Demotic Greek
The Athens-based standard of modern Greek, derived from the Demotic vernacular and codified in the late 20th century.
Griko
Also known as: Italiot Greek, Salentino Greek
The Greek of southern Italy, spoken in two enclaves in Salento and Calabria. A direct descendant of the Magna Graecia varieties; one of the oldest continuously-spoken Greek varieties outside Greece.
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Frequently asked questions
What language is Griko?
Griko is a dialect of the Greek language.
Where is Griko spoken?
Griko is primarily spoken in Italy.
Which region is Griko associated with?
Griko is part of the Europe region on DialectAtlas.
Is Griko known by other names?
Yes — Griko is also referred to as Italiot Greek, Salentino Greek.
What are the other dialects of Greek?
Greek also includes Standard Modern Greek, Cypriot Greek, Cretan Greek, Pontic Greek, Tsakonian, Cappadocian Greek, Mariupolitan Greek. Each variety has its own vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural context.
Other Greek dialects
See on the atlas →Kypriaki
The Greek of Cyprus, distinct from Standard Modern Greek in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Preserves a number of medieval features.
The Greek of Crete. The literary medium of the late-medieval Cretan Renaissance and the basis of a long oral and musical tradition.
Romeyka · Pontiaka
The Greek variety historically spoken along the Pontic coast of the Black Sea, brought to mainland Greece by refugees of the 1923 population exchange. Its Anatolian-resident form (Romeyka) survives among Muslim communities near Trabzon.
Tsakonika
The only living descendant of ancient Doric Greek, spoken in a few villages of the Peloponnese around Leonidio. Critically endangered; structurally distinct from all other Greek varieties, which descend from Attic-Ionic.
The Greek of inner Anatolia, isolated for centuries before the 1923 population exchange brought its speakers to Greece. Heavily Turkic-influenced; once thought extinct but rediscovered in central Greece in the 2000s.
Rumeika · Azov Greek
The Greek of the Mariupol region in Ukraine, descended from communities resettled from Crimea by Catherine the Great in 1778. Endangered; structurally close to Pontic Greek.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →176 km away
The southern Albanian dialect group, centred on Tirana and the south. The basis of the modern Albanian literary standard codified in 1972.
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The Albanian variety of the Arbëreshë communities of southern Italy, descended from 15th-century settlers fleeing the Ottoman conquest. A medieval Tosk Albanian preserved through five centuries of relative isolation.
238 km away
The Western Macedonian dialect group around Lake Ohrid and Prespa. Provided much of the structural basis for the modern literary standard, especially in stress placement and verb morphology.
250 km away
The most recently codified BCMS national standard, declared official in Montenegro in 2007. Distinguished from Serbian by the recognition of two additional Montenegrin-specific letters and a number of lexical preferences.
328 km away
The Skopje-based standard of Macedonian, codified after the Second World War. Closely related to Bulgarian; written in Cyrillic with several letters unique to Macedonian.
328 km away
A Balkan Romani variety spoken widely across North Macedonia, Kosovo, southern Serbia, and Bulgaria.