Questions tagged [greek]
A Hellenic language principally spoken in Greece.
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Etymology/meaning of (Mount) Kyllene
My unabridged Liddell/Scott does not have any indication of what the name of the Greek Mount "Kyllene" means. Robert Graves in "The Greek Myths" says it means "Twisted Queen." I have seen where he ...
3
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1answer
221 views
Turkish kalem: from Anc. Greek or Tocharian?
Usually the Turkish word kalem 'pen' is shown in etym. dictionaries to derive from Arabic qalam, which in turn derives from Greek κάλαμος. However, I noticed that Tocharian languages have the term ...
0
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1answer
637 views
Can anyone recommend a good, free, and online Greek-to-English dictionary? [closed]
A translation service is not being requested in the question since they provide word-to-word mappings instead of word-to-meaning explanations. The dictionary may optionally render the Greek word with ...
4
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1answer
202 views
what about ophis Python==ahi Budhnya?
in short : is the equation ὄφις Πύθων == अहि बुध्न्य ahi budʰnya widely accepted by scholars ?
Python and Ahi Budhnya/Ahirbudhnya are both a famous serpent, the first one in the Greek mythology, the ...
5
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3answers
297 views
Etymology of Ancient Greek interrogative particle ἆρα
The Ancient Greek interrogative ἆρα is strikingly similar to modern Persian āyā.
Both words exclusively signal yes/no questions, and almost always begin the sentence. There is an accent on the first ...
3
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2answers
263 views
Why “agoraphobia” not “agorophobia”?
Greek compounds are usually made by combining the roots of two nouns and inserting a linking thematic vowel when it would result in a sequence of two consonants. The vowel is usually -o-, so we have e....
3
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1answer
80 views
Which dictionaries can be considered as the most complete for Modern Greek?
My mother tongue is French so I would prefer one in this language but I'm also interested in English ones, especially if they can be considered of much higher quality/completness.
I've heard of the ...
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1answer
1k views
Where did the Greek word diaballein got it's meaning from accusing and divide from? [closed]
διαβάλλειν (dia-ballein)
"Dia" means through (by the way of; or from one end or side of something to the other (across); or between) and "ballein" means throwing.
Now online there are two ...
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2answers
119 views
scansion of iambic trimeter in fragment of Euripides
I am trying to scan a line from a fragment of Euripides Erechtheus (cannot figure out how to write Greek characters here!):
- v - -| - - v v v| v- v v
os theon bomous patrida te rhuometha
...
7
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2answers
200 views
Reverse-etymology resources
Are there any resources which, given a Latin or Greek word, reference modern English words derived from the word? I find it much easier to remember a root when I know a word derived from it.
For a ...
2
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2answers
130 views
Is there a strict set of rules retrieving syllables from Greek text?
I'm trying to process language corpus written in Greek and like to split words to syllables. I wonder if there is a programmatical way to do that with a strict set of rules, that can be followed to ...
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192 views
What is the etymology of ypologistís (Greek, computer)?
Is ypologistís (Greek for computer) derived from, or related to,
apologeisthai "to speak in one's defense," from apologos "an account,
story,"
(Etomonline)
I have now been informed by Janus ...
1
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1answer
711 views
How “fluent” do professional classicists get in reading Latin and Greek? How do they do it?
I've learned to an intermediate reading level Latin, Greek, Sanskrit and Classical Arabic. As a foreign language teacher, I'm well aware of current SLA research and the focus on communication and ...
7
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2answers
136 views
When did the concept of constituent movement arise?
As far back as the mid 1700s, William Ward considered the following phrase in An Essay on Grammar applied to the English Language.
the flowers which a lady sitting on the seat in a garden views with ...
2
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1answer
259 views
Greek-Gothic Weekday Names in Bavarian
The weekdays in my native language (Bavarian) are very inconsistent and two of them apparently came to us from the Goths, who in turn have adopted them from Greek.
The two days in question are "Iada" (...
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1answer
304 views
How close is Ancient Greek to English or French or Spanish?
I.e.: What are the Linguistic Distances of Ancient Greek compared to 2000s English, French, and Spanish?
I know that each Indo-European language belongs to its own Language Family: Ancient Greek to ...
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3answers
1k views
Is there a relationship between Arabic ka'b and Greek kybos?
This is a complete layman's question. Online etymology dictionary says about kaaba:
1734, Caaba, cube-shaped building in the Great Mosque of Mecca, containing the Black Stone, the most sacred site ...
7
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2answers
862 views
Are There Ancient Greek Words Descended From Sumerian?
Does the lexicon of Ancient Greek contain words believed to be of Sumerian origin? If so, can some estimate of their number be provided?
Thanks
3
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1answer
461 views
How are dead languages reconstructed?
I'm really interested in Biblical studies, so I've often wondered this about the languages in the Bible. Namely, Greek (Koine), Hebrew, and Aramaic.
I've tried looking into it, but I've never really ...
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3answers
7k views
What is the difference between Greek zōē and bios?
Ancient Greek has two words that are translated as life in English: zōē and bios. What is the difference between them? What are their cognates in other Indo-European languages?
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1answer
601 views
Is there any Sanskrit-Greek-Latin-English dictionary available?
Is there any Sanskrit-Greek-Latin-English dictionary [including online] available? I am so much interested in etymological study. I will be grateful for any help.
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0answers
77 views
metrical analysis software for ancient greek
Does anyone know any good metrical analysis software for ancient Greek? Which are the best ones and which are the most user friendly?
4
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2answers
346 views
Why does Greek have 'aorgesia' and 'aorist' rather than 'anorgesia' and 'anorist'?
The Ancient Greek words ἀοργησία aorgesia "a defect in the passion of anger" and ἀόριστος aoristos "without boundaries" both start with the "alpha privatum," the negative prefix cognate to English un- ...
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2answers
75 views
accusative being used to express an origin?
I read in Plutarch (Demosthenes.1) the phrase
ὑπάρξαι ‘τὰν πόλιν εὐδόκιμον‘ (~ to be born in ‘a famous city’).
(τὰν πόλιν εὐδόκιμον being a quote from (pseudo-?)Euripides' ode to Alcibiades, cf ...
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0answers
79 views
Literature on the reconstruction of proto-Greek
I usually find scattered proto-Greek word reconstructions, but I never came across literature that focus on the reconstruction of that language. Do you know of any?
7
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1answer
394 views
What is the approximate time of the loss of the intervocalic /s/ in Greek?
Teachers of Ancient Greek at my university have always been emphasising the importance of being aware of the loss of the intervocalic sigma in the language's history, because it helped to understand ...
4
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2answers
229 views
Calculating writing system efficiency with respect to reading ambiguity?
I have been thinking of developing a software tool that would make it possible to calculate the efficiency of a particular writing system (attested rather than hypothetical) for a particular language (...
2
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1answer
206 views
Which Ancient Greek term describes adjectives used passively?
A teacher claimed, but forgot, the Ancient Greek term that describes adjectives used passively, as used in the following sentence:
The weather has been in a most curious state here since ...
0
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1answer
915 views
How did the Greek 'tropos' evolve to the Latin 'tropus'?
Etymology [ of French 'trouver' ]
From Old French trover, truver,
from Vulgar Latin *tropāre, present active infinitive of *tropō,
from Latin tropus; confer trope.
Etymology [ of Latin '...
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1answer
113 views
How to learn more about contradictory or superfluous affixes efficiently?
Instead of questioning each word's prefixes, how can I learn more productively?
E.g. I was researching the etymology of the French verb 'accabler':
[I quoted Wiktionary in French; the English ...
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1answer
822 views
scansion of a iambic trimeter
I'm stuck with the scansion of the second of the following lines I read in Euripides' Bacchae :
441 κἀγὼ δι᾽ αἰδοῦς εἶπον : Ὦ ξέν᾽, οὐχ ἑκὼν
442 ἄγω σε Πενθέως δ᾽ ὅς μ᾽ ἔπεμψ᾽ ἐπιστολαῖς.
...
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1answer
166 views
How did '-ikos' evolve into '-ic'?
-ics [<--]
in the names of sciences or disciplines (acoustics, aerobics, economics, etc.) it represents a 16c. revival of the classical custom of using the neuter plural of adjectives with -...
2
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0answers
350 views
How does the Greek 'legein' relate to PIE *leg 'to collect'?
ENTRY: leg-
DEFINITION: To collect; with derivatives meaning “to speak.” Oldest form *le-, becoming *leg- in centum languages.
[...]
3. lexicon, logion, –logue, –logy; alexia, analects, ...
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1answer
75 views
How did 'litotes' evolve from 'plain, simple'?
litotes (n.)
rhetorical figure in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its opposite, from Greek litotes, literally "plainness, simplicity," from litos "smooth, plain, small, ...
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1answer
105 views
What did the Greek 'peripherein' carry?
periphery (n.)
late 14c., "atmosphere around the earth," from Old French periferie (Modern French périphérie), from Medieval Latin periferia, from Late Latin peripheria, from Greek peripheria "...
2
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0answers
496 views
How did the PIE root 'dek-' evolve into the Greek 'dokein' to appear, seem, think' ?
dek-
To take, accept.
...
[2.] b. dogma, dogmatic; chionodoxa, Docetism, doxology, heterodox, orthodox, paradox,
from Greek dokein, to appear, seem, think (< "to cause to accept or be ...
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163 views
How did the PIE root *per- (forward, through) evolve into 'para-', to mean 'contrary to'?
[Etymonline :] ... before vowels, par-, word-forming element meaning "alongside, beyond; altered; contrary; irregular, abnormal," from Greek para- from para (prep.) "beside, near, issuing from, ...
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3answers
456 views
Why does word-initial upsilon always have a rough breathing?
How did a rough breathing develop before all words starting with an upsilon in Ancient Greek? This is a commonly noted fact about the distribution of these sounds (or rather spellings), but I’m having ...
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1answer
168 views
Etymology of English suffix -logy
I excerpt OED, which I read because I want to understand this etymology.
-logy, comb. form
... These Greek words for the most part are parasynthetic derivatives; in some instances the ...
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1answer
1k views
Why was the name תאומא transliterated as Θωμᾶς (Thomas) rather than Τωμᾶς (Tomas)?
Thomas derives from Aramaic תאומא (cognate with the Hebrew תאום). My understanding was that Aramaic, like Tiberian Hebrew, had the fricative [θ] as a conditioned allophone for the plosive [t], and ...
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2answers
367 views
connection between Castor (one of the Διόσκουροι) and the animal (beaver)?
The history of the Ancient Greek word κάστωρ (beaver) is unclear. It may be :
a foreign loan-word (? Sanskrit कस्तूरी kastūrī, “musk”)
a Greek word meaning "shining (animal)" from καίνυμαι (perfect
...
5
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1answer
470 views
Etymology of Greek Enualios
Enualios or Enyalius (Ἐνυάλιος) is, in Homer and other Greek authors, either an epithet of the war god Ares or else the name of a separate god, the son of Ares and brother or partner of Enyo (whose ...
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1answer
651 views
Nominative Case Assignment and VP-Internal Subjects
From what I've learnt, structural case is assigned in certain structural configurations. For example, nominative case is assigned by tensed I/T to nominals in SpecIP/TP. Therefore, the case filter ...
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1answer
432 views
The Armenian word for “King” and it's relation to Greek ἀγαυός and Phrygian -ΟΓΑϝΟΣ
What is the root of the Armenian word թագավոր (t'agavor) and what is it's relation to Greek ἀγαυός 'illustrious, nobble' and the Phrygian honorific epithet (AKENAN)-ΟΓΑϝΟΣ (ogawos)?
Edit: I am ...
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2answers
647 views
Two questions about Sappho's name
The Greek poeter Ψάπφω/Ψάπφα beared an interesting name, probably not Greek. I have two questions, about the first and the last letter of her name :
(1) what was the value of the initial Ψ ? This ...
10
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3answers
2k views
Descendants of Latin vs. Greek?
From Latin there descend half a dozen (or more) modern languages. Greek, by contrast, has simply changed over time but without branching into separate languages.
Why the difference? Both were spoken ...
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2answers
83 views
Help me unpack this Classical Greek word? [closed]
ἁλιπτοίητος
Liddell and Scott seem somewhat uncertain how this links to other Greek words, though they affirm the reading as "driven by fear across the sea."
My Greek is rusty, and I don't know that ...
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1answer
200 views
How did the ancient Greeks say out loud “1” (which was written in another way)?
I have read about alpha, but back in time there was another notation, using the vertical sign |. I'd like to know how they pronounced it.
EDIT: with a bit of more research, I've actually found that ...
4
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1answer
289 views
On the etymology of Ankara / Phrygian Ἄγκυρα
I am wondering whether the Phrygian city "Ankara" (today capital of Turkey) meant really "anchor" in Phrygian? We know it means anchor in Greek, a sibling language to Phrygian with many isoglosses, ...
4
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1answer
90 views
Grammatical variation between Attic Greek prose authors
I'm interested in the grammatical variation that is found between prose writers in what is putatively a single dialect of Greek, Attic. Such variation exists on various levels:
Phonology: e.g., some ...
