Greeklish – on the influence of new communication technologies and new media on the development of contemporary Greek

Tomasz Fraszczyk

Pełny tekst artykułu English version of the article

The growing importance of English in the Western cultural circle is also an issue in the countries of the Mediterranean Sea. Research in the region shows that with the increasing popularity of electronic communication, especially with the use of SMS, the development of new media and the market offensive of social media like Facebook and Twitter, Greek is influenced not only by English, but also by latinization, a process which has been termed Greeklish. The article presents a short history of Greek, as an introduction to its current development in the context of Greeklish. Its characteristics and origins in Greek writing are illustrated with the most representative examples from press, television and internet sites, along with typologies. The research outcome of documenting different aspects of using Greeklish have been discussed, as well as the most important issues in discussions taking place in Greece on possible consequences of this phenomenon on the development of Greek.

KEYWORDS

Greeklish, Greece, language, writing, media