Dimotiki and katharevousa: two languages in one
Until 1976 Greece had two written languages at once. Dimotiki — the living speech of the people; katharevousa — an artificially "purified" language pulled toward Ancient Greek, in which laws, newspapers and schoolbooks were written. For example: “Η βδομάδα έχει εφτά μέρες” — There are seven days in a week. A rule from the Greek course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Until 1976 Greece had two written languages at once. Dimotiki — the living speech of the people; katharevousa — an artificially "purified" language pulled toward Ancient Greek, in which laws, newspapers and schoolbooks were written.
The quarrel between them lasted a century and a half and cost blood: in 1901 a translation of the Gospels into demotic set off a riot in Athens with people killed. It all ended in 1976, when demotic was made the state language — the one this course teaches.
But katharevousa did not go away. It lives on in signs, documents, official notices, and in word pairs where the bookish and the colloquial sit side by side: επτά (eptá) and εφτά (seven), οκτώ (októ) and οχτώ (eight), ιχθυοπωλείο on the sign and ψαράδικο in speech — both mean "fish shop".
One practical rule: when you meet an unfamiliar solemn word where you expected a plain one, do not hunt for a dialect — you have met the second norm. Speak the colloquial one.
Table
| colloquial | bookish | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| εφτά | επτά | seven |
| οχτώ | οκτώ | eight |
| ψάρι | ιχθύς | fish |
| ψωμί | άρτος | bread |
| νερό | ύδωρ | water |
By example
- Η βδομάδα έχει εφτά μέρεςi vdomáda ékhi eftá méresThere are seven days in a week
- Δουλεύω οχτώ ώρεςdulévo okhtó óresI work eight hours
- Το ψάρι είναι νόστιμοto psári íne nóstimoThe fish is tasty
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Dimotiki and katharevousa: how does it work in Greek?
Until 1976 Greece had two written languages at once. Dimotiki — the living speech of the people; katharevousa — an artificially "purified" language pulled toward Ancient Greek, in which laws, newspapers and schoolbooks were written.
What does it look like in an example sentence Greek?
“Η βδομάδα έχει εφτά μέρες” (i vdomáda ékhi eftá méres) — There are seven days in a week. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.