The Last Romans: Greek Language and Roman Identity in Asia Minor

Undergraduate / Graduate

Greek was the dominant language in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) between the Hellenistic era and late medieval times, so for almost 1500 years. During that time, communities switched from native Anatolian languages to Greek, converted to Christianity, and eventually became citizens of the east Roman empire, with a Roman legal and ethnic identity. These changes left their mark on the Greek language, even beyond the religious sphere. Latin words entered it by the hundreds, it evolved a number of registers (e.g., archaizing Attic versus spoken demotic Greek), and came to be called 'the Romaic language.' A forms of this language, Romeyka, continues to be spoken in rural areas by communities that are today Turkish and Muslim. This course will survey the major historical and linguistic developments of Greek in Asia Minor and modern Turkey.