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Day: June 8, 2016
Why are all Harpies female?
Looked up the Pauly at Wikisource (Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft); alas, that page has not been digitised. Looked up the Roscher dictionary (Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie – Wikipedia), 1884. After noting the frequent conflation of sirens and harpies, it mentions “The meaning of harpies in nature is clear enough: they are […]
What was the reason for the dramatic changes that marked the transition from Ancient Greek to Koine (Hellenistic) Greek?
I don’t have a good answer, as (surprisingly) I have not paid close attention to the genesis of Koine. But let’s separate out the various things that happened, and that other respondents have highlighted. Eleftherios V. Tserkezis correctly highlights that the koine was a dialect koine before it was anything else. And the dialect koine […]
Can the Greek word Teknon ever be used to mean young or dependent child as opposed to strictly son or daughter of any age?
Ioannis Manomenidis has tackled Modern Greek. Let me summarise: Téknon gets used by priests to their spiritual children, their congregation. There, it means neither offspring, nor child: it’s a metaphorical extension of the “child of God” or “child that I mentor” notion. But that’s an ancient Greek expression, limited to the ecclesiastical register. Evangelos Lolos […]
Can broad Australian English be easily understood outside Australia?
My fellow respondents should be aware the question asks about Broad Australian (= ocker), not General Australian (= “neutral”). I would like to think I’m General not Broad (as would any would-be member of the middle classes). People in California did have occasional difficulty with my accent; e.g. my pronunciation of Apple Cider coming across […]