THE GREEK LANGUAGE SURVIVES DESPITE THE INTRODUCTION OF FOREIGN WORDS

 

            

 

Is the Greek language, one of the most  ancient languages in the history of mankind, dying due  to the avalanche of foreign words introduced to everyday Greek vocabulary?

 

Words such as “rapid tests”, “click-away shopping” and “lockdown” are now widely used in Greece.

 

Some experts fear the contamination of the Greek language with foreign words, especially English will be a deadly danger for the language which has been using the same alphabet for 28 centuries and has the same spelling rules for 24 centuries.

The famous Greek linguistics professor and former Minister of Education, Georgios Babiniotis, is very concerned.  He is one of the great supporters against the new threat to this great language.   Speaking with the English newspaper Observer in February 2021, Babiniotis said “We have been deluged with new terms and definitions in a very short time.  On television you hear phrases like “rapid tests are being conducted via drive-through and almost all words are English, it is if suddenly I am hearing Creole,” he said.

Here are a few English words deriving from Greek:  Amphi - ambidextrous, ana - anatomy, anthropos - philanthropy, anti - antidote,  barys - baritone, biblos - bible, bios - biography, dia - diametre .etc) 

 

However, some experts have a different opinion.  “How can we worry about extinction when thousands of Greek words and expressions are circulating all over the world".

The most recent example is the word “pandemic” which has been heard since early 2020.  “Pandemic” is a Greek word which is made out of the Greek word “pan” which means all and “demos” which means the people.  Among them is Stephanos Patakis, one of Greece’s most prominent publishers who disagrees with Babiniotis’ theory that Greek is under threat.

 

“Every language borrows words from others.  It’s an international phenomenon.  Look at the English language that has borrowed thousands of words from Greek”, Patakis says.  He goes on to say that one of the most popular words today is the Greek word "pandemic". 

 

“You cannot patrol a language”, he warned.  "Languages change if the Greek language didn’t change we would be all speaking ancient Greek,” the publisher added.

 

Patakis insists that the problem with the Greek language is different.  It has to do with the way it is being taught in the secondary schools of Greece. And how the media sometimes promote grammatical and syntactical errors.  

 

Unfortunately, it is not just that.  Greece has been suffering from a domestic "linguistic war" for centuries.  In 1901 for example, the  decision of the newspaper “Acropolis” to publish the Gospel in modern Greek brought violent reactions, known as “The Gospel Riots”.

 

Should the country speak in Katharevousa, a mixture of ancient and contemporary  Greek or should we speak  Dimotiki, the language of the modern Greek households?

 

“So instead of spending our time discussing whether to use the word “lockdown” is right or wrong we should focus our attention on the syntax of the language and the spelling and meaning of certain words,” Patakis added.

                                                  Language Riots in Greece