stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5835 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin
| Message 89 of 248 21 January 2013 at 1:21am | IP Logged |
I have to admit I always pronounce Greek g as in English, maybe sometimes as in Spanish between vowels. It's only after reading this discussion and listening to some Greek that I've noticed that it does differ.
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zecchino1991 Senior Member United States facebook.com/amyybur Joined 5261 days ago 778 posts - 885 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew, Russian, Arabic (Written), Romanian, Icelandic, Georgian
| Message 90 of 248 21 January 2013 at 5:36am | IP Logged |
It sounds like you are having a wonderful trip! I like all the cultural insights you post, they're very fun to read.
:)
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Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5059 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian*
| Message 91 of 248 21 January 2013 at 7:01am | IP Logged |
English h is the closest sound to Greek χ, and the Greek do not hear the difference
between those sounds. γ speaks for itself, look at the IPA. I think Dutch ch and g are
uvular sounds, while the Greek sounds are velar. The best approximation I think is
Russian x and Southern Russian г.
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Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5337 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian
| Message 92 of 248 21 January 2013 at 7:06am | IP Logged |
Mark, can you give any insight on the chocolate compliment?
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Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5059 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian*
| Message 93 of 248 21 January 2013 at 7:12am | IP Logged |
Solfrid Cristin wrote:
Mark, can you give any insight on the chocolate compliment?
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No, I can't. I don't know. Maybe it was due her suntan?
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Brun Ugle Diglot Senior Member Norway brunugle.wordpress.c Joined 6623 days ago 1292 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English*, NorwegianC1 Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, Spanish, Finnish
| Message 94 of 248 21 January 2013 at 7:25am | IP Logged |
Solfrid Cristin wrote:
Mark, can you give any insight on the chocolate compliment? |
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Well, everyone loves chocolate, but even so, are you 100 % sure you understood? It sounds like a strange thing to say. If your daughter looks anything like you, she probably doesn't give the appearance of being very chocolaty.
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Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5337 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian
| Message 95 of 248 21 January 2013 at 7:38am | IP Logged |
She looks very much like me, and has a very fair skin, even after a few days in the sun, so I do not think
that was it. No I am not sure I got it right, but she first said my daughter was very beautiful, and then she
made a swiping movement over her face and said something which involved chocolate, and smiled. ( And
my daughter did not have chocolate in the face so that was not it. I take it that "sweet as chocolate" is not a
regular expression in Russian?
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renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4361 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew
| Message 96 of 248 21 January 2013 at 7:40am | IP Logged |
embici wrote:
A friend of mine who studied Modern Greek at University told me that his professor once
told him "Thank-you is not a word that comes easily to Greek lips." There is a sense
that by saying thank-you you are acknowledging a debt to the other person that you may
rather not have to repay.
On a trip to Greece many years ago a Greek did tell me I needn't say thank-you so much.
"Once a day is enough."
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Actually, thank you is used a lot. It's "I'm sorry" that's not used as often as it should be. As for the debt thing, let's not go there...
LOL on the "once a day" comment. Maybe you were being too grateful and they were trying to make you feel at ease?
As for accent and pronunciation, it's always better to hear it. Why don't you just listen to a greek tv show or something? You'll catch the sounds in no time.
Here is a link with an interview of a man who is a professor of greek language, who speaks very clearly and slowly.
http://www.ert-archives.gr/V3/public/main/page-assetview.asp x?tid=33667&autostart=0
Edited by renaissancemedi on 21 January 2013 at 7:48am
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