Who speaks Greek?

The Greek language belongs to the group of Hellenic languages forming part of the Indo-European language family. Modern Greek is the so-called New Greek language, used  by approximately 15 million people. The term was coined to distinguish Modern Greek from Ancient Greek.

Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus. It is one of the official languages of the European Union.

History of the Greek language

The history of the Greek language is divided into several periods, each of which has a different name:

Mycenaean Greek, the most ancient form of Greek, which spans from approximately 1600 B.C. to 1200 B.C. It was most likely used on the island of Crete, the Aegean Islands and the Peloponnese;

archaic language – known mainly from the works of Homer, used after the fall of Mycenaean civilization during the “Dark Ages” and the archaic period of Ancient Greece;

classical language – a language with strongly differentiated dialects, it was used in the classical period in ancient Greece.

Koine Greek – a language used in the Hellenistic period of ancient Greece, it was created as a result of the mixture of Classical Greek and Latin;

Medieval Greek – used during the Byzantine period, developed from Koine Greek, had a major role in the political, economic, religious and cultural life of the Balkans during the Middle Ages. Its colloquial forms are still present today in Greek and other Balkan languages;

New Greek – in modern Greek there has been a so-called diglossia, two forms of the language: katarevusa – a form resembling classical Greek, artificially created after the recognition of Greece as an independent state in the 19th century, which is exploited in the official life of the country, and dimotiki – a colloquial form of the language in everyday life. After 1976, the form dimotiki was recognized by law as the official Modern Greek language. It is currently used mainly in Greece and Cyprus.

Use of Greek in business

Nowadays, the Greek language is practically used only in Greece and Cyprus. On the international scene, it does not play a significant role and therefore knowledge of Greek will only be useful for those companies planning to enter into business relations with Greece.

Greek translators

Skrivanek Bulgaria provides professional translations of texts from Greek into Bulgarian and from Bulgarian into Greek. We cooperate with an experienced team of translators specialized in different disciplines. We can provide both standard and certified translations. Our offer is addressed to companies from all sectors including: manufacturing, engineering, medicine, law and many others). We can translate an agreement from Greek or translate company documents, invoices, catalogues, advertising slogans, reports, business correspondence, deeds, powers of attorney, forms and other materials as well as classified documents. Our Greek translators will ensure not only the accuracy of the translation, but also the effectiveness of the text, its appropriate style and adaptation to the cultural context, both in terms of the language itself and the country.

The most common orders for translations to and from Greek:

standard and business translations to and from Greek; express translations; certified translations; editing; localization; website translation into Greek; DTP – graphic preparation of documents; interpreting to and from Greek – simultaneous and consecutive.

Are you interested in our offer of services in Greek?