Author: Nick Nicholas

Website:
http://www.opoudjis.net
About this author:
Data analyst, Greek linguist

Why didn’t Turkey claim any Greeks island near their shores?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-10 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: History, Modern Greek

They did: Imbros and Tenedos. Like the other islands, they were substantially ethnic Greek, but they remained in Turkey under the Treaty of Lausanne, presumably because of their strategic importance outside the Dardanelles. Of the other Aegean islands near the shores of Turkey, the islands from Samos up were ceded to Greece by the Ottoman […]

What is the Greek word for “baby”? Is it used as an endearment, like in English?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-09 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Modern Greek

Modern Greek, right? μωρό, moro. And yes it is, though you have to say “my baby”, μωρό μου moro mu. The ancient Greek term it comes from had a final n. Why yes, the modern Greek word for “baby” is the Ancient Greek word moron. In Bithynian Greek, the word for baby is σαλό salo, […]

Should I minor in history with a linguistics major?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-09 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: General Language, Linguistics

I will assume that you’ve already been read the riot act about the impossibility of getting an academic position, the need to step on corpses and network, and the imperative to do something fashionable (which historical linguistics is not) in order to get hired. Why yes, I am jaundiced. Why do you ask? (Nick Nicholas’ […]

Are να and ας translated identically when used with a first person plural verb in Modern Greek?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-09 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Modern Greek

They differ only by nuance. Ας is encouraging, it corresponds to “let’s”. Να is more like “we should”: it lacks the explicit notion of encouragement. Answered 2016-06-09 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/Are-να-and-ας-translated-identically-when-used-with-a-first-person-plural-verb-in-Modern-Greek/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]

Why are all Harpies female?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-08 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, Culture

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?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-08 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Mediaeval 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?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-08 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Mediaeval Greek

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?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-08 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Linguistics

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 […]

What is a Hebrew word and a Greek word meaning “fragrance” or “perfume” GENERALLY?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-07 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Mediaeval Greek, Other Languages

I assume you are asking about Ancient Greek. IGNORE all the Greeks that are about to say ἄρωμα arōma. The ancient meaning of that word, per the Liddell–Scott dictionary, is aromatic herb or spice; not fragrance. Going through Liddell–Scott, I find, in descending order of fit to what you want: εὐοσμία euosmia, “fragrance, perfume”. Literally, […]

Was Antonis Samaras a cooler Prime Minister than Alexis Tsipras?

By: | Post date: 2016-06-07 | Comments: 1 Comment
Posted in categories: History, Modern Greek

Well, let’s see. On the one hand, a sixty-five year old who looks like an undertaker, who brought down a government and formed his own party over being More-Patriotic-Than-Thou, who presided over austerity, and who saw some economic indicators nudge upwards but failed to raise anyone’s hopes that anything would ever change for the better. […]

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