monotonic orthography
The monotonic orthography is the simplified way for spelling modern Greek introduced in 1982. It replaced the older Greek accents – acute accent ( ´ ) and circumflex ( ˆ or ˜ ) – with only one, the acute accent, (the grave accent ( ` ) had been abandoned at a previous stage) and abandoned the use of the rough breathing or spiritus asper ( ʽ ) and smooth breathing or spiritus lenis ( ʼ ). The diaeresis is still used for vowel combinations such as <παϊδάκια> [pa.i.'ða.ca] or [paj.'ða.ca] "meat-chops" vs. <παιδάκια> [pe.'ða.ca] "children" and <φαΐ> [fa.'i] "food".
Debate
The polytonic diacritics have no phonetic significance in the modern language, merely reflecting the Ancient Greek etymology. It has been used widely in manuscripts only since the 9th and 10th century AD. The spelling reform was justified by the complexity of polytonic orthography and the difficulty of learning it.
The simplification is criticized on the grounds that polytonic orthography provides a cultural link to the past.[1] The Greek
Orthodox church, for example, continues to use polytonic orthography, and some books and one daily newspaper
(Ἑστία) are still published in polytonic, especially those few
still written in
Though the polytonic system was not used in Classical Greece, these critics argue that modern Greek, as a continuation of Byzantine and medieval Greek, should continue their writing conventions.
Bibliography
- Nicolaos M. Panayotakis, "A Watershed in the History of Greek Script: Abolishing the Polytonic" in Michael S. Macrakis, Greek Letters: From Tablets to Pixels, 1996. ISBN 1884718272 Panayotakis is critical of the adoption of monotonic, and also provides a useful historical sketch.
See also
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