Demotic Greek (language of the people) is the modern vernacular form of the Greek language, and refers particularly to the form of the language that evolved naturally from ancient Greek, in opposition to the artificially archaic Katharevousa, which was the official standard until 1976. The two complemented each other in a typical example of diglossia, or the existence of two forms of a language (usually a “high” and a “low”) employed by the same speaker depending on the social context, until the resolution of the Greek language question in favor of Demotic.

Demotic is often thought to be the same as the modern Greek language, but these two terms are not completely synonymous. While Demotic is a term applied to the naturally evolved colloquial language of the Greeks, the modern Greek language of today is more like a fusion of Demotic and Katharevousa; it can be viewed as a variety of Demotic which has been enriched by "educated" elements. Therefore, it is not wrong to call the spoken language of today Demotic, though such a terminology ignores the fact that modern Greek contains - especially in a written or official form - numerous words, grammatical forms and phonetical features that did not exist in colloquial speech and only entered the language through its archaic variety. Additionally, even the most archaic forms of Katharevousa were never thought of as ancient Greek, but were always called "modern Greek," so that the phrase "modern Greek" applies to Demotic, Standard Modern Greek and even Katharevousa.

1. The passage implies that most examples of diglossia occur in instances in which

A. a language has several unique grammatical models
B. social context determines which one of two languages is used
C. aspects of an archaic version of a language are intermingled with more modern elements
D. a speaker can choose from one of two languages to best convey meaning
E. both speakers must use a polite form of address

OA B

2. According to the passage, describing Demotic Greek as modern Greek, while common, is not entirely accurate because

A. modern Greek is also infused with elements of Katharevousa
B. Demotic Greek also contains educated aspects not found in modern Greek
C. modern Greek also shares certain grammatical forms with ancient Greek
D. certain aspects of Demotic Greek are more common to Katharevousa than to modern Greek
E. Demotic Greek has some colloquial forms found in ancient Greek

OA A

3. The passage supports which of the following regarding Demotic Greek?

A. It shares many common features with Katharevousa
B. It can be traced back to ancient Greek
C. It does not represent an example of diglossia
D. It does not relate to the social context
E. It is synonymous with modern Greek

OA B