|
 |
Mistakes made by native Greek speakers | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Polyglot_gr Super Polyglot Newbie Greece Joined 5099 days ago 29 posts - 64 votes  Speaks: Greek*, FrenchC2, EnglishC2, GermanC2, Italian, SpanishC2, DutchC1, Swedish, PortugueseC1, Romanian, Polish, Catalan, Russian, Hungarian | Message 1 of 4 09 June 2011 at 6:40pm | IP Logged |
|
When foreigners make mistakes in Greek, nobody is surprised. We know that our language has a rather complicated grammar, that’s why we do not laugh at those mistakes.
But when natives speak Greek, it is rather annoying to hear them make mistakes, especially if they are university graduates or, even worse, journalists! In this thread I'll present some common mistakes made by native Greeks. I will not attempt to sort them according to their gravity. I’ll just describe them as they come to my mind. 1. Using the augment in the imperative in compound verbs As learners of Greek probably know, the augment (the initial ε) is used in verbs in past tenses: έγραψε = he/she wrote It is not used in the imperative: γράψε = write Unfortunately, when in comes to compound verbs, some people get confused: περιέγραψε = he/she described περίγραψε = describe Sometimes you hear people say: Περιέγραψέ μου πώς πέρασες στο ταξίδι* Describe to me how the trip was Correct: Περίγραψέ μου πώς πέρασες στο ταξίδι Υπόγραψε αυτό το χαρτί (not υπέγραψε*) Sign this paper Απάγγειλε δυνατά το ποίημα (not απήγγειλε*) Recite the poem loudly Παράγγειλε δύο μπύρες για μένα (not παρήγγειλε*) Order two beers for me 2. Not shifting the stress correctly in nouns The stress in nouns behaves unpredictably as you move through the cases. One thing is sure: It cannot move back from the syllable where it falls in nominative singular. It can stay on the same syllable or move one or two syllables towards the end. Here mistakes abound! Let’s see an example: Singular Nominative: ο άνθρωπος Genitive: του ανθρώπου Accusative: τον άνθρωπο Vocative: άνθρωπε Plural Nominative: οι άνθρωποι Genitive: των ανθρώπων Accusative: τους ανθρώπους Vocative: άνθρωποι This is the only correct stress pattern for this noun. Nevertheless, you can hear many people say: οι ανθρώποι* i.e. shifting the stress in nom. pl.! A bit less common mistake is not to shift the stress in acc. pl.: τους άνθρωπους* In adjectives stress always remains on the same syllable. That's why the same word can have 2 different stress patterns, depending on whether it is used as a noun or as an adjective! Αυτές ήταν οι προτάσεις των ενδιαφερόμενων μερών These were the proposals of the interested parties Here the participle ενδιαφερόμενων is used as an adjective, so the stress in gen. pl. falls on the same syllable as in nom. sing. Αυτές ήταν οι προτάσεις των ενδιαφερομένων These were the proposals of the interested (people) Here the participle ενδιαφερομένων is used as a noun, so the stress moves to the next syllable towards the end. I have the impression that very few Greeks are aware of this subtle difference! 3. Verbs conjugated in the Ancient Greek way (αρχαιόκλιτα ρήματα) From the way a person handles these verbs, one can roughly guess the years of formal education he/she has received. παράγω: to produce An educated person would say: Πέρυσι σε αυτό το εργοστάσιο παρήχθησαν 200.000 καινούργια αυτοκίνητα Last year 200.000 new cars were produced in this plant A less educated person would say: Πέρυσι σε αυτό το εργοστάσιο παράχθηκαν 200.000 καινούργια αυτοκίνητα An uneducated person would say: Πέρυσι σε αυτό το εργοστάσιο παραχτήκανε 200.000 καινούργια αυτοκίνητα* The same verb also causes problems in the past subjunctive. The correct form is: Θέλω να παραγάγω ένα σωστό κείμενο I want to produce a correct text Unfortunately many people, even politicians, use this barbarism: Θέλω να παράξω ένα σωστό κείμενο* To understand how wrong it is, just use this ending with other verbs ending in -άγω. να εξάξω* να εισάξω* Some other people use the present subjunctive as past subjunctive, eliminating thus the difference between one-off actions and repeated actions. Θέλω να εξάγω όλη τη φετινή σοδειά στη Γερμανία* I want to export all this year’s crop to Germany Since an one-off action is meant, the correct form is: Θέλω να εξαγάγω όλη τη φετινή σοδειά στη Γερμανία If a repeated action was meant, the form εξάγω would be correct: Θέλω να εξάγω κάθε χρόνο τη σοδειά στη Γερμανία I want to export the crop to Germany every year 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5603 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 2 of 4 09 June 2011 at 7:21pm | IP Logged |
|
One thing is sure: It cannot move back from the syllable where it falls in nominative singular.
This rule I also know from ancient Greek. But there was one exeption: The vocative of some nouns like ὦ ἄδελφε, δέσποτα, πάτερ, ϑύγατερ, ἄνερ, γύναι etc. where it moves further back. But maybe this was lost in the last millenia. 3. Verbs conjugated in the Ancient Greek way (αρχαιόκλιτα ρήματα) παράγω: to produce An educated person would say: Πέρυσι σε αυτό το εργοστάσιο παρήχθησαν 200.000 καινούργια αυτοκίνητα Last year 200.000 new cars were produced in this plant Splendid! παρήχθησαν is indeed how Plato would have put "they were led by". Since the times of Roman Greek it even means "produce". If the difference between παρήχθησαν and παράχθηκαν the use of καθαρεύουσα versus δημοτική γλῶττα? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Polyglot_gr Super Polyglot Newbie Greece Joined 5099 days ago 29 posts - 64 votes Speaks: Greek*, FrenchC2, EnglishC2, GermanC2, Italian, SpanishC2, DutchC1, Swedish, PortugueseC1, Romanian, Polish, Catalan, Russian, Hungarian | Message 3 of 4 09 June 2011 at 8:26pm | IP Logged |
|
Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about Ancient Greek, since it is not among the languages I know.
As for the form παράχθηκαν, it is not just δημοτική, it is a barbarism, because it has no augment, while it should! The reason I did not mark it as a mistake is that Google gives 138,000 hits versus 282,000 for παρήχθησαν! Another verb that reveals uneducated people is: εκρήγνυμαι Its simple past is rather common, since you can often hear it in the news: Βόμβα εξερράγη εχθές … A bomb exploded yesterday … On the contrary, its present tense is only known to the initiated! Η βόμβα εκρήγνυται αν χτυπηθεί ο πυροκροτητής The bomb explodes if the detonator is hit The reason is that another verb is used in colloquial speech: Η βόμβα σκάει The bomb bursts Edited by Polyglot_gr on 09 June 2011 at 8:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Polyglot_gr Super Polyglot Newbie Greece Joined 5099 days ago 29 posts - 64 votes Speaks: Greek*, FrenchC2, EnglishC2, GermanC2, Italian, SpanishC2, DutchC1, Swedish, PortugueseC1, Romanian, Polish, Catalan, Russian, Hungarian | Message 4 of 4 11 June 2011 at 10:51am | IP Logged |
|
Here is another example showing how important correct stress shift is.
Yesterday the Greek Finance Minister announced, among other measures: Το υπουργείο προωθεί έκτακτη εισφορά σε κατόχους πισινών The ministry is pushing forward an extra levy on owners of buttocks Everybody burst into laughter. What he should have said was: Το υπουργείο προωθεί έκτακτη εισφορά σε κατόχους πισίνων The ministry is pushing forward an extra levy on owners of swimming pools Edited by Polyglot_gr on 12 June 2011 at 12:16pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
