Ελληνική

[Anna Mae]

Ancient Greek, anyone?

I myself hardly count as a Greek scholar, being quite young in my study. I was wondering if anyone on CAA is learning/fluent in ancient Greek (or both, as the case may be ). For that matter, does anyone here know modern Greek as well?

[Ashley]

I've taken two years of Attic Greek in college; I just finished, actually. Honestly I didn't really like it that much--I really prefer Latin--but it was okay I guess. We read a lot of Plato (Critius, Phaedra) and a lot of Xenophon, as well as various excerpts from the Bible, Aescyus, Sophocles, etc.

What text did you use?

[EricTheFred]

Some self-study in Classical and Koine Greek, just to learn a bit more about this important root of our culture. Never really became fluent in any sense of the word, but I can puzzle out passages as long as I have my dictionary close.

[ChristianKitsune]

IT's all GREEK to me! D:

Lame joke I know

I admire anyone who takes on a langauge that isn't Spanish or French. (Thast the only optinos that I had..)

[Ashley]

IT's all GREEK to me!

*groans* I heard this joke EVERY DAY of Greek class for two years. In between semesters, my mother constantly made that joke. Heck, it wasn't even that funny in Julius Caesar. I think that twitchy thing in the corner is the almost-dead horse that is that joke.

[termyt]

We have quite a few seminarians on this sight, so I'm guessing instead of an "if" it's more of a "how many."

Study of Greek and/or Hebrew is either required or strongly suggested on many seminary campuses.

As for me, graecum est; non potest legi.

[Kkun]

*groans* I heard this joke EVERY DAY of Greek class for two years. In between semesters, my mother constantly made that joke. Heck, it wasn't even that funny in Julius Caesar. I think that twitchy thing in the corner is the almost-dead horse that is that joke.

[Icarus]

I know a little modern Greek since I worked for a Greek family for five years.

[ChristianKitsune]

^^; sorry Ashley....

[Ashley]

Oh it's fine CK; just a little gruff joking.

We have quite a few seminarians on this sight, so I'm guessing instead of an "if" it's more of a "how many." Study of Greek and/or Hebrew is either required or strongly suggested on many seminary campuses.

That's an excellent point]As for me, graecum est; non potest legi.[/quote]
Salve, amicum. Linguam romae es optimus. Semper ubi sub ubi.

[termyt]

Semper ubi sub ubi.

Words to live by! Everyone - right those down and practice them, if you are not already!

[Anna Mae]

What text did you use?

Well, I'm not in a class or anything right now (although I'd like to be). I do have the Septuagint and New Testament in Greek, though.

What were the differences between Greek and Latin that caused you to prefer the latter?

[Ashley]

Well, mostly grammatical. In both languages, word order is nothing; meaning and syntax are derived from endings (i.e., the subject ends in "ae", the direct object ends in "am"). And in both, there are different "types" of endings (declensions) for different sets of nouns/verbs. The difference is, Latin declensions are very different from each other, but they are more solid: a genitive always means a genitive and always looks like a genitive. Greek, however, is much more similar in its endings (i.e, the plural genitive will always be wn), but they are much more fluid in meaning. A word changes endings based on another word, meaning is derived from context; these and other non-nonsensical rules make it much more difficult to me.

The other thing was time. I had four years to study Latin in high school, and it was at a slower pace. I had two years to study Greek in college, with translation assignments every day and a chapter a day.

[Raiden no Kishi]

I'm going to take Koinae Greek in college starting in little more than a couple of weeks.

.rai//

[Okami]

I wish I knew Greek...

and Latin, for that matter. Since we sing a bunch of Latin songs in Choir...and they say they used to teach Latin at our school D: WHYYY?!? Now we've only got Spanish and French D<

[Anna Mae]

[quote="Ashley"]In both languages, word order is nothing] I was aware of that, but is word order entirely irrelevant? Are there not nuances that could be derived? I think I once heard something about the most important words as far as meaning goes being stuck at the beginning...

[Saint Kevin]

Anybody have any resources on learning Greek (just the Koine for now, thanks)? I know nearly the entire Greek alphabet because of science using the letters for either constants or variables, but no real Greek as yet. I'm starting to really think of seminary as something I'd like to do, and getting a start on Greek in this next year could help me in that regard. Thanks for the help.

[Ashley]

I was aware of that, but is word order entirely irrelevant? Are there not nuances that could be derived? I think I once heard something about the most important words as far as meaning goes being stuck at the beginning...

In the more formal works, such as Cicero or Aristotle, there is a more formalized order. However, it would not be considered "bad grammar" to put things out of the normal order, especially in poetry where rhyme scheme matters more than official grammar rules.

Anybody have any resources on learning Greek (just the Koine for now, thanks)?

You can usually buy flashcards at Christian bookstores; I know for sure Lifeway carries them. I can't remember if they have both grammar and vocab, but you could at least get a jump on the vocabulary, as my experience has been they usually throw large chunks of it at a time towards you in Seminary.

[Puguni]

I was aware of that, but is word order entirely irrelevant? Are there not nuances that could be derived? I think I once heard something about the most important words as far as meaning goes being stuck at the beginning...

Word order is not entirely irrelevant. Sure, you could get away with making a sentence with a verb in a weird place, but the placement and's, but's and or's are important. Prepositional phrases are also a great help. It would be terrible if there were two consecutive ands. There are nuances, especially in Latin poetry. Virgil is known for making word pictures in lines...tmesis, anyone? XD

As for Greek...I took a three week crash course and burned. Ok, I'm only slightly kidding; the hard part is learning all the new letters. Coming from Latin, it wasn't too bad though. I'm still amused by the middle voice.

[Anna Mae]

What is the middle voice?

[Puguni]

What is the middle voice?

I'm going to assume you know about the active and passive voice. If not, there is a spoiler box in case.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm more or less certain that the middle voice is when you do something with yourself, like, I walked by myself or I punched myself. Don't ask me why it's middle voice; Greek a little strange like that. XD


[spoiler]
Well, let me first start with the Latin part of it. There is an active voice and a passive voice. The active voice is what most people use all the time. The passive voice is something less used and viewed as a weaker statement. Here are some examples:

Active: I made a mistake.
Passive: Mistakes were made.

Active: He kicked the banana.
Passive: The banana was kicked by him.

Active: The mechanic made the bike.
Passive: The bike was made by him.

"By" is a common characteristic affiliated with the passive voice.


[/spoiler]

[Ashley]

Though that is one aspect of middle voice, our Greek professor stressed that it can sometimes be used for emphasis as well.

[Anna Mae]

So middle voice is when one uses a reflexive verb?

[Raiden no Kishi]

Has anyone else had trouble memorizing all these declensions/word endings? I have what looks like 96 to memorize by Wednesday [assignment was today, Monday] PLUS vocabulary words PLUS being able to use them to properly translate sentences with nearly no word order to help and with words missing [my prof. says the Greeks left out words they felt obvious in order to not sound condescending]. Add to this that the textbook we're using [Chase and Phillips' New Introduction to Greek ~ last listed copyright date was 1961] uses jargon I have never heard [proclitic, circumflex, subjunctive, optative, among others, plus all those grammatical terms no-one ever speaks unless they've got an English degree], and overall seems to assume you have some sort of intimate knowledge of grammatical jargon and thought [I am generally considered to have above-average English skills, but they have been naturally learned for the most part ~ like I said, I don't have a degree in the language!]. I want to get good grades in college [especially since my dad promised me a car if my grades are good], but I'm afraid of just barely making it through this class . . .

.rai//

[Ashley]

The best way I had of memorizing endings was just pure, rote memorization: that is, spending hours a week reciting them out loud repetitively.

Vocabulary was always a million times easier for me--I always found ways to make me remember (like, "afros are so unwise" for the word asophros, unwise). The more creative the better!

As for the terminology, you could either look it up in Wikipedia, or just ask the professor to help clarify some of it. Most of my proffs are very eager to help, they just need to know what you need help in!

[Anna Mae]

I got this idea after I started the thread, but I figure this would be a good place to ask my question. So you all know how Oedipus' name means "swollen ankle." I take it "oedi" is "swollen" and "pus" is "foot/ankle"? I need a parody name for a satirical tragedy hero, and I figure you Greek-savvy people can help me out. I'm thinking along the lines of something foot.

[Noblewreck]

Anybody here? <cricket><cricket>
I'm just begining to take biblical Greek at my local church. Got the textbook last week. Second class was last weekend.
<cricket><cricket>
Okay, I'll go post something in the Avatar Caption Θread.

[LadyRushia]

Please don't gravedig. This thread is over two years old.