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Greek Modern with a goal of Koine? | ||
Tags: Ancient Greek | Greek | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| chompipe Newbie United States Joined 5134 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Studies: French | Message 1 of 13 17 November 2010 at 12:39am | IP Logged | ||
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So on this site, the page referring to the modern Greek language stats: "The modern language is also a good stepping stone to help you with Ancient Greek." (http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/modern-gre ek/index.html) Which is counter to what I have heard else ware. My goal is Classical Koine Greek but more recourses are available for modern Greek. Anyone with experience using modern Greek as a bridge to classical?
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| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6143 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 2 of 13 17 November 2010 at 1:17am | IP Logged | ||
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I think what it might mean by a stepping stone into the ancient language is that it will familiarize you with the alphabet, which is largely the same, and much of the basic vocabulary/roots and grammar is the same or similar. The comparison of Modern and Ancient Greek is perhaps like comparing French and Latin: You can understand many words and constructions from the younger/simpler language and thus some of the work is reduced, but the languages simplified over time so it still requires considerable work to shift to the more complicated ancient language.
So, you have two options as I see it: 1. Modern Greek --> Ancient Greek: As Modern Greek is considerably easier than its ancestor, you will be able to acquire proficiency more quickly than in Ancient Greek. You will also be learning a living language and be able to communicate with the people of modern Greece. Your learning of the modern language will reduce the difficulty of the ancient language somewhat, but you still face considerable work to learn Ancient Greek, which was your original goal. 2. Ancient Greek (--> Modern Greek): The other option is to dive straight into Ancient Greek. You will probably take significantly longer to achieve proficiency/fluency in this than in Modern Greek, but this is your main goal and you will not have to deal with the "middleman." In addition, if you choose to learn Modern Greek later, your work will be greatly facilitated, more so than going from Modern to Ancient Greek. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| chompipe Newbie United States Joined 5134 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Studies: French | Message 3 of 13 17 November 2010 at 6:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks ellasecia,
I think your analysis is right on, as you said there are parallels to the morphing of Latin to French, I understand that some say the sound shift in Koine to modern Greek is actually greater than Latin to French, (this just what I have read) but as you said the grammar has commonalities. As you said there is some benefit in learning the alphabet (which I am still on - newbie here) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| OneEye Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6851 days ago 518 posts - 784 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French | Message 4 of 13 18 November 2010 at 6:45am | IP Logged | ||
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There are plenty of good resources for Koine Greek. I'd imagine your goal is likely to be able to read the New Testament and perhaps the Septuagint, so I'd look at books that seminary students use. If you'd also like to learn Classical Greek, you might be better off starting there and then moving to Koine from what I've heard.
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| Qbe Tetraglot Senior Member United States joewright.org/var Joined 7136 days ago 289 posts - 335 votes Speaks: English*, Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Japanese, German, Mandarin, Aramaic | Message 5 of 13 22 November 2010 at 2:08am | IP Logged | ||
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If your goal is Koine Greek (New Testament), go straight for that. I used one of William Mounce's books to tutor a coworker a few years ago and it was very good. There are plenty of other good resources too.
You might also consider beginning with Attic Greek; if you learn Attic, Hellenistic Greek (that's what they called the Greek of the Septuagint when I was in school) and Koine will be a breeze. Writers of Koine Greek varied in their style: Greek in the New Testament ranges from very simple (John) to very classical (Luke). A good foundation in Attic Greek will prepare you for the entire range. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6123 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 6 of 13 02 December 2010 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | ||
This is how I am doing it. When you are proficient in Ancient Greek, not only is Modern Greek a breeze but it actually reinforces your Ancient Greek. I would disagree with the French-Latin analogy as Modern Greek is much closer to Ancient Greek than French is to Latin. French and Latin are clearly different languages while Modern and Ancient Greek are really only different dialects of the same language (hence both are called "Greek"). I would do it this way: Get a solid grasp of Ancient Greek--say, the intermediate level--then do some Modern Greek--this will give you the euphony of the ancient language--which is a huge impediment to Ancient Greek (or was for me). The Erasmian pronunciation convention normally used in Ancient Greek is clearly wrong--the ancient language was (probably) pronounced much closer to the Modern language--so much so that using the modern pronunciation is a perfectly acceptable method of pronouncing Ancient Greek. Then, go back and perfect your Ancient Greek to fluency--and then go back to Modern Greek. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6143 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 7 of 13 02 December 2010 at 11:58pm | IP Logged | ||
I, in turn, disagree with you. By your logic, (Modern) English and Old English are just dialects of the same language because they are both called "English." I don't know how it looks from your Ancient Greek-only perspective, but from my Modern Greek-only perspective, Ancient Greek is definitely not the same language. I can only make out a few words here or there, the word order is different, the grammar is a lot more complicated... When my grandmother quotes sayings or proverbs in Ancient Greek (or even in the formerly official Katharevousa) I always have to ask for a translation in Modern Greek because I can't understand it at all. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6123 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 8 of 13 03 December 2010 at 1:09am | IP Logged | ||
Actually, I know some Modern Greek as well, I just haven't included it in my profile yet... Let's take an example: John 1:1 from the New Testament: Koine: Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. Modern: Αρχικά υπήρχε ο Λόγος και ο Λόγος υπήρχε με το Θεό, και Θεός ήταν ο Λόγος. Ἐν ἀρχῇ = Αρχικά ἦν = υπήρχε ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος = ο Λόγος και ο Λόγος ἦν = υπήρχε πρὸς = με τὸν θεόν = το Θεό και Θεός = και Θεός ἦν = υπήρχε ὁ λόγος = ο Λόγος (Modern text from: Η Καινή Διαθήκη - Νεοελληνική Μετάφραση "Ο ΛΟΓΟΣ") 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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