Learn Ancient Greek! (Attic/Classical and Koine)

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Znex
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Learn Ancient Greek! (Attic/Classical and Koine)

Post by Znex »

χαίρετε πάντες!
greet-PRS.ACT.IMPERAT.2PL all-M.NOM.PL
Hello everyone!

Throughout this thread, I will be aiming to teach you basic Ancient Greek in which not only will I teach you how to write, but also how to speak and understand both spoken Attic Greek and 1st century CE Koine Greek. That said, I am not Grecian, let alone an ancient Athenian of any sort, but rather βάρβαρος and a student. If there is anything I say or teach that is wrong or in contradiction with anything I’ve said already, feel free to comment in-thread or in a pm so I can correct it. [:D]

Some basics:
Ancient Greek is a synthetic language spoken and written by the inhabitants of Greece c. 800BCE - 300CE in various dialects including prominently:
Homeric Greek - a hybrid of ancient dialects (mostly comprised of Ionic Greek) as represented in the Homeric epics c.760-710BCE
Attic Greek - the language spoken and written by the Ancient Athenians c.500-300BCE and direct ancestor of most or all variants of Modern Greek
Koine Greek - the common Greek as spoken across the Hellenistic kingdoms and the eastern Roman Empire c.300BC-300CE and also a direct ancestor of Modern Greek

τὸ πρῶτον μαθῆμα (1st Lesson)
Attic Greek and Koine Greek are generally similar in regards to morphology, grammar and vocabulary (of course there are exceptions and distinct idioms of which I shall address in due time); however the main differences are that of phonology and stress.

Phonology
Both phonologies are represented as what are generally accepted as reconstructed with their English transcriptions:

Attic:
/a e i o y/ <a e i o u/y>
/aː eː ɛː iː ɔː oː/uː yː/ <ā ei ē ī ō ou ū/ȳ>
/m n/ <m n>
/p t k/ <p t k>
/pʰ tʰ kʰ/ <ph th ch/kh>
/b d g/ <b d g>
/s h/ <s h>
/r l/ <r l>

Consonant clusters:
/zd/dz ks ps/ <z x ps>

Diphthongs:
/ai ɔi ui au eu/ <ai oi ui au eu>
/aːi ɛːi ɔːi uːi aːu eːu ɔːu/ <āi ēi ōi ūi āu ēu ōu>

Koine:
/a e ɛ i o u y/ <a ē e/ai i/ei o/ō ou u/y/oi/ui>
/aː eː ɛː oː uː/ <āi /āu ēi ēu ōi/ōu ūi>
/aβ eβ/ <au eu>
/m n/ <m n>
/p t k/ <p t k>
/ɸ θ x/ <ph th ch/kh>
/β ð ɣ/ <b d g>
/s z/ <s s/z>
/r l/ <r l>

Consonant clusters:
/ks ps/ <x ps>

Notes on pronunciation:
<p t k> are never aspirated in either dialect
<g> is never pronounced as [dʒ]
<l> is never pronounced as ‘dark’ l [ɫ]
<r> is trilled
<t d r th> were probably all pronounced dentally
/r/ is aspirated word-initially and is transcribed as <rh>
/r/ assimilates to [l] before /l/
/n/ assimilates to [l] before /l/
/n/ assimilates to [m] before <m p ph b>
/n/ assimilates to [ŋ] before <k ch g> and is transcribed as <g>
/s/ assimilates to [z] before voiced consonants and remains transcribed as <s>
Doubled consonants geminate
<tt> and <ss> are dialectal variants of the same gemination
eg. prattō and prassō mean exactly the same thing

Koine-Specific:
<au> & <eu> are partially assimilated to [aɸ] and [eɸ] before voiceless consonants
<b, d, g> retain their ancient pronunciations when preceded by a nasal consonant (eg. gambrós [ɣam'bros])

Tones and Stress
In Attic Greek and Koine Greek, tone and stress are crucial to each respectively.

Attic Tones:
Attic Greek is a tonal language similar to those like the Chinese languages and the Scandinavian languages, distinguishing four tones:
  • On short vowels:
    • 1: v˩
      2: v˥ (specific tone is believed to be a fifth above 1)
    On long vowels or diphthongs:
    • 3: v˩˥
      4: v˥˩
Within Greek script (which will be introduced formally later), tonality is traditionally depicted with the use of diacritics:
  • Acute accent á: represents tone 2 on a syllable with a short vowel and tone 3 on a syllable with a long vowel or diphthong
    Circumflex accent â: represents tone 4
    Grave accent à: represents tone 1 only on the last syllable as according to rules given below (tone 1 is left otherwise unmarked)
For any given Attic word, tone can only be expressed on one of three syllables:
  • Last syllable (Ultima): any tone
    Second-last syllable (Penult): any tone; however 4 can only occur if the ultima doesn’t have a long vowel (with some simple exceptions)
    Third-last syllable (Antepenult): any tone except for 4, only if the ultima doesn’t have a long vowel (again with some simple exceptions)
In regards to conjugation and inflection, this can render some interesting results. Take for example two forms of the Greek word for human:
nom. sing. ánthrōpos vs. gen. sing. anthrṓpou
With the change of case ending from -os to -ou, the tone is forced from the antepenult to the penult.

Another example, this time with two forms of the Greek word for road:
nom. sing. hodós vs. gen. sing. hodoû
Here the tone keeps its position, but now shifts from tone 2 to tone 4.

One final example, with two forms of the Greek word for loosen:
2nd. p. sing. act. impt. lûe vs. 2nd. p. plu. act. impt. lúete
With the new ending –ete, the tone keeps its position, but now is forced to move from tone 4 to tone 3.

Koine Stress:
Koine Greek unlike Attic Greek is a language based upon stress, much like languages like English, Latin, German, etc. Stress is applied as it would have been with tones (tones 2, 3 and 4 have all merged into one level of stress), however many of the syntactical rules which defined tone position in Attic Greek are invisible in Koine Greek.

Stress on a syllable is likely expressed by loudness and clarity as compared to other syllables.

----

Alright, that’s enough raw detail. Memorise what you've learned, and attempt these exercises given below:
1. Transcribe into IPA or XSAMPA using the dialect of your choosing (or both if you like):
(for transcribing tones, simply use the ˥ characters as used in following questions)
  • a. esómetha
    b. tháptō
    c. dôron
    d. douleúō
    e. máchē
2. Transcribe from IPA using the two dialectal forms given:
  • a. /skhe.don˥/, /sxɛ.'don/
    b. /hɛːt.tuː˥˩.mai/, /es.'su.mɛ/
    c. /ba.rys˥/, /βa.'rys/
    d. /kha.ri˥.eːs/, /xa.'ri.is/
    e. /an˥.ge.los/, /'an.ɣɛ.los/
3. Pronounce each form given in q.1 & 2 using the dialect of your choosing (or both if you like). Perfection is not necessary.
Last edited by Znex on 13 Sep 2013 02:27, edited 3 times in total.
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Keenir
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Re: Learn Ancient Greek! (Attic/Classical and Koine)

Post by Keenir »

Znex wrote:χαίρετε πάντες!
greet-PRS.ACT.IMPERAT.2PL all-M.NOM.PL
Hello everyone!

Throughout this thread, I will be aiming to teach you basic Ancient Greek in which not only will I teach you how to write, but also how to speak and understand both spoken Attic Greek and 1st century CE Koine Greek. That said, I am not Grecian, let alone an ancient Athenian of any sort, but rather βάρβαρος and a student. If there is anything I say or teach that is wrong or in contradiction with anything I’ve said already, feel free to comment in-thread or in a pm so I can correct it. [:D]
I'll be following this with interest.
At work on Apaan: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4799
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kanejam
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Re: Learn Ancient Greek! (Attic/Classical and Koine)

Post by kanejam »

Is the phonology for the Koine Greek basically the same as that of Modern Greek? Or at least very similar?
Spoiler:
a. esómetha /esómetʰa/ /eˈsomeθa/
b. tháptō /tʰáptɔː/ /ˈθapto/
c. dôron /dɔ̂ːron/ /ˈdoron/
d. douleúō /doːleúɔː/ /duˈleuo/ (wasn't sure if the eu is a diphthong or not)
e. máchē /mákʰɛː/ /ˈmaxe/
2. Transcribe from IPA using the two dialectal forms given:
a. /skhe.don˥/, /sxe.'don/ - schedón
b. /hɛːt.tuː˥˩.mai/, /es.'su.mɛ/ - hēttûmai
c. /ba.rys˥/, /βa.'rys/ - barús
d. /kha.ri˥.eːs/, /xa.'ri.is/ - charíeis
e. /an˥.ge.los/, /'an.ɣɛ.los/ - ángelos
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Znex
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Re: Learn Ancient Greek! (Attic/Classical and Koine)

Post by Znex »

kanejam wrote:Is the phonology for the Koine Greek basically the same as that of Modern Greek? Or at least very similar?
Koine Greek is more similar to Modern Greek than Attic Greek is, however I think there are a number of differences between the pronunciations of Koine Greek and Modern Greek (and here I'm comparing with the standard Modern Greek):
1. The most obvious difference is that of palatalisation. Koine Greek features no palatalisation compared to Modern Greek, whether phonemically or allophonically.
2. There are a few phonemes that aren't present in Koine Greek, having arrived later from sound changes (eg. voiced stops)
3. /r/ in Modern Greek is an alveolar tap, not a trill
4. Many of the vowels in Koine Greek have completed merging in Modern Greek
5. There is no phonemic vowel length in Modern Greek

Very good question, regardless. [:P]

And good work with the exercises!
kanejam wrote:
Spoiler:
a. esómetha /esómetʰa/ /ɛˈsomɛθa/
b. tháptō /tʰáptɔː/ /ˈθapto/
c. dôron /dɔ̂ːron/ /ˈdoron/
d. douleúō /doːleúɔː/ /duˈleβo/ the u in au and eu in Koine doesn't represent a vowel, but rather a fricative
e. máchē /mákʰɛː/ /ˈmaxe/
2. Transcribe from IPA using the two dialectal forms given:
a. /skhe.don˥/, /sxɛ.'don/ - schedón oops, my bad [:$]
b. /hɛːt.tuː˥˩.mai/, /es.'su.mɛ/ - hēttûmai
c. /ba.rys˥/, /βa.'rys/ - barús
d. /kha.ri˥.eːs/, /xa.'ri.is/ - charíeis
e. /an˥.ge.los/, /'an.ɣɛ.los/ - ággelos remember phonemic n becomes ŋ before a velar and so is represented by g
Expect the next lesson within a few days or so.
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Znex
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Re: Learn Ancient Greek! (Attic/Classical and Koine)

Post by Znex »

Change of plan: I've got quite a bunch of stuff in my life, study and otherwise, that I really need to deal with. So until further notice, the next lesson is postponed. [:(]

However I hope to placate you with a number of cool things:
  • 1. I've added a few more pronunciation notes to my first post specifically regarding Koine Greek

    2. I managed to find recently something I've found and forgotten again and again, and it is in fact the reconstructed phonology of another dialect of Koine Greek; specifically that of the 1st century CE Jews:

    /a e ɛ i o u y/ <a ē e/ai i/ei o/ō ou u/y/oi>
    /aː eː oː uː/ <āi /āu ēi ōi/ōu ūi>
    /m n/ <m n>
    /p t k/ <p t k>
    /pʰ tʰ kʰ/ <ph th ch/kh>
    /b d ɣ/ <b d g>
    /s zː/ <s z>
    /r l/ <r l>

    Consonant clusters:
    /ks ps/ <x ps>

    Diphthongs:
    /au ɛu eu/ <au eu ēu>
    /yi/ <ui>

    Some notes on pronunciation:
    /b/ is pronounced as [β] intervocalically
    /r/ is pronounced as [ɾ], an alveolar flap
    Prev. notes where applicable apply

    3. As a lead up to learning the Greek alphabet (which I will do next lesson), I have two awesome sites:
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Re: Learn Ancient Greek! (Attic/Classical and Koine)

Post by mbrsart »

οὓτος κάλος ἐστὶν. μανθάνετε ταὺτην τὴν γλώσσαν.

Code: Select all

οὓτ-ος        κάλ-ος             ἐστὶν.      μανθάν-ετε    ταὺτ-ην       τὴν          γλώσσ-αν.
this-NOM.M.SG beautiful-NOM.M.SG COP.PRS.3SG learn-2PL.IMP this-ACC.F.SG DEF.ACC.F.SG language-ACC.F.SG
"This is beautiful. Y'all, learn this language."
Edit: Made a rusty mistake and left out the article on γλώσσα. The demonstrative adjective οὕτος does not impart any definiteness to its referent, as it does in every Germanic or Romance language I've studied.
:con: Hra'anh | :eng: [:D] | :esp: [:)] | :grc: [:|] | :heb: [:|] | :epo: [:S] | :deu: [:S] | :ita: [:S] | :bra: [:'(] | :fra: [:'(]
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