Katharevousa

Katharevousa (καθαρεύουσα) /kaTa'revusa/ isform ofGreek language, created duringearly 19th century by Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). A graduate ofuniversityMontpellier1788, Korais spent mosthis life as an expatriateParis. A classical scholar, Korais was repelled byByzantine influenceGreek societywasfierce critic ofignorance ofclergytheir subservience toOttoman Empire. He realized that education wasprecursorGreek liberation.

The 'purified' Greek wasbemidpoint between Ancient GreekModern (of that time). Katharevousa actually contained archaicised formsmodern words, purged'non-Greek' vocabulary from other European languagesTurkish andsimplified, archaic grammar.

The purposeits creation wasmediatestruggle between'archaists' (those scholars who preferred Ancient GreekModern) and'modernists' (those who preferred Modern Greek). One reasonArchaists preferred Ancient Greek was that Modern Greek includes many Latin, ItalianTurkish loan words;Greece then waspart ofOttoman Empire). The name Katharevousa means more or less 'clean one', implying thatisclean formGreek, without foreign influences, maybe aswould hypothetically have evolved from Ancient Greek had there been no foreign influence.

Soon afterSecond World Warlong-lasting political debate became associated withlanguage issue, withcommunistsleftists supporting Modern Greek whileconservative right supported Katharevousa.

In later years, Katharevousa was used onlyofficialformal purposes (such as politics, letters, official documents,newscasting) while Dhimotiki, (δημοτική) 'demotic' or popular Greek, wasdaily language. However,1976 Dhimotiki was madeofficial languagebyend of20th century Katharevousa had become obsolete.