Cristina’s way TAC 2013 TEAM MIR/SPARTA (Language Learning Log) Language Learning Forum

Cristina’s way TAC 2013 TEAM MIR/SPARTA
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Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log

248 messages over 31 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 9 ... 30 31 Next >>

Solfrid Cristin
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Message 65 of 248

14 January 2013 at 4:46pm | IP Logged

modus.irrealis wrote:

Solfrid Cristin wrote:

I was also delighted to get "Teach yourself to read and write in Greek" this week, so I
am diving into it with all my enthusiasm - I think I have read about 20 pages by now. I
like it, but one of the things it said puzzled me. It said that the reason why there
were so many letters and combinations of letters which were pronounced the same, was
that many Greek words sounded the same but had different meanings, and you needed
different spellings to keep them apart. That sounds totally illogical to me.

I would think it made more sense that what is today the same sounds (the many ways of
spelling e and i for instance) was once upon a time different sounds in previous
versions of Greek, and the words have simply kept their old spelling. So we do not have
different spellings for the same sounds in order to keep the words apart, but we have
the same spelling for different sounds because the pronunciation has changed/been
simplified. Am I totally wrong here?

No, you are right. Ancient Greek was extremely rich in vowels and diphthongs and the
modern spelling still reflects that. If you're interested, a good book is Vox Graeca,
which gives the reconstructed pronunciation of Classical Greek, but importantly also
explains the evidence for it.

But for some reason, there has traditionally been quite a bit of resistance among Greek
speakers to the idea that Greek pronunciation has changed. Maybe it's just because you
have an unbroken tradition of reading ancient Greek that has changed along with the
changes in pronunciation of the spoken language, but it's weird that even some scholars
continue to insist that the pronunciation has not really changed at all.

Thanks! I could not believe that the Greeks were that illogical :-)
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Ogrim
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Message 66 of 248

14 January 2013 at 4:49pm | IP Logged

Have a nice holiday Cristina. Who knows, you may pick up some Arabic when you are there.

As regards Greek spelling, I think you are basically right that it reflects ancient pronunciation. What is today pronounced like /i/, ι, ει, η where respectively pronounced i, ei (diptong) and e (open e, a bit like Norwegian æ). At least, that is how we were told to pronounce them when I did ancient Greek at the university.

Счастливого пути

Edit: modus irrealis was quicker than me

Edited by Ogrim on 14 January 2013 at 4:53pm
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Solfrid Cristin
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Message 67 of 248

14 January 2013 at 4:57pm | IP Logged

Ogrim wrote:

Well then I have an answer from two reliable sources, so I am sure abut the facts :-)
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Kerrie
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Message 68 of 248

15 January 2013 at 12:37am | IP Logged

Are you meeting up with Benny while you're there?
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zecchino1991
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Message 69 of 248

15 January 2013 at 1:38am | IP Logged

Have a good trip! It sounds like it will be a lot of fun. :)
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Solfrid Cristin
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Message 70 of 248

15 January 2013 at 3:20am | IP Logged

@ Kerrie: Why? Is he in Egypt? I doubt that he knows who I am, and this is a family holiday, so no such
plans :-)

@zecchino: Thank you for your kind wishes :-)

Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 15 January 2013 at 3:22am
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Kerrie
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Message 71 of 248

15 January 2013 at 3:27am | IP Logged

Yes, he is. I wondered if you guys had planned that or something. :)
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Solfrid Cristin
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Message 72 of 248

15 January 2013 at 6:21am | IP Logged

Kerrie wrote:

Yes, he is. I wondered if you guys had planned that or something. :)

Of course we have. But don't tell my husband or anyone here on HTLAL :-)

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