L'UNESCO riconosce il 9 febbraio come Giornata Mondiale della Lingua e della Cultura Greca.
PARIS, 27 March 2025 Original: English |
Two hundred and twenty-first session |
WORLD GREEK LANGUAGE DAY
SUMMARYThe item has been included in the provisional agenda of the 221st session of the Executive Board at the request of Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Croatia, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, State of Palestine, Tunisia, Ukraine and Yemen. The corresponding explanatory note is included in this document. Financial implications: None. Decision required: paragraph 12. |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Greek Language in history
1. Language is a carrier of culture, an ark of values, concepts, identity, an instrument of expression and creation, and a bridge of communication, understanding and consensus. Among the thousands of languages, Greek combines four particularly significant characteristics:
(a) An unbroken continuity of 40 centuries of oral tradition and 35 centuries of written tradition, if we take into account the Linear B script, or at least 28 centuries of written tradition, if we limit ourselves to the alphabetic script, which makes Greek the longest continuously spoken and written language in Europe. As the poet Giorgos Seferis said during his Nobel Prize Banquet speech in 1963: “Greek language has never ceased to be spoken. It has undergone the changes that all living things experience, but there has never been a gap.”
(b) A highly elaborated structure as a language (vocabulary, grammar and syntax), due to its use by unparalleled historical figures of literature, poetry, theatre, philosophy, politics and science, such as Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Aeschylus, Thucydides, Hippocrates, Archimedes and the Fathers of the Church.
(c) A widespread presence in many languages, as, over time, Greek has been one of the most important languages in terms of its influence on all other European languages and, through them, in the world of languages. Moreover, the particular significance of the Greek language is clearly confirmed by the fact that it is taught internationally both in its ancient form in Classical Studies chairs around the world and in its medieval (Byzantine) and modern form in Medieval and Modern Greek Language chairs worldwide.
(d) The Greek language was and remains to this day an inexhaustible source of international scientific terminology, especially in medicine, but also in mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, astronomy, quantum mechanics, social sciences and humanities. This is an internationally recognized feature of Greek, which is clearly documented, based on empirical and historical data.
2. As the linguistic cradle of basic concepts of culture, science and philosophy, Greek holds, by historical and objective criteria, a distinct place among the languages of the world.
3. Awareness of the phonological structure of the Greek language led the Greeks of the eighth century BCE to innovate in the consonant-based Phoenician alphabet by inventing vowels, thus achieving the creation of a new vocalic alphabet through the transition from a writing system based on consonants to one where every sound, every phoneme is represented by a letter. In other words, there is a one-to-one correlation. In this way, with just a few letters (24) an infinite number of words can be denoted in writing.
4. The discovery of the alphabet 2,800 years ago represents a true cultural revolution that decisively influenced the course of human civilization and history. This explains why one of the world’s greatest thinkers, the Italian Galileo Galilei, considered the Greek alphabet to be “man’s greatest discovery”.
5. During the post-classical Hellenistic period, Greek had been for six whole centuries the first international language, the transactional language of many different peoples (lingua franca) and, at the same time, a culture language (Kultursprache). The Greek language blossomed during the reign of Alexander the Great, it was accepted and embraced by the Roman civilization which adopted the Greek script in the form of the Latin alphabet, it was globalized through the language of the Gospels, it was discovered and promoted by the Renaissance and harnessed to the fullest extent by the Enlightenment.
6. The electronic Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG), which includes texts written in Greek from Homer to the 15th century historians, comprises 12,000 Greek texts by four thousand (4,000) authors, consisting of 105,000,000 words (in all word types that appear in the texts).
7. Historically, the Greek language occupies a key position in intellectual thought, in the linguistic expression and formulation of fundamental concepts and key words of European and wider, almost universal intellectual thought which are conveyed, understood or traced in words/concepts of the Greek language. Some indicative examples are:
Αλφάβητο (alphabet), διάλογος (dialogue), διπλωματία (diplomacy), δημοκρατία (democracy), ιδέα (idea), ιστορία (history), φιλοσοφία (philosophy), θεωρία (theory), πολιτική (policy/politics), κρίση (crisis), θέση (thesis), σύνθεση (synthesis), συμφωνία (symphony), συνέργεια (synergy), συμβίωση (symbiosis), αρμονία (harmony), μουσική (music), ποίηση (poetry), ραψωδία (rhapsody), μελωδία (melody), μονόλογος (monologue), δράμα (drama), ρυθμός (rhythm), ορχήστρα (orchestra), θέατρο (theatre), τραγωδία (tragedy), πάθος (pathos), ήθος (ethos), σχολείο (school), πλανήτης (planet), σφαίρα (sphere) ατμόσφαιρα (atmosphere), κλίμα (climate), σύστημα (system), οικοσύστημα (ecosystem), ωκεανός (ocean), ωκεανογραφία (oceanography), συμπτώματα (symptoms), διάγνωση (diagnosis), πρόβλημα (problem), θεραπεία (therapy), καταστροφή (catastrophe), αρχαιολογία (archeology), αρχαιολόγος (archeologist), μουσείο (museum), γεωμετρία (geometry), μαθηματικά (mathematics), αριθμητική (arithmetic), τεχνολογία (technology), μηχανή (machine), ενέργεια (energy), οικονομία (economy), μέθοδος (method), λογική (logic), υπόθεση (hypothesis), κριτήρια (criteria), συνώνυμο (synonym), ιεραρχία (hierarchy), κατηγορία (category), ανάλυση (analysis), θέμα (theme), ενθουσιασμός (enthusiasm), μυστήριο (mystery), μαγεία (magic), εμπειρική (empirical), πρακτική (practical), οργάνωση (organisation), τύπος (type), αναλογία (analogy), φάση (phase), πρόγραμμα (programme), συμμετρία (symmetry), περίοδος (period), εποχή (epoch), τόνος (tone), Ατλαντικός (Atlantic), Ευρώπη (Europe).
8. February 9th is proposed as the “World Greek Language Day”. At this date in 1857, the Greek national poet, Dionysios Solomos, passed away.
Greek Language and UNESCO
9. Multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations, is an essential factor in harmonious communication between peoples, which promotes unity in diversity and international understanding, tolerance and dialogue. The United Nations General Assembly, through its resolution 71/328 of 11 September 2017 on multilingualism, welcomed the implementation of a day dedicated to each of its official languages in order to inform and raise awareness of their history, culture and use, and encouraged the Secretary-General and institutions such as UNESCO to consider extending this important initiative to other non-official languages spoken throughout the world.
10. UNESCO has already recognized various items linked with the Greek Language. Two elements of documentary heritage, The lead tablets of the Dodona Oracle and The Derveni Papyrus: The oldest book of Europe, inscribed in the Memory of the World International Register in 2023 and 2015 respectively. Two elements of intangible cultural heritage, Polyphonic Caravan, researching, safeguarding and promoting the Epirus polyphonic song, selected in 2020 on the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices and Byzantine chant, inscribed in 2019 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
11. The proclamation of the World Greek Language Day will have no financial impact on UNESCO. The activities connected with the marking of the World Greek Language Day at UNESCO will be borne by Greece.
12. In light of the above, the Executive Board may wish to adopt a decision along the following lines:
The Executive Board,
1. Having examined document 221 EX/39,
2. Acknowledging that language is undeniably a marker of individual, collective and cultural identity, a bearer of a whole nexus of cultural expressions, conveying values and visions of the world, and a vessel that contains cultural diversity and the dialogue among civilizations,
3. Recalling United Nations General Assembly resolution 71/328 on multilingualism, adopted on 11 September 2017, encouraging the extension of the initiative of a day dedicated to each of the official languages within the United Nations to other languages spoken throughout the world, in order to inform and raise awareness of their history, culture and use,
4. Also recalling that linguistic diversity is an important element of cultural diversity, and stressing the particular importance of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which entered into force on 18 March 2007,
5. Noting the need to promote multilingualism and linguistic diversity as core values of the United Nations and essential factors in harmonious communication between peoples, which promotes unity in diversity and international understanding, tolerance and dialogue,
6. Recognizing the role of the Greek language in, and contribution to, the preservation and dissemination of human civilization and culture throughout the ages,
7. Appreciating that Greek is the living language that has been continuously spoken and written for the longest time in Europe, as it has been spoken for 40 centuries and written for 28 centuries without interruption, if we focus on the alphabetic script,
8. Taking into account that many languages have drawn and continue to draw extensively from Greek to enrich their scientific terminology and their vocabulary in general,
10. Further recalling that the Greek language, which is the official language in two Member States of UNESCO, is also one of the official languages of the European Union,
11. Noting that with the large Greek diaspora as its main carrier, the Greek language is spoken both in the wider geographical area of South-Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as in Australia, the United States of America, Canada, Africa and Latin America,
12. Also noting that the proclamation of a world Greek language day will have no financial impact on the regular budget of the Organization, and welcoming the commitment from Greece to provide voluntary contributions for celebrations of the day,
13. Invites the Director-General to promote the celebration of a world Greek language day on 9 February of each year as one of the international days marked by UNESCO;
Printed on recycled paper |
14. Recommends that the General Conference, at its 43rd session, proclaim 9 February of each year world Greek language day.
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