Greek Culture Essay

Greece’s culture is high context, which means that for the Greek culture the meaning of messages is determined by the context or the environment. Most of their communication is implicit. The members of the culture are skilled in reading non-verbal cues. Their interactions do not need explanation because of their common history. This is the reason why Greeks will interrupt what someone is saying while they try to figure out what is means. This is a common aspect of Greek communication. Greeks tend to speak quite loudly and with a lot of emotion. At times it may appear as if they are yelling and annoyed but it is most likely a normal tone of voice. Direct eye contact is expected it is viewed as a sign of interest and respect towards the speaker.
The first written Greek was found on baked mud tablets. The Greek language goes all the way back to thirteenth century B.C. The most primitive form of the language is called "Linear B". The Greek used by Homer and Plato is "Classical Greek." The language was able to show exact expression and subtle nuances. Its alphabet was derived from the Phoenician’s. Classical Greek existed in many dialects of which three were primary: Doric, Aeolic, and Ionic. When the Greek language started to spread across the world and combine with other languages it started change. The dialects also interacted with each other, eventually giving us Koine Greek. Koine means common. Koine was a shortened form of classical Greek and many of the refinements of classical Greek are lost.
The modern Greek language of today has two versions, Demotic and Katharevoussa. Demotic has been used since the 1970’s. Katharevoussa is the pure language, it was officially replaced by Demotic in the 1970’s. Demotic is used in government and media, while Katharevoussa basically found in technical publications. The Greek language is extremely flexible they do not have a specific word