Multilingualism and standardization in Greece

The chapter traces the various ways in which linguistic diversity in Greece has been superseded by linguistic uniformity. First, it provides an outline of the historic co-existence of Greek with other languages in what is today Greek territory. After touching on regional diversity within the Greek language, it presents an overview of the chief issues and the chief phases in the Greek language controversy, on the grounds that the controversy was fundamentally a conflict between rival standardization projects, a conflict that only came to an end in 1976. The longest section of the chapter is devoted to a survey of these standardization projects. A brief conclusion refers to complaints and fears frequently articulated by members of the Greek public today concerning their language.