Modern Greek Section

Paper Gr 7

The history and structure of Modern Greek

This paper is only available at Part II from October 2011

Download the 2003 exam paper
Download the 2008 exam paper
Download the 2009 exam paper
Exam papers which have been set since 2008, including the one set in 2011, can also be downloaded from CamTools.

This is a large subject, but a very rewarding one for those who are interested in language as a phenomenon. The paper can be fruitfully combined with one of the Part IB/II papers in Linguistics, or papers on the history of specific languages or language families. The choice of set texts is partly motivated by the tension which has long existed in Greek linguistic history between, on the one hand, the vernacular and its dialects, and, on the other, some form of archaising Greek. The first part of the course is largely concerned with following the historical development of Modern Greek, on the basis of literary and non-literary texts. The second part concentrates on the synchronic study of the language, i.e. its present-day written and spoken forms. In both the synchronic and the diachronic parts, attention is paid to morphology, phonology and syntax, as well as lexicon. The examination paper will include a compulsory linguistic commentary on two of the prescribed texts. There will be a wide choice of other questions covering both historical and synchronic aspects of the language. All candidates must answer a total of three questions.

Prescribed texts

Reading lists and copies of texts, from which passages will be set for comment, are available from the Modern Greek Section.

Teaching

16 Lectures and 5 classes.

The following books are recommended for reading in advance

•  R. Browning, Medieval and Modern Greek (Cambridge 2nd ed. 1983)
•  G. Horrocks, Greek: a history of the language and its speakers (Wiley-Blackwell, 2nd edition 2010)
•  P. Mackridge, The Modern Greek language. A descriptive analysis of Standard Modern Greek (Oxford 1985)
•  H. Tonnet, Ιστορία της ελληνικής γλώσσας. Η διαμόρφωσή της (Athens 1995) [also in French: Histoire du grec moderne. La formation d'une langue (Paris 1993)]

Course advisor

For further information or advice about this course please contact Prof. David Holton (e-mail: dwh11@cam.ac.uk)