#modern Greek

[gemsofgreece]

The Ancient Greek word for ship was ναῦς. The word is borderline obsolete in Modern Greek, except the majority of seafaring terms actually derive from it.

For example,

ναύτης (náftis) = sailor

ναυτικό (naftikó) = navy <- that’s where the English word originates too

ναυπηγείο (nafpiyío) = shipyard

ναύλα (návla) = ticket for a mode of transportation, especially ships

The common Modern Greek terms for ship are πλοίο (plío) and καράβι (karávi).

Πλοίο comes from the verb πλέω (pléo) which means “float and sail” and it is also etymologically Greek.

I mostly make this post for καράβι which I was convinced to this day that it was a loanword, perhaps from Turkish or Latin.

Today I learned that καράβι too is etymologically Greek, from Koine Greek καράβιον (karávion), from Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabhos) which meant “prawn”.

A little stupid of me because even the modern Greek word for prawn is καραβίς (karavís) or more commonly now καραβίδα (karavíða) but somehow I never made the connection.

So once again Greeks had the exact word for ship but at some point in time they went nah fook that from now on we gonna call ships

✨Prawn-ions✨

[studywithjennifer]

starting a new language and beginning again from scratch with grammar is always weird, but exciting too.

notes on modern greek articles in the nominative case - 17/06/2023

[didoofcarthage]

When they saw Patroklos dead –so brave and strong, so young– the horses of Achilles began to weep; their immortal nature was upset deeply by this work of death they had to look at. They reared their heads, tossed their long manes, beat the ground with their hooves, and mourned Patroklos, seeing him lifeless, destroyed, now mere flesh only, his spirit gone, defenseless, without breath, turned back from life to the great Nothingness.

C.P. Cavafy, “The Horses of Achilles,” from Collected Poems (translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard)

[renegade-hierophant]

Ancient Attic Greek and Modern Greek pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet with audio:

Site 1 (several large charts with lots of audio)

Site 2 (simple traditional chart)

[kelseythelinguist]

Any recommendations for a person trying to learn Greek?

Yes, definitely! I also wrote a post on learning Modern Greek online.

I am not sure what your native language is or if you know any other languages. I studied German before Greek, and so I found Greek grammar very easy in comparison.

To start with, it's slightly more complex than Spanish for English native speakers since it uses a case system (changing noun, adjective, and article endings). But I found the patterns fairly regular and easy to remember! So it is not stressful at all. And since many words are similar between English and Greek, you will find it easy to pick up vocabulary.

For learning, this was what I did:

A1/A2

Timeframe: 9-12 Months, Depending on how fast you go

Tools:

Duolingo: 5-6 lessons/1 crown a day, or 30 minutes

Rosetta Stone: 3 lessons a day, or 30 minutes

Language Transfer Greek: 1-2 lessons a day, 10-20 minutes

LingQ: Free reading, when chilling out

When you finish Duolingo and Rosetta Stone materials, watch Eisai To Tairi Mou on Youtube. The wonderful George has subbed the whole series in English.

For textbooks, I used Take Off In Greek. I did 1 lesson a week after completing Duolingo/Rosetta/etc. This takes about 3 months. There is an audio CD, which you may need to buy separately. I'm not sure.

I also started tutoring while working on the textbook. I meet with Georgia on Italki, who is amazing.

B1/B2

I'm still working on this. 😉

Colloquial Greek is a good textbook here. It's very fast, though. Lots of vocabulary. Routledge also has a Modern Greek Reader, which is advanced but quite good.

But if you want in-depth resources, look at "publications" from Omilo.

Lydia is a good review of A1/A2, all dialogues. They also have workbooks on verbs, Greek music, podcasts, etc. Their B1/B2 book is Fiyame, and it's all in Greek.

At this point, I would work through either Colloquial or Fiyame while working with a tutor 1-2x a month or more.

There is also a Greek Mastodon server - https://kafeneio.social/explore

I am not on this server, but I follow and interact with many people on it. I also use Greek as my default language. 😊

University of Athens

I want to point out that there is an affordable learning course from the University of Athens. It is an online course. They have multiple language courses, but they have a good deal.

Their basic level course is 150 EURO, but you can get it for less. If you buy one of their culture courses, many of which are 100/120 EURO, you can get the Greek course free. The culture courses are taught in English.

I hope this is all helpful! I find Modern Greek rather fun and easy to digest. So far, the grammar is not very difficult. And many of the A1/A2 resources are free or low-cost. Rosetta Stone can be bought for $167, I think, and be used for multiple languages.

[librarydeyo]

I went to my local library to check out a few language learning audiobooks to listen to during my hour commute to school the other day. I went specifically for the German one, I get it, then I get home and look down at the audiobook, and see that I PICKED UP MODERN GREEK INSTEAD.

the matrix glitched that day

[xelidonia]

In honor of Greek Independence Day, here's a conversation that I overheard my grandmother (your average pita-baking, Saints-praising, extremely-devout-Orthodox Greek Yiayia) having over the phone with her cousin:

Yiayia: "...marriage for homosexuals???"

(At this point I start paying attention.)

Yiayia: "But there's always been gays around. And lesbians. Even in the old times."

Guy on the other end of the phone: annoyed arguing

Yiayia: "Yes! Even in back in my village, we had lesbians. Two of them, "male-females" [αρσενοθήλυκες]. One of them was named Marlena, and her mother was our neighbor growing up. A good family! After the earthquake [of 1953], she and her wife moved to Athens. The rest of the family..."

Guy on phone: homophobic old man noises

Yiayia: "Saint Paul doesn't like it? Saint Paul doesn't even like normal marriage! He says all sorts of things, that Saint Paul... Tell me, have you ever read the New Testament in Modern Greek? My daughter got me a copy, with everything modern, and I read it every day, and I understand so much more now. You should try reading the New Testament in Modern Greek sometime. It might help."

[sciogli-lingua]

The colors in Greek

το χρώμα /'xro.ma/ = the color μονόχρωμος/-η/-ο /mo.'no.xɾo.mos/ = monochrome πολύχρωμος/-η/-ο /po.'li.xɾo.mos/ = polychrome

άσπρο /'a.spɾo/ = white μαύρο /'ma.vɾo/ = black κόκκινο /ˈko.ci.no/ = red πορτοκαλί /por.to.ka.'ʎi/ = orange κίτρινο /ˈci.tɾi.no/ = yellow πράσινο /ˈpɾa.si.no/ = green γαλάζιο /ɣa.ˈla.zʝo/ = light blue γαλανό /ɣa.la.ˈno/ = light blue μπλε /ble/ = blue μοβ / μωβ /mov/ = violet, purple καφέ /ka.'fɛ/ = brown γρίζο /ˈɡɾi.zo/ = grey ρόζ /ɾoz/ = pink χρυσό /xɾi.'so/ = gold

[langblrofsorts]

Dog speech in modern greek, english and spanish

In english, dogs bark. The verb "to bark" comes from a germanic root (by the way, it's not the same root as the bark of a tree). And them dogs go "woof". And that's fine, woof resembles a sound a dog would make.

In spanish, dogs ladran. The verb ladrar comes from latin latrare, with the same meaning. The thing is, in spanish, dogs go "guau". Well, it may not be much in writing, but if you listen how the spaniards pronounce it, it's pretty close! (You can hear it in this video, in 4:52).

And then, we have modern greek. So, in modern greek, dogs γαβγίζουν. And that's because in greek, dogs go "γαβ". As a native speaker, I acknowledge that γαβ doesn't resemble a dog's bark but that's what we use, anyway. So, get used to it :)

So, we got the γαβ sound, we added the common verb ending -ίζω and we came up with verb γαβγίζω. You can hear me go γαβ in the mp3 file at the end of the post.

And here's how to form all tenses of the verb in the first person singular.

Το these, I would add two forms of conditional. Θα γάβγισα (= I must have barked) and θα γάβγιζα (= I would have been barking).

Oh, and there's the word for the bark itself, which is γάβγισμα.

In the mp3 file, you can hear me pronounce γαβ, γάβγισμα and also read the greek in the table above.

You can now bark succesfully in modern greek.

[sebslanguageblog]

Βεβαίως - Of course Διακοπές - Vacation Καινούριο - New Διαβατήριο - Passport Άρρωστος - Sick/ill Χώρος - Space Κράτηση - Reservation Ψιθυρίζω - Whisper (verb) Ψίθυρος - Whisper (noun) Πεινάω - I’m hungry Κόκορας - Rooster Ανεβασμένος - Elevated, raised Καρύδα - Coconut

[kebriones]

Socrates/Alcibiades dialogue fragment from the very real Alcibiades III platonic dialogue that I found in my basement and did not make up

[gemsofgreece]

Origins of Modern Greek folk sayings

NOTE: By "origins" here I do not mean absolute exact origin as this would be impossible to know. It rather signifies the likely first documented usage of the saying in the Greek literary heritage.

Ένα χελιδόνι (ή ένας κούκος) δεν φέρνει την άνοιξη. Meaning: A single swallow (or a single cuckoo) does not bring the spring. This is where the english idiom "one swallow does not a summer make" come from as well. Origin: Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεἶ ( A single swallow does not create the spring) - Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (384 - 322 BC). Aristotle said this phrase inspired by one of Aesop's tales (620 - 564 BC).

Το ένα χέρι νίβει το άλλο. Meaning: Each hand washes the other. It exists in English as well as in other languages, spread through Latin "Manus manam lavat". Origin: ἁ δὲ χεὶρ τὰν χεῖρα νίζει - Epicharmus, 5th century BC.

Ό,τι σπείρεις θα θερίσεις. Meaning: You will reap what you sow. Widespread proverb. Origin: Εί κακά τις σπείραι κακά κέρδια αμήσειν (If one sows bad things, he will reap bad things) - Hesiod (~ 750 - 650 BC).

Κάλλιο να σε ζηλεύουνε παρά να σε λυπούνται Meaning: It's better to be envied than to be pitied by others. Origin: κρέσσον γὰρ οἰκτιρμοῦ φθόνος (for envy is better than pity) - Pindar, (~ 518 –  438 BC).

Έπαθε και έμαθε Meaning: He suffered so he learned Origin: τὸν πάθει μάθος (the suffering becomes a lesson) - Aeschylus (~ 525 - 455 BC)

Μη με συγχίζεις Meaning: Don't confound me, meaning "don't make me upset" Origin: μή μοι σύγχει - Homer (8th century BC)

Μη με σκοτίζεις Meaning: "Don't put me in the dark" meaning "don't annoy / bother me" Origin: Αποσκότησον με ("Get me out of the dark" AKA the notorious "Don't hide the sun and gtfo" line) - Diogenes to Alexander the Great

βίος αβίωτος Meaning: "Unlivable life", unbearable life Origin: Ἀβίωτον ζῶμεν βίον (We live an unlivable life) - Philemon (362 BC – c. 262 BC)

Ἐχει και του πουλιού το γάλα Meaning: "It even has the bird's milk" meaning it has anything you can imagine Origin: δώσομεν ὑμῖν γάλα τ᾽ ὀρνίθων (We will give you even the milk of birds / hens) - Aristophanes (446 - 386 BC)

Άει στον κόρακα Meaning: Go to the crow, an equivalent of "go to hell" Origin: ἔρρʼ ἐς κόρακας! (go to the crows) - standard phrase, frequently used by Aristophanes

Κάθε αρχή και δύσκολη Meaning: Every beginning is also difficult Origin: Αρχή δήπου παντός έργου χαλεπωτέρα (the beginning of every project is the hardest) - ancient saying

Η αλήθεια είναι πικρή Meaning: Truth is bitter Origin: ἔχει τι πικρὸν ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας λόγος (there is something bitter in the words of truth) - Demades (380 - 318 BC)

Η αλήθεια δεν κρύβεται Meaning: Truth cannot be hidden Origin: Ἀδύνατον τ' ἀληθές λαθεῖν (It is impossible to hide the true thing) - Menander (342 - 291 BC)

Φοβάται και την σκιά του Meaning: He's even afraid of his shadow (used when someone is afraid all the time) Origin: τὴν αὐτοῦ σκιὰν δέδοικεν (he's afraid of his own shadow) - Aristophanes (446 - 386 BC)

Καμιά δουλειά δεν είναι ντροπή Meaning: No job is shameful Origin: Έργον δ' ουδέν όνειδος - Hesiod (~ 750 - 650 BC)

Χτίζεις στην άμμο Meaning: You build in the sand, meaning you're doing something pointless, that will be ruined or over very soon. Origin: Εἰς ψάμμον οἰκοδομεῖς - Plutarch (46 - 119 AD)

[studywithjennifer]

modern greek verb conjugation aka distant screaming - 19/06/2023

[lios-archive]

helloooooo does anyone know if there are any decent modern greek exercise books you would recommend? Possibly in English or Italian? Thank you I'm kissing you all on the head 🙏🏼

[cilginfillermigoruyorumne]

someone, anyone, for the love of god, recommend a greek sitcom with english subs! i need greek content so bad.

[kelseythelinguist]

For anyone looking to improve their Greek or Greek cultural studies, the University of Athens has many online courses in English by local professors. Tagging @gemsofgreece and @alatismeni-theitsa in case your non-Greek followers are interested.