The modern Greek’s obsession with the heritage of the Ancient Greek language, as cultural symbol and proof of continual link with a “glorious” past, is a passionate subject amongst academics, politicians and laymen alike. When in 2001 the encyclopedic A History of the Greek Language: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity was published it sold 2,200 copies in the first three months and then went on to be reprinted twice – a remarkable feat for a local text aimed at a specialised academic crowd.

Six years in the making, the effort bears the editorial leadership of Anastasios Foivos Christidis, Director of the Department of Linguistics of the Centre for the Greek Language , and tackles the question of the Greek language from its very beginnings to late antiquity (around 7th century AD) following its journey via its historical, cultural and social interaction.

By the end of 2004 scholars and academics worldwide will finally be able to read the History in English bearing, moreover, the esteemed stamp of the Cambridge University Press . The translation is funded by the culture ministry http://www.culture.gr and executed by the Centre for the Greek Language. The organisation (which promotes the language within Greece and throughout the Diaspora by publishing educational material and supporting teachers of the language worldwide) oversaw the original publication.

International penning line-up
This mammoth, interdisciplinary volume consists of 123 texts written by 40 Greek and 30 foreign specialists and is aimed not only at linguists and classical philologists but also historians, anthropologists and translators.

“Especially laudable,” writes Gonda Van Steen in April’s edition of The Classical Review , “is the contributors’ joint effort not to put Ancient Greek on a linguistic pedestal but, instead, to present multiple, varying histories of the Greek language, its developments and dialects.”

Indeed, the volume is divided into nine units exploring, amongst other things, the general phenomenon of language, Ancient Greek dialects and the interplay of language with history and culture. Most interesting is the exploration of the language as it interacts with other languages, such as Semitic , Iranian , Latin , Celtic , Indian and Arabic .

An extra four texts will be added to the English edition, which look into the language of the gods, bilingual Greek-Semitic texts of the Hellenistic period, the fate of the language during the Renaissance, as well as the adaptation of the Phoenician alphabet into the Greek language.

In search of linguistic continuity
Using key words such as ellinismos (hellenism), filotimia (conscientiousness), paradissos (paradise), aghios (saint) and psychi (soul) and tracking their semiotic metamorphosis over time, the History analyses the triangle of interdependence between language, culture and history. The impact of Christianity on the language is also explored.

The chapter entitled “Language and Civilisation” traces the use of specific vocabularies and dialects present throughout the literary tradition of epic poetry, ancient tragedy and comedy, from Homer’s time through to the Hellenistic age. The chapter sheds light on the basic institutions of the time, via the use of specialist vocabularies. The book does not shy away from addressing the use of language in all its forms, from the most common to the most formal, taking proverbs, riddles, puns and obscenities also into consideration.

Christidis stresses that while the relationship between modern Greeks and the ancient language must be “demystified” it need not leave Modern Greek destitute. The book achieves this without playing into the modern-day obsession with the Greek language.

The question of language has been central in modern Greece ever since the foundation of the Modern Greek State. During the last 20 years an increasing feeling of insecurity over the nation’s ‘ethnic fate’ has resulted in growing concern regarding the dangers faced by the Greek language.

As Christidis had noted in an earlier interview with Greek daily Eleftherotypia, some groups support the idea (others just ridicule it ) that the Greek language is an “outer-historical miracle” and that Greeks are a “chosen people”. “This is false – there is no language outside of history,” Christidis objects, stressing that the book focuses on the distinctive qualities of the Greek language, which are “historical and not mythological”.