Griko languageGriko, sometimes spelled Grico, is the dialect of Italiot Greek spoken by Griko people in Salento (province of Lecce), and also called Grecanico, in Calabria. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek dialect and often call it (Κατωιταλιώτικα, "Southern Italian") or (Γραικάνικα), whereas its own speakers call it (Γκραίκο, in Calabria) or (Γκρίκο, in Salento). is spoken in Salento while is spoken in Calabria. Griko and Standard Modern Greek are partially mutually intelligible.
Greek languageGreek (Elliniká, eliniˈka; Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary.
Digraph (orthography)A digraph or digram (from the δίς , "double" and γράφω , "to write") is a pair of characters used in the orthography of a language to write either a single phoneme (distinct sound), or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined. Some digraphs represent phonemes that cannot be represented with a single character in the writing system of a language, like the English sh in ship and fish. Other digraphs represent phonemes that can also be represented by single characters.
Greek genocideThe Greek genocide (Γενοκτονία των Ελλήνων, Genoktonia ton Ellinon), which included the Pontic genocide, was the systematic killing of the Christian Ottoman Greek population of Anatolia which was carried out mainly during World War I and its aftermath (1914–1922) on the basis of their religion and ethnicity. It was perpetrated by the government of the Ottoman Empire led by the Three Pashas and by the Government of the Grand National Assembly led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, against the indigenous Greek population of the Empire.
GeminationIn phonetics and phonology, gemination (ˌdʒɛmᵻˈneɪʃən), or consonant lengthening (from Latin geminatio 'doubling', itself from gemini 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from stress. Gemination is represented in many writing systems by a doubled letter and is often perceived as a doubling of the consonant. Some phonological theories use 'doubling' as a synonym for gemination, while others describe two distinct phenomena.
Xi (letter)Xi is the fourteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (uppercase Ξ, lowercase ξ; ξι), representing the voiceless consonant cluster ks. Its name is pronounced ksi in Modern Greek, and generally zaɪ or ksaɪ in English. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 60. Xi was derived from the Phoenician letter samekh . Xi is distinct from the letter chi, which gave its form to the Latin letter X. Both in classical Ancient Greek and in Modern Greek, the letter Ξ represents the consonant cluster /ks/.
EuboeaEvia (ˈɛviə, ) also known by its antique spelling Euboea (juːˈbiːə, ; Εὔβοια Eúboia, ěu̯boi̯a, ˈevia) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest point). In general outline it is a long and narrow island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to .
Romaniote JewsThe Romaniote Jews or the Romaniotes (Ῥωμανιῶτες, Rhomaniótes; Romanyotim) are a Greek-speaking ethnic Jewish community native to the Eastern Mediterranean. They are one of the oldest Jewish communities in existence and the oldest Jewish community in Europe. The Romaniotes have been, and remain, historically distinct from the Sephardim, some of whom settled in Ottoman Greece after the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal after 1492.
SpellingSpelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes (writing system) to represent a language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound (phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element. Spellings originated as transcriptions of the sounds of spoken language according to the alphabetic principle.
ChiosChios (ˈkaɪ.ɒs,_ˈkaɪ.oʊs,_ˈkiː-; Chíos ˈçi.os, traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the tenth largest island in the overall Mediterranean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic gum and its nickname is "the Mastic Island". Tourist attractions include its medieval villages and the 11th-century monastery of Nea Moni, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.