Gamma Kappa

👋🏼 χαῖρετε μαθηταί

Review and Addenda

  • Questions on last class and chapters 1-3 , Alphabet, Vowels, Consonants, Square of Stops, κτλ.

Pronunciation

Omicron and Omega

  • I follow Smyth on the pronunciation of ο and ω
  • omicron and omega, ‘small O’ and ‘large O’ respectively, each have an ‘O’ sound with omega being pronounced with the mouth more closed.
  • unlike Mounce, Schuler et al. who sound omicron the same as a short alpha, so that it is no longer an ‘O’ at all
  • viz. Smyth: “ο: as o in Fr. mot, somewhat like unaccented o in obey or phonetic (as often sounded). ω: as o in Fr. encore.”

Consonants and Stops

The Square of Stops (BBG 10.17-20)

Type Voiceless Voiced Aspirate Spirant Double (With Sigma)
Labials π β φ + σ => ψ
Velars(Palatals) κ γ χ + σ => ξ
Dentals τ δ θ + σ => σσ => σ

  • Why is the square of stops important?
    • It helps us to understand part of the mechanics of language
    • It enables us to make sense of morphological (derivative) changes of the verb later on
  • Transliteration - What it is (changing letters to those of another language, without translation)
    • examples to English: baptism, eschaton
    • example to Greek: αι κημ αι σα αι κανκυρδ (“I came, I saw, I conquered”)
  • Written Greek: no spaces, punctuation, diacritical marks (accents, breathings); all majuscules, in original MSS (manuscripts)

Piece of the Codex Vaticanus Manuscript

Portion of Matthew 11.8-10

Codex Vaticanus

Punctuation

  1. , comma, minor pause, as in English

  2. . period, ends a sentence, as in English

  3. ˚ (dot above line) semi-colon (half of a colon), major pause

  4. ; question mark

Diacritical Marks

  • Diaeresis ¨ (derivative, διαιρέσις, from διαιρέω + “to cleave in twain”)
  • Apostrophe (derivative αποστροφή = “a turning back”)
  • Breathing Marks (rough and smooth), at the beginning of word beginning with a vowel or diphthong
    • Rough breathing ῾ indicates an initial ‘h’ sound
    • Smooth breathing ᾽ indicates no initial ‘h’ sound
    • All words beginning with ρ or υ have an initial rough breathing
  • Accents

Accents: Acute ά - Grave ὰ - Circumflex ᾶ

  • Originally a pitch accent, i.e. the rising and falling of tones, as in music.
  • Later became a stress accent as in English

Learn the 4 Rules of Accent (BBG 4.5)

  1. The acute accent can occur on any of the last 3 syllables (ultima, penult, antepenult)
  2. The circumflex can occur only over one of the last 2 syllables (ultima, penult), and always stands over a long vowel
  3. The grave accent stands over the last syllable (ultima) only, when the word normally with the acute accent on the ultima is not followed by a mark of punctuation
  4. Nouns have consistent accent, and verbs have recessive accent
  • For more in depth explanation, read Smyth on Accents

  • Proclitics and Enclitics are words which lose their accent (BBG sidenote)

    • Proclitics (lit. “leaning forward”) throw their accents forward to the following word, e.g.
    • Enclitics (lit. “leaning backward”) throw their accents backward to the preceding word–

Syllabification

Intuitive for the most part, mainly the same as English, thus should be mostly second nature

  1. One vowel (or diphthong) per syllable
    • no silent vowels
    • hence, consecutive vowels, which are not diphthongs, are divided
  2. Consonants usually go with following vowels
    • Single consonants go with following vowels
    • Consonant clusters stay together if they can be pronounced together (could they begin a word?), and go with the following vowels
  3. Consonants which divide:
    • Cannot be pronounced together
    • Double consonants
  4. Compound words divide (they would almost always anyway, following the basic rules)

Read Smyth on Syllables

Vocabulary

  • ~ 5430 words in New Testament, you have only to learn 319 to know 80% of total words
  • After each new vocabulary word, you will be told how many occurrences in Greek NT
  • Metzger’s Lexical Aids is arranged to teach vocabulary in order of frequency.
  • Correction to Mounce on terminology: Cognates and Derivatives p. 16 ff.
  • from the “Introduction to Smyth’s Greek Grammar, Section B.

Greek is related to the languages of the Indians (Sanskrit), Persians (Zend), Armenians, Albanians, Slavonians, Lituanians, Romans, Celts, and Germans. These various languages are all of the same stock, and together constitute the Indo-European family of languages. an important relation of Greek to English, which is a branch of the Germanic tongue is illustrated by Grimm’s law of the ‘permutation of consonants’

Cognates & Derivatives

  • Derivatives - words that have been borrowed directly from Greek, e.g. arithmetic, theology, hagiography, philosophy, astronomy, sympathy, symphony, telephone, idolatry, onomatopoeia, poetry, orthodoxy, orthopraxy. Other examples?
  • Cognates – see chart below

INDO-EUROPEAN COGNATES

English I Me Is Mother Brother Ten
Sanskrit aham ma asti matar bhratar daca
Persian azem ma asti matar bratar dasa
Greek eg* me esti meter phrater deka
Latin eg* me est mater frater decem
Anglo-Saxon ic me is moder brothor tien
Irish Gaelic __ me is mathir brathir deich
Lithuanian asz mi esti mote broterelis deszimtis
Russian ia menya jest’ mat’ brat’ desiat’
Welsh mam brawd deg

πατήρ - father τρεῖς - three δύο - two ἀγρός - acre φέρω - bear θύρᾱ - door
  • The English words above are cognate with the Greek words. Derived words, such as geography, theatre, are borrowed, directly or indirectly from the Greek ( γεωγραφίᾱ, θέᾱτρον )
  • Note that what Mounce describes as “cognates” are in fact derivatives. The distinction is significant.
  • See also Metzger’s Lexical Aids, pp. 77-78
  • Review Chapter 4 vocabulary, consider derivatives

Video Lectures

Assigments

  • Continue to read Greek out loud. Read the passage in workbook exercise 4.
  • Watch Dr. Mounce’s video above to help you with this
  • Workbook exercise 4 on Syllabification, and Review on chapters 1-4
  • Prepare for quiz next week on everything through chapter 4
  • Read the overview for Chapters 5-9
  • Read and study chapter 5 and 6 on Nouns, Nominative and Accusative cases, and the definite article.

The Lord's Prayer

ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑθθΑΙΟΝ 6.9-13
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
    ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
    ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
    γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν.

χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη,
Διδάσκαλος Ἀνδρέας