Origins

Greek belongs to the Indo-European languages, forming its own branch within the family. It derives directly from a proto-Greek language, which is considered similar to Vedic Sanskrit and extinct Anatolian languages. As for its writing system, Greek first used the Linear B, and later adopted its own alphabet based on the Phoenician. Today, it appears to have significant similarities with Armenian and Indo-Iranian languages.

Official Language

Greek is the official language of Greece. It’s also co-official together with Turkish in Cyprus. Greece has been an EU member for years, so Greek is among the EU’s official languages, having introduced for the first time a new alphabet in the Union (besides the Latin alphabet). At a regional level, Greek is minority language in parts of Albania, Turkey and Italy.

Varieties

Most considerable 'varieties' of Greek can be considered areas of usage. Official language and administrative speech and writing are still paralleled in two linguistic forms. The two forms developed after Medieval Greek. Dhimotikí, or the vernacular language, and Katharévusa, which means 'purified', the latter imitating Classical Greek and being used as official. As for dialects, Cypriot Greek reports some differences when compared to standard Greek.

Brief History

Greek derived from a proto-Greek language. The first documents proving its existence are Linear tablets from the 14th –  15th Century BC. It has been spoken on the Balkan Peninsula since the 9th Century BC, this period being considered the beginning of the Greek language’s history.

The Mycenaean is the oldest period, during the 14th and 15th Centuries BC. At that time, Greek used Linear B tablets as its writing system.

Classical Greek is largely known as Ancient Greek. This variety of the language existed in many dialects. It’s the language of most considerable science, arts and philosophy, the spirit of Ancient Greece. It was largely used during the existence of the Roman Empire. In Western Europe, it fell into disuse in the Middle Ages, but at that time it was still official in the empire of Byzantium. After the fall of Constantinople, Ancient Greek’s influence and popularity was restored for the Western World.