From yesterday’s ancient Greek we expand by a couple of millennia with the Portal for the Greek language developed by the Centre for the Greek Language. It’s got sections on Modern, Medieval, and Ancient Greek, with Tools, Bibliographies, Studies, and the like under each; I’m particularly struck by Modern Greek Literature (bibliographical guides to literary journals, Modern Greek short stories, literary translations, anthologies of literary texts, selected studies on Modern Greek literature, issues related to the study of translation, etc.) and Medieval Vulgar Greek Language:
This section of the Portal for the Greek Language is structured around the concise electronic version of the first 14 volumes of the Dictionary of Medieval Vulgar Greek Literature by Emm. Kriaras, Professor Emeritus of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. It is the greatest lexicographical accomplishment in Modern Greece and one of the most important works in Medieval Lexicography worldwide. The concise electronic version (Α – παραθήκη) will be completed in stages, in tandem with the completion of the full print version of the Dictionary.
This section has two chief goals. The first is to offer the student of Medieval Greek a useful set of tools for the study of the language (bibliographies, information on Vulgar Greek texts of the period, a list of relevant web pages, etc.). The second, and equally important, goal is to help the secondary school educator teaching the subject by providing an opportunity to present the evolution of the Greek language more comprehensively with the help of the language exercises and the other online dictionaries available through the Portal for the Greek Language.
Terrific resources; thanks, Peter!
This is fantastic. My project when I retire will be to learn modern Greek. Currently I am learning Romanian for work but keep wishing I could focus on Greek instead. There are also great resources available for Greek. The Easy Greek series on YouTube has a charming host and some very interesting videos, including Cretan vs Standard Greek, Cypriot vs. Standard Greek, and Italian loan words in modern Greek. He also a few videos where he gives modern Greeks ancient Greek texts to read, and naturally they understand almost nothing.
I suppose the publishers of Medieval Vulgar Greek Language are not aiming to sell millions of copies. Nevertheless, there is no need to scare off potential buyers (however ignorant), or attract the wrong kind, by using the now only academic word “vulgar” in the title. Medieval Homey Greek Language would be less contentious.
Greek Palaver from When Folks Went on Crusade for Fun.
Crusading for Fun and Profit.