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Category: Modern Greek
Is the Modern Greek letter beta (Ββ) pronounced “b” or “v”?
To make explicit what others are hinting at: it is pronounced /v/, but is often transliterated as /b/ for consistency with ancient Greek. You won’t see it with modern names, but you may see it library catalogues, for example, which often use the same transliteration for ancient and modern Greek. And if a name is […]
How do you say swear words in Greek?
With gusto? *Look at his stats* *Finds that his most popular answer ever is Nick Nicholas’ answer to What does the Greek word “malaka” mean?* *Breathes in* Let’s go with Lenny Bruce’s 9 dirty words, the predecessor to George Carlin’s Seven dirty words . ass κώλος. Cognate with colon. Is used for both arse and […]
What are the different fingers called in other languages and cultures?
Modern Greek: thumb: μεγάλο δάχτυλο “big finger” (vernacular) thumb: αντίχειρας “opposite to the hand” (formal) index finger: δείκτης “pointer” (i.e. index) (formal) middle finger: μέσος “middle” ring finger: παράμεσος “next-to-middle” little finger: μικρό δάχτυλο “little finger” (vernacular) little finger: ωτίτης “ear finger” (i.e. use to scratch the ear) (formal) … If you go online, you’ll […]
Where is the heart of the Balkans?
From linguistic criteria (having the most features of the Balkan sprachbund ), FWIW, it’s the Bulgaro-Macedonian language continuum, with Albanian a close second, then Romanian/Aromanian, Greek halfway in, and Serbian, Romany and Turkish peripheral. Dunno about Ladino. Dimitra as a northerner would be more enthusiastic about the Balkan affiliation of Greece than me as a […]
What non-Roman scripts keep foreign words in Roman?
In the last few decades, written Greek uses Roman script for foreign names by default, unless the name is extremely newsworthy. So you’ll see Το συγκινητικό ντοκιμαντέρ για τη ζωή της Amy Winehouse (The moving documentary on Amy Winehouse’s life) Rehab της Amy Winehouse, σε διασκευή των Vocal Adrenaline. (Rehab by Amy Winehouse, arranged by […]
Is degrammaticalization real?
Well. Grammaticalisation theory posits that there is a regular process in language of content words becoming function words and then bound morphemes. Opponents of grammaticalisation theory (e.g. Lyle Campbell, Brian Joseph) posit that grammaticalisation theory is not particularly meaningful if there are counterexamples (degrammaticalisation), whereby function words or bound morphemes become content words. Their ultimate […]
How was Athens chosen as capital for the Greece?
Ancestor worship. The first capital of Greece was Nafplio (Nauplia), which was an important port in Ottoman times, while Athens was an insignificant village that attracted the odd Western tourist. In 1834, King Otto (himself a Western tourist) decreed that the capital of Greece shall be the most important city of Ancient Greece. For after […]
What is the Greek word for heaven?
Ouranos for “sky, heaven”, and pre-Christian and proto-Christian notions of heaven. It’s what “Our father who art in Heaven” uses. And yes, that is the same word as Uranus; Uranus was the sky god. Once Christianity was entrenched, Heaven as in where the virtuous dead go is Paradeisos, Paradise, as it is in Catholic languages […]
Are Greeks an ethnoreligious group?
Weeell… in the Ottoman Empire (and in the Byzantine Empire before it), identity was primarily credal, organised as Millets (Ottoman Empire). As far as everyone in the Ottoman Empire was concerned, there were: Muslims Franks (Catholic) Romans (Orthodox) Armenians Jews See Albanians or Bulgarians in that list? Me neither. In fact, Bulgarians were only able […]
Do many modern Greeks feel a sense of failure or perhaps inferiority when compared with their ancient Greek ancestors?
The feeling has been there for a very long time. Theodore Metochites in the 14th century lamented that the Ancients had said everything that needed to be said, so there was nothing left for his contemporaries to do. The Greek peasantry would make up stories about the pagan giants who built the inexplicable structures all […]