koine
/ˈkɔɪneɪ/
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek Κοινή (Koinḗ), from ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος (hē koinḕ diálektos, “the common dialect”), from κοινός (koinós, “shared, common, public, general, ordinary, usual”). Doublet of koinon.
koine means the “common” Greek language that developed and flourished between 300 B.C.E. and 300 C.E. (the time of the Roman Empire), and from which Modern Greek descended. It was based on the Attic and Ionian dialects of Ancient Greek. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
koine is pronounced /ˈkɔɪneɪ/.
Why “koine” is a great word
KOINE — [Noun] A common supraregional dialect or language that develops from the contact and mixture of related dialects, often becoming a lingua franca. From the Ancient Greek ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος (hē koinḕ diálektos, "the common dialect"), from κοινός (koinós, "shared, common, public"). Unlike 'dialect,' which clings to its provincial soil, or 'lingua franca,' a pragmatic bridge between unrelated tongues, a koine is the forged consensus—the mutual leveling of kinship tongues into a new, public standard. It is the smoothed accent in a bustling Mediterranean port, the administrative grammar on papyrus scrolls, the shared prayer that unites scattered congregations. What begins as a necessity for commerce quietly becomes the sound of understanding being forged, not decreed.
name
- The “common” Greek language that developed and flourished between 300 B.C.E. and 300 C.E. (the time of the Roman Empire), and from which Modern Greek descended. It was based on the Attic and Ionian dialects of Ancient Greek.
noun
- A linguistic variety that has developed in supraregional contact between speakers of various interrelated dialects, typically in such a way that features shared by several dialects prevail and those of limited distribution are avoided.“If a dominant language was spoken in the area of such trade routes, then this dominant language became the ‘interlanguage’, as it is called. Such an interlanguage, or koiné, is a simplified dialect with which speakers of two or more quite different dialects communicate with one another.”
- A lingua franca.“Darī (q.v.) is a term long recommended by Afghan authorities to designate Afghan Persian in contrast to Iranian Persian; a written language common to all educated Afghanis, Darī must not be confused with Kābolī, the dialect of Kabul and surrounding areas that is more or less understood by eighty percent of the non-Persian speaking population and is fast becoming the nation’s koine.”