Ancient+Greek+Language

**Many Dialects** By: Juliun

 The amazing Ancient Greek language has changed our lives due to the intensity of the language itself! Ancient Greece was a very complex language mainly because of the three main dialects they had to learn including Aeolic, Doric and Ionic. There are many differences comparing ancient Greek and Modern Greek language. One of the major differences was the punctuations, including where to put a period in a given sentence. The Modern Greek language is a descendant from the ancient Greek language meaning that there are accent and grammar structure differences. The Modern Greek language was a descendant from the ancient Greek language because the language itself was passed down from generation to generation being reorganized constantly. People who spoke ancient Greek, with their accents and pronunciations, differ from people speaking Modern Greek in this day and age. For example, Americans have different accents from those in England where the English language first originated due to our descendants and their migrations to the Americas and other countries throughout the world. These are the major differences in the ancient and Modern Greek language.  The people who spoke the ancient Greek language were called the Macedonians. These brilliant people were responsible for many inventions including: the anchor which was used for holding ships in place and also for building structures, the water screw which is a device used to lift water using an encased screw opening at both ends, the steam engine used mainly for making/preparing foods, and also the odometer which is used to record the distance covered by a moving chariot. Thanks to the ancient Greek mathematician Heron, we have these inventions today. Despite their intelligence they were also known to be very violent and war-like. The Macedonians were either involved in or contributed to a lot of wars. There are different theories on when the language originated. The proto-Greek theory says that it was between the time periods of 2500-1700 B.C, with an estimated number of 300,000 people speaking in the ancient Greek language (Joseph,1). This language originated in Greece, located in the southern part of Europe. The ancient Macedonian language is said to be one of the closest related languages in comparison to the ancient Greek language. To show how remarkably similar these two languages are people are considering the ancient Macedonian language to be a dialect of the ancient Greek language. They even considered this language to be as closely related as the Aeolic, Ionic and Doric which are the three main dialects of the ancient Greek language. The main difference in these similar languages was that there were different interpretations for some words. There was also some format and structure differences; for example, their alphabet letters were the same but the shaping was different. A person called Alexander the Great was said to be the main inventor of the ancient Greek language. He created the ancient Greek alphabet. Alexander also contributed with grammar form and structure of symbols. He discovered this language because of the adaption of the Phoenician people and their language. Alexander the Great discovered the language of the ancient Phoenician people; but, he was not said to be the founder of the ancient Phoenician because he did not invent the language. The Phoenician language was invented by a group of people called the Canaanites. Thanks to Alexander the Great and the ancient Phoenician people we have the Greek language today. The three main dialects of the ancient Greek language are Aeolic, Ionic and Doric. The main reason why there are so many dialects for the ancient Greek language is because the language itself is so large and complicated. English letters range from a-z while the ancient Greek language goes from alpha to omega including: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, and omega (The World Book Encyclopedia, page 376). We can see that the ancient Greek letters were a lot more complicated than the English letters (a-z). Along with the ancient Greek letters being more complex than the English letters, the ancient Greek numbers and pronunciation of certain words are a lot more complicated as well. The ancient Greek numbers are more detailed in comparison to the English numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.). They would usually pronounce their vowels differently, but their accents were very similar. The Ancient Greek language is a fascinating subject to study and learn. The complexity of the Ancient Greek language is the result of the three main dialects and the historical background of the Macedonians.



**Work Cited**  "Ancient Greece". University Press Inc. 2008. <[]>. Crystal, Ellie. "Language in Ancient Greek". Crystalinks. 2009. [] >. "Greece". __The New Encyclopaedia Britannica__. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2007.  "Greece". __The World Book Encyclopedia__. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2009. Joseph, Brian D. "GREEK, Ancient". Brian D Joseph, Publications. 2009. <[] >. "The Greek Language". __Lands and Peoples__. Danbury: Scholastic Library Publishing Inc., 2005.