Greeks in America - eBooks4Greeks.gr

52 THE GREEKS IN AMERICACyprus, Pontus, etc., wliich may be regarded asdialects.There is, however, uniformity or a commonstandard in the written style or language, which isrespected by literary Greeks everywhere.Two schools.—There are two schools at presentin regard to literary form in modern Greek. 1. Thepurists who aim at purging the modern Greek of allforeign accretions in words and phrases and desireto conform it as much as possible to the ancient orAttic Dialect, as represented by Xenophon or theChurch Fathers. The grammar is the same as theAttic, only simplified, and many words and phrasesare to be added to meet modern needs and ideas.2. The demotists, who advocate that the spokenGreek, should be the medium of expression in all literarystyle, in society, courts, schools, church andeverywhere. People, they hold, should write as theyspeak. A strong conflict is going on between thetwo schools. It is not simply a dispute about diction;grammatical forms also, are involved in thediscussion. The purist condemns the demotic asbarbaric. The supporters of the demotic regard thepurist style as artificial, crude and doomed to die.The spoken style has already won the field in fiction,poetry and stories, whereas history, science,philosophy, law and theology cling to the puriststyle. The newspapers are divided, but almost alluse both styles according to the subject matter. Theeditorials are usually in the purist style.Strangely most of the newspapers in America preferthe purist.Language has a great bearing on the education,training and development of the young. The childrenuse the demotic at home, as do the parents, howevercultured and educated they may be. But assoon as a child goes to school the purist comes inwith the big words and phrases, even in the primary.