Dimotiki ( , "[language] of the people") or Demotic is the modern vernacular form of the Greek language. The term has been in use since 1818.^[1] Dimotiki refers particularly to the form of the language that evolved naturally from ancient Greek, in opposition to the artificial and archaic Katharevousa, which was the official standard until 1976. The two complemented each other in a typical example of diglossia until the resolution of the Greek language question in favour of Dimotiki.

Dimotiki and "Modern Greek"

Dimotiki is often thought to be the same as the Modern Greek language, but these two terms are not completely synonymous. While Dimotiki is a term applied to the naturally evolved colloqual language of the Greeks, the modern Greek language of today (Standard Modern Greek; ??????????? ?????) is more like a fusion of Dimotiki and Katharevousa, although with much stronger influence from Dimotiki; it is actually a variety of Dimotiki which has been enriched by "educated" elements and as such is no longer a pure spoken language. It is not wrong to call the spoken language of today Dimotiki, but such a terminology ignores the fact that Modern Greek contains - especially in a written or official form - numerous words, grammatical forms and phonetical features that didn't exist in colloquial speech and only entered the language through its archaic variety. Besides, even the most archaic forms of Katharevousa were never thought of as Ancient Greek, but were always called "Modern Greek", so that the term "Modern Greek" applies to Dimotiki, Standard Modern Greek and even Katharevousa.

Examples of Modern Greek features which do not exist in Dimotiki

The following examples are intended to demonstrate Katharevousa's features in Modern Greek. They were not present in traditional Dimotiki and only entered the modern language through Katharevousa (sometimes as neologisms), where they are used mostly in writing (for instance, in newspapers), but also orally. Especially words and fixed expressions are both understood and actively used also by non-educated speakers.

Words and fixed expressions

• ?????????? (interesting)

• ??????????? (at least)

• ??? ??????? (he abducted her)

• ????? ??????? ??? ... (it is a fact that ...)

• ???? ?? ????? (for now)

Especially dative forms:

• ???? ?? ??? (Thank God)

• ?? ??????? ... (in the name [of] ...)

• ???? ????????? (in cash)

• ?? ???????? (following)

• ?? ?? ?????? (meanwhile)

Grammatical (morphological) features

• Adjectives ending in -??, -????, -?? (e.g. ?????????? interesting) or in -??, -??, -?? (e.g. ?????? thoughtful) - mostly in written language.

• Declinable aorist participle, e.g. ????????? (having delivered), ????????? ([having been] born) - mostly in written language.

• Reduplication in the perfect tense. E.g. ?????????????? (invited), ????????????? (obsolete)

Phonological features

Modern Greek features many letter combinations which were avoided in classical Dimotiki:

• -??- (e.g. ??????? "misdemeanor"); Dimotiki preferred -??- (e.g. ????? "to err || to be guilty")

• -??- (e.g. ?????? "building, structure"); Dimotiki preferred -??- [e.g. ??????? "(stone)mason"]

• -???- (e.g. ?????? "falsity, lie"); Dimotiki preferred -???- (e.g. ?????? "liar")

• -??- (e.g. ???????? / ????????? "I was sufficed / satisfied"); Dimotiki preferred -??- (e.g. ?????????)

• -??- (e.g. ????? "yesterday"); Dimotiki preferred -??- [e.g. (?)????]

• etc.

Greek native speakers often make mistakes in these "educated" aspects of their language; one can often see mistakes like ??????? instead of ???????? (I've been promoted), ????? ??? ???/???? ?? ??? instead of ???? ??? ??? (due to the fact that), ??? ?????????? ??????? instead of ??? ???????????? ??????? (the interesting person), ?? ????????????? ???????? instead of ?? ????????????? ???????? (the interesting women), ? ????? instead of ? ????? (the vote).

Radical demoticism

One of the most radical proponents of a language that was to be cleansed of all "educated" elements was Giannis Psycharis, who lived in France and gained fame through his work My Voyage (??? ?????? ???", 1888). Not only did Psycharis propagate the exclusive use of the naturally grown colloquial language, but he actually opted for making the language even simpler than it was anyway, in order to "cleanse" it from all expressions and forms that might have been perceived as "educated". For instance, he proposed to squeeze the natural form ?? ??? (gen. ??? ?????; =light) into a modern Greek declension, transforming it to ?? ???? (gen. ??? ?????). Such radical and completely unnatural forms did not gain any attention, though, and today they are seen only as examples for the absurdity of the Greek language question.^[2] Moreover, Psycharis also wished to give up the historical Greek orthography to replace it with a phonetical one, which would have meant to abolish the six different ways to write the vowel "i" and all instances of double consonants. Therefore, he wrote his own name as ??????, instead of ???????. Radical demoticism managed to attract a few followers and was called psycharism.

See also

• Modern Greek
• Katharevousa
• Greek language question
• Diglossia

References

br:Dhimotiki de:Dimotiki eo:La demotika fr:Grec démotique id:Dhimotiki la:Demotica nl:Dimotiki ja:????? sk:Dimotiki

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