Greek is a language that has been recorded from the oldest in the Indo-European, its history over 3400 years. 9th century BC in Greece, it came to be written in Greek letters, is that since the 4th century BC in Cyprus. In earlier, Cyprus characters (English Version), Linear B has been used respectively in the first half of the first millennium BC in the mid-2 millennium BC.
Even today, it is regarded as one of the languages that gave birth to literature the greatest in history, which has been inherited three thousand years, or language, of the civilization that has a strong influence most human history, Greek gathered a sense of well-respected there. It is estimated that the vocabulary is borrowed many Western various language that you want to, including English as an academic term, 12% of the vocabulary of English is the Greek origin. The Greek, I is also the language was used to mark the "New Testament" the original text. The spread as a trade language of the Eastern Mediterranean world in the Hellenistic period, was spread vast areas corresponding to most of the Eastern Roman Empire territories (Middle East and North Africa, Southeast Europe Anatolian peninsula) in the Middle Ages.
Impact on Western terms and language
Vocabulary of Greek have been borrowed widely in various European languages. In English, in addition to mathematics (mathematics) · astronomy (astronomy) · democracy (democracy) · philosophy (philosophy) · rhetoric (rhetoric) · actor (thespian) · Athletics (athletics) · theater such as (theater) in particular , its elements and word of Greek has also become the basis of a new coinage. Anthropology (anthropology) · Photos (photography) · isomer (isomer) · biomechanics (biomechanics) · movie (cinema) · physics such as (physics) falls on it. In addition, the cornerstone of the academic term international also has been with Latin. For example, words ending in -logy (discourse) are all derived from Greek. English vocabulary suspected While many of the Greek word has a derivative of English, to have originated in the Greek is 12% of them.
Pre-modern
Greek had been spoken in the Balkans in the late 3 millennium BC approximately. The oldest traces, Midaseru (LM IIIA, 1400 BC) to the clay tablets of Linear B in the "Room of clay plate of two-horse carriage" of the Palace of Knossos in Crete. This is why that is recorded in the oldest in the Greek language has been used but is currently one. Among the Indo-European, Hittite and Vedic Language that age that you can see a record is comparable to the Greek is only (dead language).
