Introductory Ancient Greek Language/Basics

2007-04-06T13:32:37Z

220.238.192.156: /* The Letters, Greek orthography */

Learning a different alphabet may seem daunting at first, but Greek characters are very similar to the Latin ones English speakers are used to. Greek evolved from the Phoenicians who were the first recorded civilization to create an alphabet, and Latin similarly developed from Greek and other languages. The name alphabet itself comes from the words Alpha and Beta.

It's a lot to take in at one go so don't feel bad if you fail to remember all of these immediately. You will have plenty of time to get these characters under your belt. When you feel ready try to convert some Greek into English and some English into Greek below.

== The Letters, Greek orthography ==
The letters of the Greek alphabet look like this:
αβγδεζηθικ...

Here is more information about the letters

'''Alpha Α α '''

Short or long A pronounced like the English a in ''drama''.

'''Beta Β β '''

b

'''Gamma Γ γ '''

g

When followed by γ, κ, χ, or ξ it is pronounced like /ng/.

'''Delta Δ δ'''

d

'''Epsilon Ε ε'''

Short e pronounced like the e in ''bed''.

'''Zeta Ζ ζ'''

Commonly pronounced like z, however, it is more correctly the combination of a separate s and d sound as in the word ''wisdom''.

'''Eta Η η '''

Long a, e pronounced like ''hate''.

'''Theta Θ θ '''

Often pronounced simply as /th/ however it is more correctly pronounced as ''pothole''.

'''Iota Ι ι'''

This letter's name is pronounced as ''yota'' (not ''ee-ota'' or 'eye-ota' as is common). Pronounced as short or long English /i/.

'''Kappa Κ κ'''

k

'''Lambda Λ λ'''

l

'''Mi Μ μ'''

m

'''Ni Ν ν'''

n

'''Xi Ξ ξ'''

ks or x

'''Omicron Ο ο'''

Short o. The name itself means ''little o'', ''mikron'' being the Greek word for ''small''.

'''Pi Π π'''

p

'''Rho Ρ ρ'''

r

'''Sigma Σ σ,ς'''

s. It is written as σ when in the middle of a word, but as ς when at the end.

'''Taf Τ τ'''

t

'''Ypsilon Υ υ'''

y

Pronounced as in French ''tu'' or German ''über''

'''Phi Φ φ'''

Commonly pronounced as /f/ as in ''philosopher'', but is more correctly pronounced as in ''tophat''

'''Chi Χ χ'''

The name of this letter is pronounced "kee". Pronounced as in ''khaki''

'''Psi Ψ ψ'''

ps

'''Omega Ω ω'''

Long o. The name means big "o" since mega is Greek for large.

== Short and Long Syllables ==

Ancient Greek has short and long syllables. It is important to know which is which in order to understand some points about accents (lesson 2). Long syllables are held for approximately twice as long as short syllables.

Long syllables: ᾱ, ῡ, ῑ, η, ω, αυ, ευ, ηυ, υι, ει, ου, οι, αι

Short syllables: α, υ, ι, ε, ο

'''NB:''' αι and οι are considered short when at the end of a word.

== Latinization ==

Through history Greek names have been translated according to a Latin form, which English typically uses.

υ to y

κ to c

αι to ae

οι to oe

== Activities ==

Convert these English words to Greek characters.

Sparta
Spartans
philosopher
museum
nectar
genesis
angel
mētropolis
thōrax
critērion

Convert these Greek words to English.

Δελφι
Μιδας
Ξερξης
Λεωνιδας
Θερμοπυλη
κυκλοψ
κυδος

== Answers ==
<div class="NavFrame" style="clear:left; text-align: center; border: 0px; width:200px">
<div class="NavHead" style="background-color:transparent; text-align:left"> Click Expand to see answers:</div>
<div class="NavContent" style="text-align:left">
Σπαρτα
Σπαρτανς
φιλοσοφερ
μυσευμ
νεκταρ
γενεσις
αγγελ
μητροπολις
θωραξ
κριτηριον

</div>
</div>
<div class="NavEnd"> </div>

<div class="NavFrame" style="clear:left; text-align: center; border: 0px; width:200px">
<div class="NavHead" style="background-color:transparent; text-align:left"> Click Expand to see answers:</div>
<div class="NavContent" style="text-align:left">
Delphi
Midas
Xerxēs
Leōnidas
Thermopylae (literally Thermopulē)
Cyclops (literally Kuklops)
kudos

</div>
</div>
<div class="NavEnd"> </div>
[[Category:Ancient Greek Language]]|[[Learning activities]]

Introductory Ancient Greek Language/Lesson 2

2007-04-06T13:28:30Z

220.238.192.156: /* Accent Marks */

== Breathing Marks Explained ==
Every Greek word that begins with a vowel (α,ε,η,ι,ο,υ, and ω) will have something called a breathing mark. These look like apostrophes and can be either rough or smooth.

'''Rough Breathings'''

If the breathing is rough then it is an apostrophe curved in the opposite direction (ἑ,ἁ,ἡ, etc...) If a breathing is rough then the word is pronounced as if there were an /h/ in front of it. Thus, the Greek word for 'sleep' ὕπνος will be pronounced as [hupnos].

'''Smooth Breathings'''

If the breathing mark is smooth (ἀ,ἐ,ὀ, etc...) then it is shaped exactly like an apostrophe and comes either slightly before the vowel or directly above. Smooth breathing marks simply mean there is no /h/ pronounciation.

'''Exception'''

These are present only when vowels are the first letter of the word except in the case of the letter rho (ρ). If rho is the first letter of the word then it always has a rough breathing mark. This is why most English derived words such as rhinoceros, rheumatism, and rhododendron have the /rh/ in front.

== Accent Marks ==

You may notice the second mark after the breathing mark in the word ὕπνος. They are important for distinguishing the difference between words. There are three different types of accents in Ancient Greek. The acute, the circumflex, and the grave. Ancient Greek was originally a tonal language - this meant that the pitch of a word made a difference to its meaning. The acute accent used to indicate a higher pitch, the grave a lower pitch, and the circumflex a higher then immediately lower pitch. later they simply indicated on which syllable the emphasis landed.

There are various rules concerning where an accent mark will fall:

'''Acute:'''
*It can be placed on both long and short vowels on any of the final three syllables.
*If the last syllable is long, it can only be placed on the final two syllables.
*If the penult is long and the ultima is short, it cannot go on the penult.

'''Circumflex:'''
*It can only be placed on long vowels.
*It can only be placed on the last two syllables.
*It can only go on the penult if the ultima is short.

'''Grave''':
*Only ever exists when replacing an acute accent on the ultima when another word follows immediately without any intervening punctuation.

''Antepenult''= third last syllable of a word

''Penult'' = second last syllable of a word

''Ultima'' = last syllable of a word

'''NB:''' accents on words DO change to obey these rules, eg. ἄνθρωπος becomes ἀνθρώπου when it goes from nominative to genitive, and οἶκος becomes οἴκου when it goes from nominative to genitive.
[[Category:Ancient Greek Language]]

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