Greek: A History of the Language and Its Speakers

by Geoffrey Horrocks

Tracing the development of the Greek language from the Mycenean period of the second millenium BC to the late 1990s, this volume combines both external and internal history into a single narrative. It explores, in English, the evolution of the Greek language as a whole, in all its regional and social heterogeneity, and in both its spoken and written forms. The main study is supported throughout by detailed summaries of key developments in checklist form and an examination of selected texts to highlight major points. Maps are also used to illustrate more clearly the distribution of the ancient dialects and the geographical spread of the language in the early Middle Ages. A bibliography for further reading and study is also provided.

Genres: Linguistics, History, Nonfiction, Language, Classics

393 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1997

Reviews

[Koen Crolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly written to support the teaching of a class, and not so much as fundamental research in its own right. The focus is entirely on post-Classical Greek (this second edition adds a bit about the Classical dialects and it's genuinely abysmal), and it's more of a history of literatures than a history of language—the starting point is typically specific texts, and while obviously the innovations visible in those texts are discussed, the discussion never really comes to the sort of synthesis that would make this a solid diachronic reference grammar. This is also because the target audience is clearly classicists—too much space is given over to history for it to be comparative linguists.
You can teach a very decent class with this book (I took a post-Classical Greek class three years ago that, in retrospect, was obviously based on it), but as an unqualified "history of Greek" it's somewhat disappointing.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geoffrey Horrocks' GREEK: A History of the Language and its Speakers is the first English-language overview of the entire span of Greek history (Homer to contemporary Modern Greek) based on the recent integration of sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. That means that the history of Greek is not any single variety being replaced by another single variety, but rather a constant flow of registers and conscious attempts to reform the language back to this or that classical style. Abundant selections from both literary Greek and personal correspondence show these different and ceaselessly evolving styles.

I was a bit disappointed that, unlike in the recent Blackwell History of Latin that he wrote with James Clackson, Horrocks does not begin with Proto-Indo-European. Indeed, even Proto-Greek gets little attention, and the history really chooses the Ionic style of Homer as the beginning of the Greek language as it has lasted up until today.

The work requires knowledge of at least Classical Greek--I can't imagine the reader getting anything out of it otherwise. Each passage is, however, glossed word-for-word, with phonetic transcription. By doing this Horrocks shows the changing pronunciation of Greek through time even though the Greek script often remains the same.

My only experience with Greek is reading Classics as an undergraduate. I've always been intrigued by the modern language, which is always hyped as so much close to the classical language than the Romance languages are to Latin, and Horrock's presentation of the grammatical and lexical changes that produced contemporary spoken Greek were entertaining reading. However, Horrocks presents everything in a theoretical fashion, and people with training in Classical Greek who want to quickly achieve actual spoken proficiency in the modern language should look to: Kavoukopoulos, F., Omatos, O., Stavrianopulu, P., Alonso, J., Madariaga, E. _Griego Moderno para Filólogos Clásicos_. Dos volúmenes, dos cassettes y CD. Universidad de Creta – Universidad del País Vasco. Ed. Nefeli. Atenas, 1999. Pp. (Volumen I, pp. 331. Volumen II, pp. 275).

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This examination of the parallel and intertwining evolutions of the dialects and registers comprising the Greek language is perhaps as comprehensive a treatment as any non-specialist could ask for. Its linguistic description and historical contextualization is both diachronically extensive, reaching from Linear B down to the present day, and geographically comprehensive, encompassing the diversity of the Hellenophone world.

One theme which Horrocks repeatedly highlights is the fundamental dualism of the written and spoken language which characterized Greek in all of its registers throughout virtually its entire history. This culminated in a protracted, acrimonious, and highly politicized debate during the first three quarters of the twentieth century over precisely what should constitute the Greek language; in the decades leading up to and then following Greek independence, the question had become inextricably linked with the idea of sovereign national identity.

Representative text excerpts from each period, analyzed in terms of their distinctive linguistic traits, serve to illustrate the phonological and analogical motivations behind otherwise opaque morphological and orthographic developments, themselves often responsible for semantic drift and novel idiomatic constructions.

The level of technical linguistic detail can often be, in fact, rather overwhelming for a general reader without a specific interest or research agenda, but the broad outlines of each section can still be absorbed even if the lists enumerating phonological and morphological minutia are not.

[Stefanos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge scholarly work, perhaps a bit too much and specialised for non-experts. I study a neighbouring field and struggled more and more as the book progressed into the final chapters, even though I am a native speaker and read the Greek translation of the publication. I feel I could do with more examples instead of assuming the reader will know or remember all those technical terms for vowels, consonants etc. Still, a great piece of work.

[Rhomboid Goatcabin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic action-packed ride through three thousand years of language history replete with generous amounts of glossed and commented original texts. Will remain invaluable for decades to come!