Greek language

Member of the Indo-European language family, which has passed through at least five distinct phases since the 2nd millennium BC: ancient Greek 14th–12th centuries BC; Archaic Greek, including Homeric epic language, until 800 BC; classical Greek until 400 BC; hellenistic Greek, the common language of Greece, Asia Minor, West Asia, and Egypt to the 4th century AD, and Byzantine Greek, used until the 15th century and still the ecclesiastical language of the Greek Orthodox Church. modern Greek is principally divided into the general vernacular (demotic Greek) and the language of education and literature (Katharevousa).

In its earlier phases Greek was spoken mainly in Greece, the Aegean islands, the west coast of Asia Minor, and in colonies in Sicily, the Italian mainland, southern Spain, and southern France. Hellenistic Greek was an important language not only in the Middle East but also in the Roman Empire generally, and is the form also known as New Testament Greek (in which the Gospels and other books of the New Testament of the Bible were first written). Byzantine Greek was not only an imperial but also an ecclesiastical language, the medium of the Greek Orthodox Church. Modern Greek, in both its forms, is spoken in Greece and in Cyprus, as well as wherever Greeks have settled throughout the world (principally Canada, the USA, and Australia). Classical Greek word forms continue to have a great influence in the world's scientific and technical vocabulary, and make up a large part of the technical vocabulary of English.