Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics

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Written versus Spoken Language
(2,225 words)

Abstract

Although we only have access to the ancient Greek of those who could use it in writing, non-literary, colloquial, popular, commercial, and private texts ‒ as well as testimonia, lexical works, and some literature (dialogue, mime, comedy, and tragedy) ‒ provide some evidence for Greek as a spoken language in its various varieties in comparison with their written counterparts.

1. Introduction

Individuals use language differen…

Cite this page
Patrick James, “Written versus Spoken Language”, in: Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics, General Editor: Georgios K. Giannakis. Consulted online on 06 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-448X_eagll_COM_00000379>
First published online: 2013



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