THE GREEK LANGUAGE

It’s contribution to the basic concepts of the European civilization

It is widely known that most European languages – with the exception of Finnish, Hungarian, Basque and some others – have o common origin; they belong to the large (as far as range is concerned) family of the Indoeuropean languages. This conclusion is drawn from the linguistic study (grammatical and structural) of the structure and the vocabulary of these languages, which have a closer relation and which distinguish the “inflected” languages from other language families (Japanese, Chinese, the Uralic Altaic ones, the African, the Pacific ones and so on) each of which has a different structure and vocabulary.

            This year is the European Year of languages. We honour –with different activities (lectures, discussions, studies, references, appraisals and so on) the languages spoken in Europe. In fact, we honour the nations speaking these languages and also the civilizations of these nations as they are expressed through the languages, namely through their written texts and their oral traditions. It is so, because language is the most salient feature of the national identity and a natural characteristic of a nation. It is through the written texts that language has become     the most obvious feature of the civilization of a people – something which goes beyond the limits of time and space.

            United Europe, witch is a fundamental political achievement of the modern world after the collapse of the eastern block, is in itself a multinational institution and, certainly, a multicultural, as well as a multilingual one. If United Europe is not a melting pot of assimilation and  depersonalization of its members; if, as it is believed, it is a union and co-operation of European nations that still preserve their national (in culture education, way of living, mentality, religion, and so on), identitier, then the European Union is, by definition, a meeting place of more languages, the language spoken in its member states. The main challenge for the citizens of the United Europe, and the most characteristic one, the most intellectual and moral, the most disinterested one, is the  challenge of multilingualism; the challenge, the  motives and the creation of opportunities for the European citizens to learn more languages so as to be acquainted with, to understand and appreciate more –by learning their language– the civilization, the mentality and the human dimension of the nations they live together with, co-operate with, and take decisions together on a number of issues. There is no more direct, substantial, and shorter way to get to know a people than by learning their language. The language of a people is the way they see, conceive, classify and express views on the world. Every national language is another taxonomy of the world, another approach, a total of choices that give a distinctive value to each language, the value of the collective expression of each nation, its national speech. Every national language is a value in itself, subject of study and respect by the other nations. And, as we linguists claim there are no higher and lower languages; there are only different people who express themselves differently through the potential given to them by their biological characteristic: the intellect as the way of expressing the intellect, namely, language. The only distinction which can be and this is, made in fact is the distinction between culturally, (literarily, philologically and scientifically) more or less developed languages; a distinction into languages which during a period in the history of their use, have given or received linguistic elements (mainly words which are characterized as “loan words”), something that invariably happens during the language contacts of people and civilizations. This, for example, Greek and Latin, earlier on and more recently, English, have given and still give word which are used by speakers of other languages. Thus is neither derogatory nor catastrophic, as long as it takes place to a limited extent so as not to alter the composition of the language which is the recipient, and takes place in such a way as to serve the real communicative needs and not artificial ones (like showing off, xenomania or linguistic prestige, which serve other purposes).

            Finally, the challenge of multilingualism becomes increasingly essential on a broader scale with the wider contacts of nations today, within the celebrated globalization. The universal co-operation of nations, within the framework of the economy, communication via computers, technology, getting to know different countries and their civilizations, is the strongest motive for learning more languages, together with the persistence in trying to learn one’s mother tongue which remains a lifetime task. In order not to be alienated and assimilated linguistically, and by extension, culturally and nationally, in the levelling and the amorphous mixing of elements, one must first and foremost have one’s own linguistic identity which is, at the same time, the main characteristic of one’s national identity. The most sound approach to the reality of globalization is the contact of people and nations through    linguistics polymorphism. Globalization cannot and must not acquire the character of a linguistic levelling through the upgrading of any specific language to an international one. Such a linguistic globalization would lead to the hegemony of one language at the expense of all the others, a development which would be catastrophic for the cultural polymorphism of our world and for globalization itself, which would thus take the form of an inadmissible linguistic and cultural tyranny.

            It is characteristic but also instructive, to note that the European Community has gone through various stages of speculation in dealing with the linguistic communication among its member-states in order to economise on the translation and interpreting of the written and oral communication in all the languages of the Community (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, Swedish and  Finnish). Starting with the idea of using one language (English or French) we went on using –as working languages– four European languages (English, French, German and Italian). However, on more mature consideration, it became obvious that this would lead to inadmissible discrimination among languages, and by extension, to countries, people and cultures. So, the initial idea of keeping a linguistic parity by using all the languages of the Community, prevailed. Further steps forward were made. Such were programmes (Lingua) for example and projects of supporting the learning  of more languages by the citizens of Europe with gradual opportunities for the teaching of all the European languages in selected schools in European countries. The emphasis laid today on the linguistic polymorphism and the equivalence of the European languages is also expressed by the organization of the European Year of Languages which is the reference to, the acquaintance with, and the wider publicity of all the languages of the European Union. This attitude, this assessment, and this due honour to all the European languages, and by extension, to all the languages of the world, to language in general, as a cultural form and to the individuals and the nations speaking the various      languages as their mother tongues of as their national languages. This is the linguistic message of Europe that has brought us all here to talk, to hear and to discuss language and languages.

 The Greek Language

Following the above general views, I will refer to the  Greek language, to its historical presence, and its contribution to the expression of the basic concepts of the European civilization through the influence of Greek thought in the development of civilization in Europe.

            The Greek Language –to refer to some historical facts– is spoken in Greece, without interruption for about forty centuries. It is spoken at least since the year 2000 B.C. and written since the fifteenth century (texts on tablets of linear writing B΄). From the 8th century B.C. till today, we have the written language using “the Greek alphabet”, the first real alphabetical writing, starting from Homer’s epics and the first Greek inscriptions of the eighth century B.C. till the texts of present-day Greek.

            The Greek alphabet of  Chalkis (Western Alphabet) was carried to the Greater Greece of Italy and evolved into the Latin alphabet as was the case in the 9th century A.D. (in the Byzantine period ), with the conversion to Christianity of the Slavs by the Greek monks Cyrillus and Methodius and the Cyrillic Alphabet was created, based on the Greek one. The alphabet is still based today in the written forms of the Slavic languages.

            Thirty-five centuries of written tradition and at least forty centuries of continuous oral tradition have secured for Greece an early cultivation

 of both the oral and written force and made it the only language in the world, as far as I know, that has been used since ancient times by the same people, the Greeks, in the same geographical space, Greece,   and with a basic grammatical and syntactical structure which have been received through the centuries. However, because of a number of historical  coincidences (the creation of the attic tradition, the return to the roots of the ancient language, and so on)  the language has maintained such a cohesion of structure and vocabulary, that it is recognized by scholars of the Greek language and by speakers of the language today as one language.

            What has happened with the Greek language as a historico-cultural event, and which attributes a special character to this language is that with the turn towards classical learning that took place in Europe especially during the Renaissance (14^th to 17^th centuries) Europe came to know, to study and be influenced by the great Greek thinkers of ancient times: philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, the Pre-Socratic philosophers: Heraclitous, Empedocles, Democritus and others, as well as Stoics), poets (Homer, Pindar, Sappho, Alcaeus), tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Eurpides, Aristofanes), historians (Herodotus, Thusidides, Xenophon, Polybius, Pausanias), doctors (Hippocrates Galenos), orators (Demosthenes, Isocrates) other writers (Plutarch, Lucian, Theophrastus, Archimedes, Euclides, Strabo and others) grammarians (Dionysius, Apollonius and others). The above are the great spirits of human thought that have marked with their works the way of thinking in the European geographical space, since, for centuries, their works were part of the general education of the young in European schools. Basic concepts with which human thought functions –in an anthropocentric and diachronic conception of man, that was Greek thought, ideas speculations, institutions, values attitudes, and so on, have gone through the texts of the great writers and established themselves in European languages out of the Greek words used by the Greeks. The same was the case with another area of thought, the area of Christian religion, since the New Testament, the official translation of the Old Testament, the texts of the great Church Fathers, the Holy Service, the Byzantine Hymnology, which are all in Greek.

I will now try to give some samples of words-concepts of the Greek Language that have passed into the European languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and so on). For practical reasons and in order to save time, I will refer mainly to the form Greek words have taken in English, with limited references to other languages.

Ευρώπη (Europe). The name of Europe derives from Greek name of a mythological figure. The most likely etymology of the word is “the one who has «ευρείς ώπας», that is “big eyes”. From the name of Europe is derived the name of the European currency euro (from the first part of the name) and is printed on the paper euro in its Greek form ΕΥΡΩ.

A field where Greek ideas passed with Greek words into European languages is that of politics, of instutions and ideology. Πολιτική (politics: The word originates in the Greek πολιτικός (political), πολιτική τέχνη (political art) or science was the technique and the knowledge of the πολίτης (citizen) in the Athenian Republic as to how he should carry out his duties and obligations; that is, to elect and be elected, to be conscriped, to become χορηγός (sponsor), so that the citizens could have the opportunity to attend theatrical performances without paying, mainly the ancient tragedies which had an educational character, πολιτική (politics)< πολιτικός (politician, political)< πολίτης (citizen)<πόλις (the city-state in ancient Greece).

Δημοκρατία (democracy): From δήμος (people) and κράτος (power); it expressed the power, the people’s authority, of the many, of the citizens; in contrast with αριστοκρατία (the power of the elite) which was, in the final analysis, the power of the few. The Athenian δημοκρατία (democracy) became the model for the government of a city- state, since it was the system of government that secured and guaranteed the democratic rights of all citizens. Both αριστοκρατία and the one-man regime, μοναρχία (monarchy) –the hereditary authority the αρχή (authority of only one ruler– did not prevail in ancient Greece, in the same way as αναρχία (anarchy) was not acceptable. Equally undesirable were the antidemocratic political conditions of absolute power: δεσποτισμός (despotism) from δεσπότης (despot, the main, the absolute ruler), ηγεμονισμός (hegemony) from ηγεμών (absolute ruler) and τυραννία (tyranny) from τύραννος (absolute, authoritarian, ruler).

The basic of democracy was διάλογος (dialogue) from the verb διαλέγομαι (discuss matters with others seeking the truth). From the same verb we get the διαλεκτική (dialectic) method of philosophy, the method of seeking truth through question and answer, through dialogue. Later, in mediaeval times, we had the creation of the word μονόλογος (μόνος + λόγος) "speaking alone as the only speaker") that from the beginning had pejorative sense. Conversing and talking correctly, objectively, convincingly and creatively, being a ρήτωρ (rhetor or orator) and knowing the ρητορική (rhetorics, the art of rhetoric) was an advantage as long as you didn’t, with your rhetoric, mislead the people into rash decisions, and you are not a δημαγωγός (demagogue˙ from δήμον + άγω, "to lead the people"). All these are, of course, subjects of political ιδεολογίας (ideology), another familiar word in political terminology, which derives from the very significant Greek word ιδέα (idea) and which has given to the European languages the words idea (English), idée (French), idea (Italian/Spanish), Idee (German) and so on. The original meaning of ιδέα is "what I see or conceive with my mind", vision as a source of knowledge. From the same Greek root we get two important words ιστορία (ίστωρ, story, history, from "the one who knows", initially "the one who sees with his eyes and knows", initially "the one who sees with his eyes and knows well" (see the English words history and story ―through Latin― the French histoire, the Italian istoria and the Spanish historia, "that appears without being real". Also είδωλο (English idol, French idole, Italian/Spanish idolo).

            The semantic areas of education and art have given another set of basic words:

θέατρο (theatre), the space where we θεώμεθα (θέατρο < θεώμαι “see”) what is acted δράμα (δρω "act"), which may be moving such as τραγωδία (tragedy from τράγος a satyr in the form of a goat + ωδή "song") or satirical like κωμωδία (comedy) from κώμος "a merry group, a company of young people + ωδή  (song). From the basic words τράγος (tragic) and κώμος (comic), in connection with τραγωδία and κωμωδία were also formed the words τραγικός (tragic) and κωμικός (comic). The concept of δημιουργώ (create) has given from the verb ποιώ (make, create) the words ποίημα (poem, "language creation"), ποίηση (poetry) and ποιητής (poet). [It should be noted that three basic Greek verbs meaning "make or do" have given a series of words to European languages: (i) δρω (perform, act) > δράμα (drama), δραματοποιώ (dramatize) δραματικός (dramatic) and δράσις (action), δραστικός (drastic); (ii) πράττω (do) > πράξις (praxis), πρακτικός (practical, practice), πράγμα (object), πραγματικός (pragmatic, pragmatism, pragmatist), and, more recently, the American chiropractic; (iii) ενεργώ (operate, activate), ενέργεια (energy), ενεργητικός (energetic), ενεργοποιώ (energize)]. Returning to the theatre, let us remember some theatrical terms which have led to the creation of a series of European words: σκηνή (English scene, French scène, Italian and Spanish scena), χαρακτήρ (character < χαράσσω, χαράζω "characteristic by which somebody/something can be recognized"), επεισόδιο (episode, "the dialogic part of the tragedy between two choruses), πρωταγωνιστής (protagonist "the main, the first character), ορχήστρα (orchestra, the original meaning being "the part of the theatre where people ορχούντο (danced). The Μούσες (Muses, the goddesses of the arts, have given the word μουσική (music, the musical art the original meaning being "the one referring to the Muses" and form of art protected by the Muses: music, painting, dance, poetry, prose, philosophy) and the word μουσείο (museum, "a space dedicated to the Muses, and, by extension, the arts they protected"). With music are connected other words which have found their way into European languages. Here are some: μελωδία (melody, < μέλος "song", original meaning: "articulation, harmonious articulation; αρμονία (harmony, from < αρμός, original meaning "good joining, impeccable linking); from the word αρμονία we get αρμόνιο (harmonium, the church organ). In French or Italian we have from αρμονία "philarmonique" and "filarmonico" meaning "the one who loves harmony"; in English we get philharmonic (φιλαρμονική the orchestra, the band).

            Here we have an example of another interesting process for the presence of Greek words in European languages. It is not a question of loans from ancient Greek words, but one of the creation of new words with Greek being the basis. From phil (φίλος "he who loves" as in philosophy, philology, philanthropy) and harmony, we get philharmonic. From phil and ατέλεια (without charge) we get philately and philatelic. We have also got symphony and symphonic from the Greek συμφωνία (harmony, harmonious, coexistence), ρυθμός (rhythm) from ρέω (original meaning "the sound from the tightening of the strings of a musical instrument"), μέτρο (metre from μέτρον the original meaning being "measuring rhythmical pieces in poetry, in metrical speech); συμμετρία (symmetry, from συν + μέτρον "the one with the correct proportions"). We should note here that the word αναλογία (analogy, namely "the equivalence of the characteristics of two objects" has given to English and other European languages, words like analogy, analogous, analogue, analogic and others.

            From the field of education, I would mention selectively, σχολή (school, original meaning "free time" which, in Ancient Athens was used, fortunately, for discussions leading to the acquisition of knowledge and the training of the intellect). From this word we get the Latin and Italian schola, the Spanish escuela, the English school, the French école, the German Schule and so on. We also have ακαδημία (academy, academic from < Ακαδημία / Ακαδήμεια Πλάτωνος "Plato's school in Colonus, in the sacred grove of Ακάδημος < εκάς + δήμος, "the distant, the borough which is away from the centre"). We also have γυμνάσιο (gymnasium from < γυμνάζομαι < γυμνός the original meaning being "a place where the young train without clothes on" and λύκειον (lyceum the gymnasium near the temple of Lykeios Apollo, the school where Socrates and mainly Aristotle taught. Talking of gymnasiums and gymnastics, let us not forget the words αθλητής (athlete / athletics, deriving from αθλούμαι (train) < άθλον (prize) with the original meaning of "compete with others for victory, distinction, the prize"). Let us also note that the highest distinction for an athlete was victory at the Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες (the Olympic Games) a highly prestigious panhellenic competition held in ancient Olympia.

            I have so far referred to a small number of words, which are of great importance to the basic concepts of European civilization, which I have briefly commented on. To save time, I am now going to mention some other groups of basic words without making detailed comments.

            First, a few general words τάλαντο / ταλέντο (talent); αισθητική (aesthetics), μύθος (myth), φαντασία (fantasy, fantastic), μαγικός (magic), μυστήριο (mystery), ερωτικός (erotic), ενθουσιασμός (enthusiasm from ένθεος "the one who has God in him"), συμπόσιο (symposium συν + πίνω), ήρως (hero) and ηρωίνη  (heroin "what makes you feel like a hero, to feel strength and euphoria), στρατηγός, στρατηγικός (strategy), τακτική (tactics), συμπάθεια (sympathy), απολογία (apology, apologize).

            From the field of τεχνολογίας (technology, original meaning "grammatical analysis of the words of a text"), τεχνικός (technical), μηχανή / μηχανικός (machine / mechanic), ενέργεια (energy), ηλεκτρικός / ηλεκτρονικός (electric, electronic), αυτο-αυτόματος (automatic), αυτοκίνητο (automobile), αυτόνομος (autonomous), αεροπλάνο (aeroplane < αήρ + πλανώμαι original meaning "soar, fly in the air"), ελικόπτερο (helicopter < έλιξ = propeller), τηλε-τηλέφωνο (telephone < τήλε + φωνή), τηλεσκόπιο (telescope > τήλε-σκοπώ), ελαστικός (elastic), πλαστικός (plastic), σχήμα (scheme) σχέδιο (English "sketch", Italian "schizzo").

            From the field of language itself and its analysis: γραμματική grammar < γράμματα "letters", original meaning "study of the written word"), σύνταξη (syntax from συντάσσω "put together"), λεξικό (lexicon), ετυμολογία (etymology, from έτυμος "true", ancient Greek meaning "search for the true origin of words"), σημαντική, σημειωτική (semiotics < σημείο), φωνητική (phonetics), συλλαβή (syllable), φράση (phrase), κόμμα (comma, κόπτω "cut") παράγραφος (paragraph), αλφάβητο (alphabet), διάλεκτος (dialect).

            A field where a large number of Greek words has found its way into European languages is that of theology, due to the fact that the main holy texts are written in Greek. The following is only a small sample:

Χρίστος (Christ, from < χρίω, original meaning "he who bears the unction of saviour". With comparatively few, Ι hope, examples, I have tried to show what the presence of the Geek language has been in the European civilization and European thought as it is expressed with concepts and words in European languages. I could list thousands of Greek words, which are already recorded in the works of linguistics, philologists and other scholars, words which can also be found in all the reliable dictionaries of individual European languages. However, the theme is not quantitative. It is qualitative. As it has become obvious, key concepts of the European civilization (in science in general and specific sciences, religion, letters, arts, technology, politics, institutions and so on) are expressed in Greek words and secondly, though, this was not my subject, with Latin ones. This is the case, as I have explained, because the texts and the language of the great Greek authors and thinkers of ancient and mediaeval times was Greek. Also, the texts of the Christian religion and tradition are written in Greek, the language which has passed through and left its mark on European thought and all the European languages.

            The aim of my talk ―I will, once again, make it clear― has not been to show that the Greek language is superior to all other languages. I have already stressed, earlier on, the need for multilingualism and the value of all the languages as cultural forms. What I have tried to show is that what we call West European Civilization is a total of values, positions, knowledge and forms of the culture of the intellect that has resulted from the contribution ―greater or lesser, earlier or later in time― of all the European countries and all its nations. Historically, a large part of this contribution is due to the classical languages, Greek and Latin, since the west European civilization based itself on the precepts of Greek rationalistic thought, the Roman institutions and the Christian religion, as well as on the vitality of the younger strong European nations. This is the reason why, I will repeat it on this occasion, the classical languages must acquire once again, an important position in European education, together with the teaching of all the contemporary European languages. The message of the European Year of Languages we are celebrating today, is that all the European languages should be made better known to more people inside and outside Europe, but you will allow me to add that this turn towards the language must be the opportunity for a wider contact with the languages of great nations beyond the confines of Europe, such as the language of our host country today.