπροήχθη instead ofπροήχθην (I've been promoted),λόγου του ότι/λόγο το ότι instead ofλόγω του ότι (due to the fact that),τον ενδιαφέρον άνθρωπο instead ofτον ενδιαφέροντα άνθρωπο (the interesting person),οι ενδιαφέροντες γυναίκες instead ofοι ενδιαφέρουσες γυναίκες (the interesting women),ο ψήφος instead ofη ψήφος (the vote).[citation needed]
One of the most radical proponents of a language that was to be cleansed of all "educated" elements wasGiannis Psycharis, who lived in France and gained fame through his workMy Voyage (Το ταξίδι μου, 1888). Not only did Psycharis propagate the exclusive use of the naturally grown colloquial language, but he actually opted for simplifying the morphology ofKatharevousa formsprescription.[citation needed]
For instance, Psycharis proposed changing the form of the neuter noun "light"το φως (gen.του φωτός) intoτο φώτο (gen.του φώτου). Such radical forms had occasional precedent in Renaissance attempts to write in Demotic, and reflected Psycharis' linguistic training as aNeogrammarian, mistrusting the possibility of exceptions in linguistic evolution. Moreover, Psycharis also advocated spelling reform, which would have meant abolishing most of the six different ways to write the vowel/i/ and all instances of double consonants. Therefore, he wrote his own name asΓιάνης, instead ofΓιάννης.[citation needed]
As written and spoken Demotic became standardized over the next few decades, many compromises were made withKatharevousa (as is reflected in contemporarystandard Greek) despite the loud objections of Psycharis and the radical "psycharist" (ψυχαρικοί) camp within the proponents of Demotic's use. Eventually these ideas of radical demoticism were largely marginalized and when a standardized Demotic was made the official language of the Greek state in 1976, the legislation stated that it would be used "without dialectal and extremist forms"—an explicit rejection of Psycharis' ideals.[5]
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Ὡς Νεοελληνικὴ γλῶσσα νοεῖται ἡ διαμορφωθεῖσα εἰς πανελλήνιον ἐκφραστικὸν ὄργανον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ Λαοῦ καὶ τῶν δοκίμων συγγραφέων τοῦ Ἔθνους Δημοτική, συντεταγμένη, ἄνευ ἰδιωματισμῶν καὶ ἀκροτήτων.
"Modern Greek language means the Demotic shaped into a pan-Hellenic instrument of expression by the Greek People and the esteemed writers of the Nation, coherent, without peculiar and extreme forms."