katharevusa
Noun: 1. A learned, archaizing form of Modern Greek: Katharevusa is a puristic and formal literary style of the Modern Greek language. It was artificially developed in the 19th and 20th centuries, primarily for official and scholarly use, by incorporating vocabulary and grammatical features from Ancient Greek (Koine and Classical) while attempting to cleanse the language of foreign (particularly Turkish and Slavic) influences.
Katharevusa is used as a proper noun to refer to this specific linguistic register. It is typically discussed in historical, linguistic, or literary contexts. - It functioned as the official language of government, law, and education in Greece for much of the 20th century, existing in a state of diglossia alongside the vernacular Demotic Greek. - The term itself is used to label texts, documents, or speech produced in this style.
- The state documents were written in Katharevusa, making them difficult for the general populace to understand fully.
- A long linguistic debate centered on the conflict between Katharevusa and Demotic Greek.
- Some early 20th-century Greek literature employs Katharevusa for its elevated tone.
- Historical Diglossia: Katharevusa is a prime example of a high variety in a diglossic situation, where it coexisted with Demotic Greek (the low variety) used in everyday speech.
- Language Purification: The creation of Katharevusa is an instance of language planning and purism, aiming to link the modern nation directly to its ancient heritage.
- Demotic (Greek) (n): The vernacular, naturally evolved form of Modern Greek used in everyday speech and, after 1976, as the official language. It stands in contrast to Katharevusa.
- Koine (Greek) (n): The common Greek language of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, which served as one of the historical sources for Katharevusa's archaisms.
- Diglossia (n): A sociolinguistic situation where two distinct varieties of a language are used under different conditions, precisely describing the relationship between Katharevusa and Demotic.
- Puristic Greek
- Formal Modern Greek (historical context)
Katharevusa refers specifically to a style or register of the language, not a separate language. Its significance is largely historical and sociolinguistic, as its official use was abolished in 1976 in favor of Demotic Greek as the standard. Today, it may persist in limited ceremonial or extremely formal contexts, and its influence remains in the modern standard language's vocabulary.
- literary style of Modern Greek containing features borrowed from Koine