Core phrases in Greek.

Discover the Greek Language

Greek Core Phrases

Γειά σας.

Ya sas.

Hello.

Listen to the Pronunciation

Greek has a very old written tradition. It is the oldest recorded European language and one of the oldest written languages in the world along with Ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, and Chinese.

The first text in the Greek language dates back to 1800 B.C. and it is written in the Linear B syllabary used by the Myceneans who adopted it from the Minoan Linear A used to record an unknown language.

Clay tablet in Linear B script.

After a centuries-long Dark Ages period (Bronze Age Collapse) with no written records, Greek literary production boomed when Greeks adopted and modified the Phoenician alphabet at about the 8th Century B.C.

The great innovation was that they added vowels to the original Phoenician alphabet to suit the needs of their own language, thus creating the first truly phonetic alphabet—one sound, one letter.

The Dipylon vase inscription, the oldest known in the new Greek alphabet (8th c. B.C.)

Greek Today

Greek is spoken by about 15 million people mainly in Greece and Cyprus, also in Albania, some Greek-speaking enclaves in southern Italy, Ukraine, Russia, and the Greek diaspora worldwide in Germany, Australia, the US, the UK, France, and many other countries.

Greece is a small Balkan country but with a varying landscape. A very long coastline, thousands of islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, and lots of mountains in the mainland.

Basic Greek Phrases

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Greetings Meeting People Directions Buying Stuff Days of the Week Numbers Verb To Be