Procopius,whom I'm agonizing my way through right now, tried to be "classical", and the result was something that wasn't classical but wasn't Koine. However, pseudo-Methodius used simple Koine. I think I used the facing page translation for a grand total of about two words in the text, and one of those was a word that pseudo-Methodius made up (asyncite).
I've seen texts through about 1000 AD that look like Koine. It seems that the spoken language had changed by that point, but most of the writers still used an archaic idiom to record things. After around 1200 AD at the latest, you start to see, particularly in areas that have been overrun by the Turks, more "vulgar" writings, and I would say that after that point things start to get hard to read without special training.
If you want to read about the changes, I suggest Robert Browning's Medieval and Modern Greek. It is a fascinating look at the shift in the language from classical to Koine, from Koine to the Middle Ages, from the Middle Ages to the fall of Byzantium, during the Turkish period, and into the modern day. It's only 136 pages of text, and of that the first 100 take you through the Turkish period, so the "modern" part is fairly short.
I've seen texts through about 1000 AD that look like Koine. It seems that the spoken language had changed by that point, but most of the writers still used an archaic idiom to record things. After around 1200 AD at the latest, you start to see, particularly in areas that have been overrun by the Turks, more "vulgar" writings, and I would say that after that point things start to get hard to read without special training.
If you want to read about the changes, I suggest Robert Browning's Medieval and Modern Greek. It is a fascinating look at the shift in the language from classical to Koine, from Koine to the Middle Ages, from the Middle Ages to the fall of Byzantium, during the Turkish period, and into the modern day. It's only 136 pages of text, and of that the first 100 take you through the Turkish period, so the "modern" part is fairly short.
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
The Apocalypse of pseudo-Methodius, edited and translated by Benjamin Garsted
- 27/01/2013 05:19:29 PM
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It looks like a window into an unadulterated trainwreck of methodology. 
*NM*
- 28/01/2013 09:40:55 AM
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*NM*
- 28/01/2013 09:40:55 AM
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Oh it is.
- 28/01/2013 01:32:46 PM
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Would the Greek at that point still be recognizable as Koine, or had it changed significantly?
- 29/01/2013 08:37:08 AM
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Yes, at that point it is still pretty much Koine.
- 29/01/2013 02:30:59 PM
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I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the recommendation. *NM*
- 30/01/2013 11:20:09 AM
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