elpenor-first-lesson-in-ancient-greek-(alphabet-pronunciation).pdf

Learning Greek - Lesson 1

link to this page : http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/lessons/lesson1.asp

Elpenor's Greek Language Pages

LESSON 1

THE GREEK LETTERS

The Greek language ( pronunciation )

Introduction

http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/lessons/lesson1.asp (1 of 20) [3/11/2007 2:18:37 PM]

Learning Greek - Lesson 1

WE USE Greek today, even when we are not aware of it:

In a cosmopolitan epoch we don't sympathize with the apostles of

ethnical characters.

Maybe you wouldn't agree with the statement above. The point is, that this

sentence is clearly understood, despite of the fact that it is composed of

Greek words!

- cosmopolitan comes from the Greek words cosmos (world, ornament, beauty,

harmony, order) and polites (citizen)

- epoch is the Greek epoche

- sympathize comes from sympaschein

- apostle from apostolos

- ethnical from ethnicos

- character is exactly the same in Greek, but with the stress in the final syllable

(charactèr).

ANCIENT GREEK grammatical and syntactical forms confuse even modern Greeks. A

student today in Greece must put great efforts to actually read Homer or Plato, despite

of the identity of the alphabet or the almost common vocabulary and all the other

similarities. Yet, if one knows the purpose of study and loves it, all difficulties become

something like a game - whatever one's mother tongue might be.

http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/lessons/lesson1.asp (2 of 20) [3/11/2007 2:18:37 PM]

Learning Greek - Lesson 1

READING a grammar book on the internet, I saw a claim that "there is one and the

same thing, that the Greeks call 'oikos' while we call it 'home'". If this is the case, we

must stop wasting our time to learn Ancient Greek! If "home" is the same in English and

Greek, just close the source and grammar books and do something useful - open the

translations. But if things were so simple, there wouldn't have been a variety of

translations of the same text, and, to stay to the present example, we wouldn't have

invented ecology (a word coming from oikos and legein).

IN THE BOOK of Genesis, God "brought the beasts unto Adam to see what he would

call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name

thereof." (Gen. 2.19). This excerpt always reminds me, that a living and real language is

not formed by someone sitting somewhere and deciding indifferently meanings and

forms. A formation of a language is how people respond to an extreme responsibility, to

a divine demand of a language, and it is primarily oriented towards life and the

particularity of life - the world of the particular living creatures. Our language in its

highest forms and most of all in poetry, indicates how deep is our gaze upon whatever

exists. Importance of communication as a dialogue concerning the primary truths and

the importance given to men and each living being, are the grounds of Greek theology,

philosophy and science.

EACH WORD, each syllable, each letter is the flesh and blood of people generating

their language, forming and making their world habitable. Learn to write the Greek

letters. Experiment on how it would be more convenient for you to draw them. Take

time to look at each letter with care, like a stranger you meet for the first time - although

you won't meet all of them for the first time: not only a large portion of words, but even

the English alphabet comes from the Greek.

The Greek Alphabet

Ancient & Modern

Alpha is the first letter, Beta the second and so starts the Greek alphabet, 24 letters in

capital and small forms; (cf. detailed pronunciation below):

Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ µ, Ν ν,

Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σς*, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω.

http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/lessons/lesson1.asp (3 of 20) [3/11/2007 2:18:37 PM]

Learning Greek - Lesson 1

* Note that σ is written as ς at the end of a word, e.g. σός (=yours) and is called

final sigma. In Byzantine Greek you will also find Σ written as C.

* Note that the Greek P is the English R (this is how it sounds). What in English is

P in Greek is Π .

* Note that H in Greek is a vowel, corresponding to the English E. Don't confuse

it's small version η with the English n. The English n in Greek is ν .

* Don't confuse ν with the English v. The English v in Greek is β .

There are two more sounds in older Greek, that became useless. The one

corresponded to the letter F and was called "Digamma", since it was like

two Γ. It sounded like 'wo'. The other was a sound like y in the word year.

There was no letter for this sound, but to refer to it today we use the latin j .

_____

An introductory note to pronunciation

There is much talk about how ancient Greek was actually pronounced

and there isn't nor can it be a definite conclusion. Most grammar books

complicate things by trying to determine subtle nuances that no one really

knows. In this course we follow modern Greek pronunciation because it is

http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/lessons/lesson1.asp (4 of 20) [3/11/2007 2:18:37 PM]

Learning Greek - Lesson 1

easier than what some scholars

propose, it is how the New

Testament was pronounced, and

it is alive and certain. You can

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: