📜 Egyptian writing 🇬🇷 Modern Greek

Demotic

9.9

The everyday form of Greek spoken in Greece

noun
/dɪˈmɒtɪk/

Specialized

: demótico

Demotic is the modern form of Greek that is used in conversations today.

Examples

Linguists study Demotic to understand how modern Greek evolved from ancient times.
He is fluent in both Demotic and Katharevousa.
Demotic is widely spoken in everyday life across Greece.
The text was written in Demotic Greek.
Many scholars study Demotic to understand ancient texts.
In Greece, many children learn to read and write in Demotic as part of their education.
The new novel was written in Demotic, making it accessible to everyday readers.

Synonyms

Modern Greek

vsDemotic

1 4.5

The Greek language spoken and written since the late Middle Ages

is the specific everyday vernacular variety within that broader historical form

Demotic language

vsDemotic

9.9

Most people use the everyday form of Greek when they speak and write

is the same vernacular but named against classical and formal varieties

Romaic

vsDemotic

Archaic

9.9

A modern everyday form of the Greek language used instead of ancient Greek

is contrasted both with ancient Greek and with a formal learned variety

Romaic language

vsDemotic

Archaic

9.9

A common form of Greek spoken since the late Middle Ages

is the current name for the everyday vernacular, not the older label

Compounds

Demotic language

9.9

Most people use the everyday form of Greek when they speak and write

Demotic script

Specialized

9.9

A simple handwritten Egyptian writing used for everyday documents in ancient Egypt

Surface Forms

Demotic singular

Demotics plural

Etymology

Demotic for modern Greek also comes from the Greek word demos, meaning 'people', and it was used to name the everyday speech of ordinary people as opposed to a formal style. That's why Demotic means the common, modern form of Greek, linked to the idea of the 'people' behind democracy.