Medieval and Modern Greek

To speakers of modern Greek the Homeric poems of the 7th century BC are not written in a foreign language. The Greek language has enjoyed a continuous tradition from earliest times until now. This book traces its history from the immediately post-classical or Hellenistic period to the present day. The aim is both to analyse the changing structure of a language stabilised by a peculiarly long and continuous literary tradition, and to show how changing historical circumstances are reflected in its development. In particular the historical roots of modern Greek’s internal bilingualism are traced.

Preface; 1. Introductory; 2. Greek in the Hellenistic world and the Roman empire; 3. The Greek language in the early middle ages (6th century–1100); 4. The Greek Language in the later middle ages (1100–1453); 5. Greek in the Turkish period; 6. The development of the national language; 7. The dialects of modern Greek; Bibliography; Index of Greek words mentioned in the text.