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agent-troi · 6 months

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linguistics is fun:

- from the latest mensa bulletin

- from the novel spock’s world by @dduane

#star trek #linguistics #greek language #spock #vulcan #spock’s world

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lionofchaeronea · 3 months

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Come, shining lyre, speak to me--gain the power of utterance. ἄγι δὴ χέλυ δῖα μοι λέγε φωνάεσσα δὲ γίνεω. --Sappho, fr. 118

#quote #quotes #classics #tagamemnon #Sappho #Greek #Greek language #Ancient Greek #Ancient Greek language #Greek translation #Ancient Greek translation #poetry #poetry in translation #Greek poetry #Ancient Greek poetry #fragment

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psychidion · 5 months

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ancient greek words for colors:

On the whole, the Greeks were not really concerned with giving names to specific colors. Their color terms were vague, often had more to do with shade than color difference, and drew in a sort of dynamic physicality that is honestly incredibly interesting.

μέλας and λευκός, which were commonly used to refer to black and white respectively, were still more involved with shade than the particular colors that we perceive as black and white. μέλας also meant dark, murky, and swarthy. λευκός was light, bright and clear, referred to any white color from a pure white to a light grey, and could also refer to someone with lighter skin.

χλωρός meant pale green or greenish yellow, but also commonly meant pale or pallid when referring to people and fresh or blooming when referring to plants and liquids (including blood and tears).

πορφύρεος is where we get the color term purple. And when it was referring to clothes or things, it did mean purple. But when it was describing people, especially their complexions, it meant bright red or flushed. This definition originates from the basic meaning of the word: heaving, surging, gushing, coming from the verb πορφύρω.

ξανθός and ἐρυθρός are perhaps the only straightforward terms, meaning yellow or golden and red respectively. ξανθός was typically used to describe blonde (ish) people; Achilles is described as having ξανθή κόμη (golden hair).

γλαυκός was commonly used to refer to the color grey, or simply to describe something as gleaming. When it refers to eyes, it usually describes the color; the most famous example being Athena and her epithet of γλαυκῶπις or grey-eyed (or gleaming eyed).

And now let's talk about κυάνεος. We get the color term cyan from it, and the word is popularly considered to refer to a dark blue. But that isn't exactly accurate. If we look at what this word typically described: hair, people, etc., it is clear that the concept of blue that we have nowadays wasn’t really coming into play. In fact, the more general translation is dark or black, conveying a shade rather than a color, like μέλας. If I were to attribute a color term to this word at all, I would probably say blue-black, or a cool black, to convey the depth of that shade, which is probably what the Greeks were describing.

#ancient greek #vocab #vocabulary #language learning #greek language #greek vocab #classical literature #classics #colors #words for colors #how to describe colors #dys blurbs #i had to make my own list because every other one i've seen has colors that aren't referred to by texts with as much frequency #achilles #athena #the iliad #the odyssey

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gemsofgreece · 1 month

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Green horses

More Greek etymological madness!

There is a saying in modern Greek, πράσινα άλογα (prásina álogha), which literally means “green horses”. It is usually added to the end of a sentence to show that something is crazy, unbelievable, foolish and to express disbelief for a statement.

i.e «Είπε ότι θα είναι πάντα στ��ν ώρα του από δω και στο εξής και πράσινα άλογα»

(“He said he will always be on time from now on and green horses”)

The sentence indicates that the person has not stopped being late or that there is disbelief expressed that this person has the ability to even start trying being on time.

Why green horses though? How did this come to be?

Interestingly, no, it was not formed as a concept due to the inherent improbability of a horse being green. It originally had nothing to do with horses, let alone green ones.

The phrase originates from the ancient «πράσσειν άλογα» (prásin álogha) which means “acting thoughtlessly”.

The sound similarity between πράσσειν (prásin, acting) and πράσινα (prásina, green) is entirely incidental. The άλογα (álogha, thoughtlessly / horses) is on the contrary the same word! You see, the “official” Greek word for horse is ίππος (hippos or ippos). However, all animals were often called in ancient and especially medieval times as άλογα, from the negative α- and the noun λόγος which means logic, reason. Therefore animals were called álogha, beings without logic. The more the language evolved the word started describing horses more specific until in modern Greek it became the standard word for horse, overcoming ίππος by a long shot.

The phrase was surviving throughout in some way or another, however now the meaning of άλογα was getting enriched (it still also means “thoughtlessly”). Simultaneously, the infinitive «πράσσειν» was slowly fading, especially because its other lexical variant «πράττειν» (prátin, also means acting) was more popular and its verb is still used in its -t- variant nowadays.

So as πράσσειν was gradually becoming rarer and άλογα was getting a double meaning, people either out of humour or out of poor vocabulary morphed the phrase into πράσινα άλογα, green horses!

Interestingly it still expresses judgement against someone’s perceived stupidity, unreliability or madness (acting thoughtlessly)!

#greece #Greek #languages #language stuff #linguistics #langblr #Greek language #modern Greek #Ancient Greek #medieval Greek #Greek culture

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wordsmithic · 6 months

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In Greek "I get disappointed" (απογοητεύομαι) literally translates to "I get un-charmed/I get out of a spell".

My language will hit you with poetry for absolutely no reason.

Bonus: the deep history behind every word. The part of the word that means "magic/charm" didn't even start like this. To put it very plainly it started as "the loud cries of a fake magician/charlatan" and later went on to mean "attracting others by enchantment".

source for "γόης"/"γ(ο)ητεία"

#Hellas #Hellenic language #greek language #greek #linguistics #langblr #languages

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mapsontheweb · 13 days

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Provinces of Pakistan as mentioned in Greek Records

#maps #greek language #pakistan

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alatismeni-theitsa · 3 months

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I like the scary vibe here 😂

#learn greek #gestures #Greek language

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regina-mortis · 2 months

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Studying Greek with a cup of coffee 📚

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jeannereames · 2 months

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Dr. Reames, a simple question from someone interested in history but who is not part of the academic world: in order to study Alexander the Great and Ancient Greece in general, how much Ancient Greek does one have to learn? Would you need to learn Demotic Greek or the many other dialects, such as the one from Macedonia? As in, you’d need to learn one or more versions of Ancient Greek?

Thank you in advance! I always enjoy your responses!

How Much Greek Do I Need to Read about Alexander?

It depends on how far you want to go…what’s your end-goal?

If you’ve no desire to make it a profession, the good news is you need very little Greek.

Most ancient Greek and Latin texts are available in translation in the major languages of (European) Classical studies: English, French, German, Italian. Now, if you want them in Polish, or Japanese, or Bengali, you’ll have more of an issue. But the Loeb Classical Library (and LOEB ONLINE) has English translations of virtually all extant (still existing) Greek and Latin sources, and if you’ve got access to a (larger) college library, they probably have them, even if you have to ask them to get things out of storage. Latin is red (PA6156); Greek is green (PA3612). Budé is the French version of Loeb, btw.

Loeb texts also have Greek and Latin on the facing page, but I mention them because they’ve got translations of (almost) everything. One can find cheaper versions without the Greek/Latin from Penguin, Oxford, et al. But those don’t have, say, Aelian, or Athenaeus, or the obscure texts of Plutarch’s Moralia. Loeb does. That said, the Alexander histories (Arrian, Curtius, Plutarch, Diodoros, and Justin) are all available in relatively cheap translations. Much earlier, in answer to a different ask, I listed our main sources on Alexander, extant and lost. It’s a longer read, but perhaps of interest.

(See below for more online sources in translation.)

So, no, you don’t need Greek. But, if you’re at least moderately serious about reading beyond pop history, you will want to learn a few Greek words to better “get” Greek sensibilities. Say, timē (τιμή), which means honor/public standing/esteem, but has all these attendant connotations. If you start reading the Serious Stuff (articles and academic books), authors will throw these around so it’s useful to know them, as they tend to carry an entire freight of meaning we don’t want to explain every time we use them. These are words I make my students learn in my intro to Greek History class (2510), so there aren’t many. (Undergrads put up with only so much, ha.) For Alexander, it’s also useful to know the Greek names of some units, such as the Somatophylakes (the royal Bodyguard of 7), or the Hypaspists (the specialist hoplite phalanx, not the same as the Foot Companions), or even the name of the long pike (sarissa). But you can make do quite well with a vocab of maybe 30± Greek terms.

It's only if you want to pursue research at the advanced (graduate) level that you’d need Greek. Even then, it’s mostly Attic Greek. The only time you’d need dialects is for quite specific study and/or epigraphy (inscriptions). Epigraphers are language specialists. Most of us, even the “pros,” don’t work at that level. But yes, if you’re getting into extensive examinations of passages, it’s good to understand the language for yourself, not have to trust a translation. Translations are, by definition, interpretations.

I hope that encourages some folks to embark on reading the original (primary) sources. Of more import for these is to understand HISTORIOGRAPHY. Even those who can read the Greek, but lack historiographic training, tend to take stuff at face-value when they shouldn’t.

Go HERE for a discussion of historiography (with regard to Alexander). Again, it’s part of a specific ask, but I explain why we need to know something about the historians who are writing our texts, in order to understand those texts. It’s another longer read, but essential.

Almost forgot! If you prefer video, I've also talked about the sources on TikTok: Part I: Intro & Lost Alexander Sources and Part II: Extant Alexander Sources

Some Useful Online Sources to Bookmark:

Perseus (at Tufts.edu): clunky as hell because it’s old (in internet years), but indispensable. English/Greek/Latin/other texts in translation and original language, plus all sorts of other tools, including an image bank. Pitfall: these are translations outside copyright, so old and sometimes problematic. Still, it’s free, and so-so much stuff here. Every person dealing with the ancient Med world has this one on speed-dial. (You can find other online sources with various texts, but Perseus has, again, almost everything; it’s the online Loeb.)

Stoa Org Static: a version of the original where you don’t have to sign in. Takes you to various super-helpful pages, including the Online Suda (a Byzantine encyclopedia you can search: look up “Hephaistion” there. *grin*) Bunch of other helpful links.

Wiki Digital Classicist hypertext list of topics ranging from the Beasley Library (of pottery) to the Coptic Gnostic Library and various online journals. Just click around, see what’s there.

Topos Text: clickable map of places which includes all references to them in ancient sources. So if, say, you want to know where X places is, mentioned in Arrian, you can find it on the map.

PHI Searchable Greek Inscriptions: I have used the tar out of this. It’s much easier than Inscriptiones Graecae, and comes with English translations.

More Online Resources: more links. This is just one of various collections out there.

Again, ALL this stuff is free. Even when you may have to pay (like Loeb Online), the amount of material you can now lay hands on even without a uni library is fantastic.

JSTOR: requires a subscription, but, if you’re a college student or can get access via a uni library, you can look up material for free. Problem: JSTOR has different subscription packages, and only the really big Class-A Research schools have large holdings for Classics. I’m regularly foiled in things I need, as my library is smaller. I use ILL (Interlibrary Loan) a lot. If you can’t get what you want via your school JSTOR or ILL, sometimes you can purchase a solo copy of an article via JSTOR Google Scholar. But (hint) always check the journal’s website itself. It might be cheaper there! (The Ancient History Bulletin, for instance, is super-cheap; check their archives. Karanos [Macedonia only] is FREE.) Same thing sometimes with books. Certain publishers have rental options, Open Access, etc.

Also Academia.edu first: Your savior…if the author is a member, and has uploaded the paper you want. We frequently face restrictions on what we’re allowed to upload, and when. Yet we may list an article we can’t yet release publicly. That doesn’t mean we won’t send it to you privately via email if you message us and ask nicely. 😊 Especially if you’re not providing an entire wishlist, or asking for a book for free. It depends on the person, and whether they have a PDF.

#asks #greek language #alexander the great #studying the classics #Classics #source on Alexander the Great #How much Greek do I need?#ancient Greece #ancient Macedonia

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some-sort-of-siren · 6 months

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You need to understand how much of a whiplash it is going from my Greek 101 class to my welsh 101 class

#greek #welsh #greek language #welsh language

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hi-i-am-a-sock · 2 months

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latin and greek are basically the cheat code for learning scientific terminology

#langblr #languages #language learning #polyglot #studyblr #memes #latin #lingua latina #latin language #latin langblr #greek #greek language #greek langblr

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evilios · 5 months

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χρυσάορος (chrisaoros) - (with/of) arms of gold or (with/of) golden sword - an epithet attested to Apollo and multiple other Deities.

#APOLLO 🌞#LINGUA 📜#Source: The Iliad #greek language #apollo #I know this can be read as 'of golden weapon' too but concept: Apollo with an actual sword.#Double concept: Apollo with an actual Eastern sword (whatever type).#There was a 5k old sword found in a Venetian monastery that dates back to pre-Hellenic Eastern Turkey. THIS in his hand NOW.#Arms as a weapon.

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lionofchaeronea · 17 days

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Human beings exist for the sake of one another: so, either teach them or endure them. Οἱ ἄνθρωποι γεγόνασιν ἀλλήλων ἕνεκεν: ἢ δίδασκε οὖν ἢ φέρε. --Marcus Aurelius, Meditations VIII.59

#quote #quotes #classics #tagamemnon #Marcus Aurelius #Meditations #philosophy #ancient philosophy #Stoicism #Greek #Greek language #Greek translation #Ancient Greek #Ancient Greek language #Ancient Greek translation

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sag-dab-sar · 10 months

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Help I'm looking for podcasts & documentaries & other LISTENING media in Spanish & Greek

I don't mean podcasts MEANT for learners I wants stuff meant for the people who speak the language. I'm basically shoving down everything I enjoy listening to.

Greek history, mythology, modern folklore

Ancient Near East history or mythology

Dominican history or modern folklore

Taino history or mythology

Anything related to indigenous American history, languages, cultures, modern problems etc

Archaeology especially stone age cultures

Human evolution

The Universe & layman astronomy

Deep sea ocean exploration for a layman

The Arctic ocean, landmass, history, exploration, circumpolar indigenous peoples etc

Disasters, but not news reports I mean documentaries, history that sort of thing

Religions, I don't mean sermons or meditations I mean something that goes over religious ideas, theology, cosmology, history from a non-religious standpoint.

Commentary Youtubers... think Swoop or iNabber but just in Spanish or Greek. Or even tea channels

Horror game letsplayers on youtube

If you know where to find Greek DUBS of movies/TV shows other than netflix that'd be appreciated too

...I like other things but I think, hopefully, that's enough. I don't want true crime since I can't properly listen to trigger warnings. I'm just not a fan of fiction so a lot of movies and TV are pointless to try and learn from.

History Vault & Curiosity Stream don't seem to have Spanish content unfortunately. I do have HBO Max and will get Hulu & Disney+ eventually later this year so recommendations on those 3 are also good!

Feel free to leave a comment or maybe reblog since I'm sure the majority of my followers aren't Spanish or Greek speakers

#spanish #greek #spanish language #greek language #greece #dominican republic #langblr #language learning #español #Ελληνικά #documental #podcast #ντοκυμαντέρ #youtube #documentary #language #no fucking clue if ill get any responses at all

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gemsofgreece · 3 months

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I was today years old when I realised (thankfully on my own) that the English noun moron (meaning “idiot”) comes from the Greek adjective μωρός (morós), meaning “foolish”.

The word, which is used since ancient times, has evolved to have several additional usages besides that one.

The feminine version μωρή (morí) has become a generic vocative word which expresses disrespect and is not necessarily questioning the addressed woman’s intelligence in specific.

The masculine vocative form μωρέ (moré) has become a very generic exclamative term that can add colour to a phrase regardless of meaning. For example, τι λες μωρέ; (ti les moré - what the heck/ on earth are you saying, could work in a similar way to express bafflement at hearing something strange) but also μωρέ είμαι κουρασμένος (moré íme kurazménos - well, you see, I am tired, can be used in a similar way to soften the phrase that implies avoidance, like softening the rejection of a proposal to go out). It can regulate the exclamation in a sentence in a myriad of such ways.

But an even more interesting case is the neuter form of the word, which has turned into a noun, and is now the most common everyday word for the baby [το μωρό(ν) - to moró(n)], because a baby of course does not have well developed perception yet.

In other words, we earnestly call our babies morons by default and I think that’s beautiful.

#Greece #Greek language #English #English language #Greek #languages #etymology #langblr #linguistics #language stuff #greek word of the day #Greek facts #funny #random

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interretialia · 6 months

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Hecatē / Ἑκάτη

Hecate

(Fons Imaginis.)

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