We know that food is one of the most important things in Greece for many a traveler. We couldn’t agree more. From sizzling saganaki cheeses to creamy tzatziki, there’s all sorts here just waiting to be sampled. Most tavernas in most touristy spots will have English menus at hand. Some won’t though, so remember…

Greek is one of the oldest attested Indo-European languages, known from 1400 BC in inscriptions in a syllabary of Minoan origin. The present alphabet was introduced by a Phoenician called Qadmu (Καδμος) about 800 BC, and has been in use, with a few letters added and removed, continuously since then. The 24-letter alphabet used in Classical Greek is the same one used today. Greek is the official language of both Greece and Cyprus, but is only spoken in the south of the latter.

Here are a few good-to-know Greek words that you can use in combination with the phrases mentioned above! Word: Henri-Dominique Saffrey, "Ἀγεωμέτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω. Une inscription légendaire." In: Revue des études grecques 81 (1968, pp. 67–87), p. 81. Greek roots are often used to coin new words for other languages, especially in the sciences and medicine; Greek and Latin are the predominant sources of the international scientific vocabulary. Over fifty thousand English words are derived from the Greek language. veeta (βήτα) V/v Γ/γ gamma (γάμμα) a voiced version of chi, as w in woman, but stronger. Before epsilon (γε) and iota (γι), as in yet and yiddish. Also see consonant clusters. Δ/δ thelta (δέλτα) as in those / Spanish soft d as in "nido" / Norse Ð/ð Ζ/ζ zeeta (ζήτα) as in zone Θ/θ theeta (θήτα) th as in thorn / Norse Þ/þ Κ/κ kappa (κάππα) as in kineti c Λ/λ lamtha (λάμδα) L/l Μ/μ mee (μι) M/m Ν/ν nee (νι) N/n Ξ/ξ ksee (ξι) X/x as in a x Π/π pee (πι) P/p as in a pe Ρ/ρ rho (ρο) Spanish/Scottish R/r Σ/σ/ς sigma (σίγμα) S/s as in some. Before voiced consonants it gets voiced to z Τ/τ taf (ταυ) T/t Φ/φ fee (φι) F/f Χ/χ hee (χι) Scottish ch [lo ch] / like an H/h but with the tongue touching the palate Ψ/ψ psi (ψι) as in li ps The capital letters are more or less the same with the ones of the English alphabet. Although the small letters seem entirely different (and some of them are indeed) at people's handwriting they can be extremely close to English.

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The Greek language has the following linguistic heritage: Indo-European Languages > Hellenic Languages > Greek The accent (similar in usage as in Spanish), if written, is placed on the vowel of the tonic syllable, or onto the second vowel if there's a diphthong. If there's an accent at the first vowel of a diphthong, or a diaeresis on the second, then it isn't an actual diphthong and the two vowels are pronunced separately. The former occasion is the most common, but since words written in capital letters never get accents unless they are at the beginning of a word, the diaeresis is the only way to note the broken diphthong at all-caps phrases - English such example: naïve. (diairesis = two dots on top of iota or upsilon, Ϊ/ϊ - Ϋ/ϋ)

The word πλατυώνυχον however sounds like πλατωνικόν, i.e. "the platonic thing". See The stranger’s knowledge: Political knowledge in Plato’s statesman by Xavier Márquez, University of Notre Dame, 2005, p. 120.Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and beyond during Classical Antiquity, and would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire. In its modern form, it is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 23 official languages of the European Union. The language is spoken by approximately 13 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, and diaspora communities in numerous parts of the world. Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special. Greek has changed less in the last two thousand years than English has in the last five hundred. It still has three genders, five cases, and movable ν. Although the dative dropped out of use in Greek before the dative merged with the accusative in English, one can still form the dative of μπαγλαμάς (a stringed instrument smaller than the μπουζούκι), even though it belongs to a new declension. So if you know some Attic or Koine Greek and pronounce it as Modern Greek, though you will sound archaic, you will probably be understood. Diphthongs 'γγ' and 'γχ' are never found at the start of a word. Vowel diphthong 'υι' is very rare, virtually only in a couple words. alpha (άλφα) as in p at Ε/ε epsilon (έψιλον) as in p et Η/η eeta (ήτα) as in r eed Ι/ι iota (ιώτα) as in r eed, though when followed by a vowel it can often be pronounced like y - example: its very name, it's either said as iota or yota. Ο/ο omicron (όμικρον) as in p ot Υ/υ eepsilon (ύψιλον) as in r eed Ω/ω omega (ωμέγα) as in p ot