Thread: Greek

I am thinking of learning Greek. I have learnt the alphabet, which was reeeealy easy since I know Russian and did maths at school.

I was also surprised to find out that Alpha Beta Gamma Delta is actaully Alpha Veta Ghamma Thelta in modern Greek, and the sounds [b] [g] [d] don't have their own letters.

So does anyone speak Greek here.

We should have an Indonesi-.... I mean Greek Forum!!!!

Greek is... greek to me.

I know the greek alphabet, but that's about it. Do you plan on learning Ancient or Modern Greek?

I think we should add a Latin/Greek board. I'm thinking of taking up Latin.

Probably Modern Greek.

I have a thing for dead tongues.

Originally Posted by Darobat

I have a thing for dead tongues.

That's called Necrophilia. Which comes from Greek!

Haha

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by Darobat

I have a thing for dead tongues.

That's called Necrophilia. Which comes from Greek!

lol...
Not only Greek, but Ancient Greek!

Originally Posted by scotcher

Haha

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in your typing.

There are tags for that: [Sarcasm]TEXT[/Sarcasm]

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by scotcher

Haha

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in your typing.

There are tags for that: [Sarcasm]TEXT[/Sarcasm]

Most of the time, probably more than a hint, but in this particular instance, nary a trace. That was a genuine 'haha', I really did laugh.

I feel a need to slap myself whenever I catch myself writing 'lol' though.

Originally Posted by scotcher

I feel a need to slap myself whenever I catch myself writing 'lol' though.

Oh come on lol. Everyones doing it, lol. lol....

I'm currently taking my fourth year of Latin. It's a pain because my teacher is expecting a second (unexpected) baby only a year after she had her first one, and she's taking all her raging hormones out on us. Still, it's a fun language (until you get to Cicero's orations - that stuff barely makes sense in English ), and I have to admit it's helped SO much with learning Russian, in regards to declining words and understanding the way to use the cases. I also attempted Greek, but got about as far as the alphabet before I lost interest. I figured no one speaks ancient Greek anyway, and Greek is only fun if it is ancient. Hehe.

No one speaks Latin though...

Anyway, you should subtely leave hints on that woman's desk. Leaflets and condons, or the pill or abortion.

Originally Posted by TATY

No one speaks Latin though...

Well they do in the Vatican, but that's only one city and few people there actually speak it. There are some groups of people who meet once a year and converse only in Latin, but I don't think that counts. Either way, I plan on learning Latin because it is awesome and some great literature has been written in it. I don't care how futile it is.

Originally Posted by Darobat

Originally Posted by TATY

No one speaks Latin though...

Well they do in the Vatican, but that's only one city and few people there actually speak it. There are some groups of people who meet once a year and converse only in Latin, but I don't think that counts. Either way, I plan on learning Latin because it is awesome and some great literature has been written in it. I don't care how futile it is.

Vatican City is actually a country/independant state.

Wow, so it is...

Either way, I plan on learning Latin because it is awesome and some great literature has been written in it. I don't care how futile it is.

That is true! I've seen different english translations of Vergil's Aeneid, and they're usually all messed up to make it rhyme...It's really pretty in lingua Latina. I also like the angsty (and often quite filthy) poems of Catullus, and Ovid's twisted "love advice". It's also really cool to read Roman myths in the original language; I've read the one about the Great Flood, Icarus, plus a bunch about Iupiter, Iuno and the lot.

I'd say Latin is worth it. I've helped people with their French and Spanish homework just by knowing the root words, and I'm sure I've learned a heap of new English vocab from studying it. Plus I get to show off when there's a piece of artwork or a school motto in Latin that I can translate....

Originally Posted by TATY

I am thinking of learning Greek. I have learnt the alphabet, which was reeeealy easy since I know Russian and did maths at school.

I was also surprised to find out that Alpha Beta Gamma Delta is actaully Alpha Veta Ghamma Thelta in modern Greek, and the sounds [b] [g] [d] don't have their own letters.

So does anyone speak Greek here.

We should have an Indonesi-.... I mean Greek Forum!!!!

The letters were Alpha, Veta, Gamma, Thelta in ancient Greek also - there is no difference.

I am Greek. If you have something to ask me, feel free to do it. And should I take the Indonesi- thing as a joke :P ?

Originally Posted by Греческо

The letters were Alpha, Veta, Gamma, Thelta in ancient Greek also - there is no difference.

The letters were, of course, the same but the sounds were different, according to the experts.

from http://www.translexis.demon.co.uk/new_page_2.htm

" Let us then compare then Plato’s Greek to that of his modern Athenian counterpart almost two and half millennia later.

The changes involve pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. The ancient pronunciation with rising and falling tones has given way to a strong stress accent on the dominant syllable of each word. The system of long and short vowels is gone, all vowels having an equal, indeterminate, length and some consonants have changed their sound, notably‚ B has changed from b to v, Г from g to gh, and Δ from d to dh."

[quote=translations.nm.ru][quote="Греческо":1eyvpew8]

The letters were Alpha, Veta, Gamma, Thelta in ancient Greek also - there is no difference.
[/quote]

The [i]letters[/i] were, of course, the same but the [i]sounds[/i] were different, according to the experts.

from [url="http://www.translexis.demon.co.uk/new_page_2.htm"]http://www.translexis.demon.co.uk/new_page_2.htm[/url]

" Let us then compare then Plato’s Greek to that of his modern Athenian counterpart almost two and half millennia later.

The changes involve pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. The ancient pronunciation with rising and falling tones has given way to a strong stress accent on the dominant syllable of each word. The system of long and short vowels is gone, all vowels having an equal, indeterminate, length and some consonants have changed their sound, notably‚ B has changed from b to v, Г from g to gh, and Δ from d to dh."[/quote:1eyvpew8]

Greek was never one and the same language. In the age of Plato the widely spoken dialects of Greek were many. I don't deny that some of them maybe pronounced Δ as d and Γ as g or whatever.