Greek
(ελληνικά [eliniˈka] ellīniká or ελληνική γλώσσα [eliniˈci ˈɣlosa] ellīnikī glōssa) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, Western Asia Minor, Greece and the Aegean, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history; other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were previously used. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script, and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Coptic, and many other writing systems.