Study Greek
Like Latin, Greek is an ancient language still used after many centuries by scholars. Unlike Latin, Modern Greek is a living language, and remains the official language of Spend Your Holiday in Greece and the Republic of Cyprus as well as the lingua franca of Greek communities in the Balkans, Turkey, Italy, Canada, Australia, England, and the United States.
By studying Greek, you will be able to read famous writings such as those by Plato, Lucian, Xenophon, Hippocrates, Homer, and The New Testament in the most original manuscripts available, as well as communicate with modern Greeks and Cypriots in their mother tongue. Moreover, studying Greek will improve your English vocabulary, as many words in English came from Greek. This article is to serve as a guide to studying Greek.
Contents
Steps
Greek Alphabet
The columns of the table of "Greek Alphabet" below are (from left to right): (1) the Greek letter in upper and lowercase - its name in Greek, (2) its equivalent name in English, (3) English pronunciation of the name, (4) pronunciation in English. For the letters Γ (Gamma) and Δ (delta) and Θ (theta) there is no letter sounding the same in english so for Γ, which sounds like the starting sound of the word win', we will write "Gh". Δ sounds like "Th" in "The" so the sound is "Thelta", not "Delta". Θ sounds like Th in "Theory". You have to get used to Δ and Θ both having the "th" as a symbol for pronunciation but each sounding differently.
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) |
| Α α - ἄλφα | Alpha | AHL-fah | a |
| Β β - βῆτα | Beta | BEE-tah | v |
| Γ γ - γάμμα | Gamma | GHA-mah | gh |
| Δ δ - δέλτα | Delta | DEHL-tah | th |
| Ε ε - ἒψιλόν | Epsilon | E-psee-lon | e |
| Ζ ζ - ζῆτα | Zeta | ZAY-tah | z |
| Η η - ἦτα | Eta | AY-tah | ee |
| Θ θ - θῆτα | Theta | THEE-tah | th |
| Ι ι -- ἰῶτα | Iota | YO-tah | ee |
| Κ κ - κάππα | Kappa | KAH-pah | k |
| Λ λ - λάμβδα | Lamda | LAHM-thah | l |
| Μ μ - μῦ | Mi | Mee | m |
| Ν ν - νῦ | Ni | Nee | n |
| Ξ ξ - ξῖ | Xi | KSEE | x |
| Ο ο - ὂμικρόν | Omicron | OH-mee-kron | o |
| Π π - πι | Pi | PEE | p |
| Ρ ρ - ῥῶ | Rho | RO | r |
| Σσς - σῖγμα | Sigma | SEEGH-mah | s |
| Τ τ - ταῦ | Tau | TAF | t |
| Υ υ - ὖψιλόν | Upsilon | U-psee-lon | ee |
| Φ φ - φῖ | Phi | FEE | f |
| Χ χ - χῖ | Chi | CHEE | ch |
| Ψ ψ - ψῖ | Psi | PSEE | ps |
| Ω ω - ὦμέγα | Omega | oh-MEH-ghah | ō |
Example of pronunciation: airplane αεροπλάνο (aeroplano), heavy βαρύς (varees), elder γέροντας (gherontas), Diagnosis διάγνωση (thiaghnosee), dice ζάρι (zaree), triumph θρίαμβος (threeamvos). paracetamol παρακεταμόλη (paraketamolee). And a nonsensical, yet pronounceable word (random letters): βαγδεζηθικλαμενοξοπροστυφαχεψω (vaghthezeetheeklamenoksoprosteefachepso). Take note that in the nonsensical word, you just put the correct sound of the letter (4th column) in its correct position in the nonsensical word and as a result you have the greek pronunciation of that word.
- Learn the Greek alphabet and the pronunciation of each letter. In Greek language, there can be no wrong pronunciation if you know how to pronounce the individual letters correctly: each Greek letter has one and only one pronunciation, except for some limited combinations of letters who are paired (see below) and give a different pronunciation. So in greek, putting random letters together can very well produce a pronounceable word, albeit it being a nonsensical word (just like above).
- Greek diphthongs (two letters that are pronounced as a single sound). There is a symbol for the separation of these letters to sound like individuals. The symbol is ¨ (διαλυτικά) and the second letter goes between the dots. Diphthongs and examles of ¨ are as follows:
- αι as e in "left". On the other hand, αϊ is pronounced "α-ee" (α ι)
- ει as i in "quit". On the other hand, εϊ is pronounced "e-ee" (ε ι)
- οι also as i in "quit". οϊ is pronounced o-ee (ο ι)
- αυ as af in "after" or "av" in "aviator", depending on the word. αϊ is pronounced α-ee (α υ)
- ευ as ef in "left" or "ev" in "evolution" depending on the word. εϋ is pronounced e-ee (ε υ)
- ου as oo in "loose". οϋ is pronounced o-ee (ο υ)
- Greek diphthongs (two letters that are pronounced as a single sound). There is a symbol for the separation of these letters to sound like individuals. The symbol is ¨ (διαλυτικά) and the second letter goes between the dots. Diphthongs and examles of ¨ are as follows:
- Emphasis: a mark is written over every vowel that is emphasized. The mark ' (called tonos - τόνος) written over a vowel and makes it stand out in the word, for example if "evolution" was a Greek word, a ' would be written over u (evolUtion). In "American", over e (amErican). In "University" over e (univErsity) etc. So the word "αεροπλάνο" is pronounced "aeroplAno". You emphasize the a. If a word has only 1 vowel, there is no need for the ' mark.
- Iota subscript: a small ι may be written under the letter α, η, ω when one of these letters ends a word. This is a relic of an ancient diphthong and is not pronounced, but must be written.
Greek Language
- Learn the declensions. There are three declensions in Greek: first, second, and third. Each noun must be declined with changes in its ending to denote whether its number is singular or plural, and whether its case is in the nominative (e.g., man in "a man sees a dog"), vocative (e.g., man in "O man, see the dog!), accusative (e.g., dog in "a man sees a dog"), genitive (e.g., of man in "the son of man sees a dog"), dative (e.g. for the man in "the son buys a dog for the man"). Adjectives are declined similar to nouns, and must agree with nouns in number, case, and gender.
- For example, the word λογος (meaning "word" in English) is declined as follows:
- Nominative singular: λογος
- Vocative singular: λογε
- Accusative singular: λογον
- Genitive singular: λογου
- Dative singular: λογῳ
- Nominative plural: λογοι
- Vocative plural: λογοι
- Accusative plural: λογους
- Genitive plural: λογῳν
- Dative plural: λογοις
- For example, the word λογος (meaning "word" in English) is declined as follows:
- Learn the prepositions. A preposition requires the noun following it (called the object of the preposition in English) to take a certain case (there is not a single objective case). For example, the preposition απο ("from") must be followed by a noun in the genitive case. The preposition εν ("in" or "on") must be followed by a noun in the dative case.
- Learn the verb conjugations. A table of verbs is typically found at the end of most Greek textbooks: make sure to study it carefully. The "Present" and "Imperfect" tenses denote continuous or repeated action. The "Perfect" tense denotes completed action. The "Aorist" tense denotes a simple, indefinite action, used when there is no need to indicate continuity, completion, or incompletion of the action denoted by the verb. A verb may be in the active, middle, or passive voice, and is conjugated accordingly. Furthermore, a verb is conjugated according to its context, i.e. indicative, imperative, subjunctive, optative.
- For example, the Present Indicative Active of the verb λεγω ("I say") is as follows:
- 1st singular: λεγω "I say, or I am saying"
- 2nd singular: λεγεις "Thou sayest, or thou art saying"
- 3rd singular: λεγει "He, she, or it says, or is saying"
- 1st plural: λεγομε "We say, or we are saying"
- 2nd plural: λεγετε "Ye say, or ye are saying"
- 3rd plural: λέγουν(ε) "They say, or they are saying"
- For example, the Present Indicative Active of the verb λεγω ("I say") is as follows:
- Learn the conjugation of irregular verbs. These must be memorised with practice.
- Learn new vocabularies and review them regularly, preferably daily. Try to make it a habit to revise a list of new vocabulary regularly, reviewing old ones prior to learning new ones. It is better to learn a little everyday, than trying to learn a lot once a week.
- Progress to speaking Greek as you find help in the common idiom and vernacular. You may find help from recorded lessons, a native speaker, or a fluent Greek language tutor.
Tips
- Note that the earliest writings in Greek, such as the Codex Sinaiticus, are all in capital letters. lowercase Greek letters were invented later to allow scribes to write faster. The Codex Sinaiticus is reputed to be the world's oldest known Bible. Studying Greek will allow you to read the New Testament in the original, uncorrupted version. See this passage from First Epistle of John. It is obviously missing the Comma Johanneum. The purple-coloured text (I John v. 7-8) says: "There are three witness bearers, the spirit and the water and the blood".
- Get a comprehensive textbook in Greek language and go through it diligently. It may help to read more than one textbook to solidify your knowledge.
- Get a good Greek-English dictionary to help you with unfamiliar words.
- Start reading Greek texts for practise, once you have finished at least one comprehensive Greek textbook. A good one to start is The New Testament, which uses very simple words and phrases, and the content is probably already familiar to you in an English translation. However, because the content of the The New Testament is probably already very familiar, the ability to read it does not imply much knowledge in Greek. After that, you should progress to read some easy texts whose content is not already familiar to you. Xenophon and Lucian are good choices. Plato's Apology of Socrates is another good one, and if you can, get one with translation side-by-side for easy reference as needed.
Warnings
- Spoken Greek is best pronounced with coaching by a fluent speaker rather than by your best list of mechanical rules for verbalizing. Yet, reading for meaning may be accomplished without knowing all of the pronunciations.
Things You'll Need
- A Greek language textbook
- Greek texts, such as the New Testament in original Greek
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