Teach Yourself Greek Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself Language Complete Courses)

161 Pages·2003·1.45 MB·English

by  Aristarhos Matsukas

teach greek
yourself
goal category
all-round confidence language
content
•learn to speak, understand and write greek
•progress quickly beyond the basics
•explore the language in depth
®
teach
yourself
'"-
~
greek
aristarhos matsukas
For over 60 years, more than
50 million people have learnt over
750 subjects the teach yourself
way,with impressive results.
be where you want to be
with teach yourself
[]
n
o
ForUKorderenquiries:pleasecontactBookpointLtd,130Milton Park,Abingdon, Oxon, •~ ••
OX144SB.Telephone:[phone].Fax:[phone]. Linesareopen
09.00-17.00, Monday to saturday, with a24-hour messageanswering service.Details
aboutourtitlesandhowtoorderareavailableatwww.teachyourself.co.uk CD
ForUSAorder enquiries: pleasecontact McGraw-Hili Customer Services,POBox545,
Blacklick,OH43004-0545, USA.Telephone:[phone]. Fax:[phone].
For canada order enquiries: pleasecontact McGraw-Hili Ryerson Ltd, 300 Water St, Introduction 1 •~ ••
Whitby,Ontario,L1N9B6,canada.Telephone:[phone].Fax:[phone].
howto usethis book 2
Long renowned as the authoritative sourcefor self-guided leaming - with more than tn
50millioncopiessoldworldwide- theleachyourself seriesincludesover500titlesinthe pronunciation gUide 6
fieldsoflanguages,crafts,hobbies,business,computing andeducation.
01 V&laoou! hi! 17
British Library cata.loguinginPublication Data.:acataloguerecordforthistitleisavailable
from theBritishLibrary. ask for and give personal information;
Library ofCongresscata.logcard Number:onfile. introduce people; useGreek greetings
FirstpublishedinUK1997byHodderEducation,338EustonRoad,London,NW13BH. 02 TI KOV&Uh;;owareyou doing? 33
RrstpublishedinUS1997byTheMcGraw-HiliCompanies,Inc.
engage in 'small talk'; enquire about each
Thiseditionpublished2003.
other's health; converse about common daily
Theleachyourself nameisaregisteredtrademarkofHodderHeadline.
activities; talk about what jobs people have;
Copyright© 1997,2003Aristarhos Matsukas
count from 1-10
InUK:Allrightsreserved.Apartfrom anypermitted useunderUKcopyright law,nopart
of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, 03 tAavan10UIl&tva OU~KI!
electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformation, storageand
retrievalsystem,without permission inwriting from thepublisher orunderlicencefrom let's haveaglass ofouzo! 47
theCopyrightLicensingAgencyLimited.Furtherdetailsofsuchlicences(forreprographic
reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, of 90 order drinks; askfor local drinks;
TottenhamCourtRoad,London,WH 4LP.
count from 11-20
InUS:Allrightsreserved.Exceptaspermitted undertheUnitedStatesCopyrightActof
1976,nopartofthis publication maybereproducedordistributed inanyform orbyany 04 KaAI\OP&~'l!bonappelit! 61
means,orstoredinadatabaseorretrievalsystem,without thepriorwrittenpermissionof
order food inarestaurant; ask for local
thepublisher.
specialities; enquire about Greek eating habits;
TypesetbyTransetLimited,Coventry,England.
PrinledinGreatBritainfor HodderEducation,adivision ofHodderHeadline,338Euston
count from 21-100
Road,London,NW13BH,byCox&WymanLtd,Reading,Berkshire.
05 revision test 1 76
ThepublisherhasuseditsbestendeavourstoensurethattheURLsforextemalwebsites
referredtointhisbookarecorrectandactiveatthetimeofgoingtopress.However,the 06 nou&ival'1AKpOnoA'l;
publisher and the author have no responsibility for the websites and can make no
guaranteethat asitewill remain liveorthatthecontent will remain relevant,decentor where istheAcropolis? 82
appropriate.
ask for directions; understand simple
Hodder Headline's policy is to use papersthat are natural, renewableand recyclable
products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and instructions; find your way around;
manufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmental regulationsofthe
country oforigin. count from 101-1 000
Impression number 10
Year 20102009200820072006
07 KaAaTa~i61!have a nice trip! 99 keytothe exercises 239
vi vii
(') make travel arrangements; find out about glossary ofgrammatical terms 253 g
a0.. public transport; purchase tickets and make grammar summary 257 ~
C~D S'
reservations; tell the time; count from index ofgrammatical terms and thematic vocabulary 269
en ~
1000-10000 Greek history timeline 271
08 &X&T&6wlloTla; doyou have any rooms? 115 Greek language timeline 273
enquire about rooms; make hotel reservations; taking itfurther 277
check in or check out; explain aproblem with English-Greek glossary 279
your room Greek-English glossary 297
09 9tA£T&TinoTa; how can Ihelp you? 131
buy things; enquire about prices; state
preferences; name fruit and vegetables; name
colours
10 revision test 2 150
11 tAa; nOI0C;£ival; hello! who is it? 157
make telephone calls; make arrangements to
meet someone; suggest what to do and where
to meet; talk about business plans
12 £ixa tva Tpoll£pa novoKtcpaAo!
I had a terrible headache! 172
express feelings; talk to adoctor; askfor
remedies; name different professions; name
different sports
13 TIKalpa &KaV£;what was the weather like?189
talk about the weather; use expressions of time;
get the gist of aweather forecast; name the
months and seasons
14 nou n~yaT&yla noaxa;
where did yougofor Easter? 210
use appropriate language at asocial function;
express wishes or congratulations; express
opinions and state preferences; describe past
events
15 revision test 3 230
_.
[viii 1
~
Q)
n
•••
~
o
~
~
c.
o~
:c
c
Special thanks for this new edition go to Rebecca Green, Ginny Welcome to Teach Yourself Greek!
Catmur and Sue Hart, my editors at Hodder &Stoughton; also to my n
This is acourse designed for learners with no previous knowledge
students in New York City, Athens, and now in Berlin who have _.
C_ D shown me over the years what is important and fun when learning of Greek; it can also be used by students with some previous •••
knowledge ofGreek to revise and consolidate their language skills.
Modem Greek.
Whatever your aims in using this book, you can learn at your own
C. o
pace and tothe level you need. By the end ofthe course you should
be able to communicate in most everyday situations, while visiting
ce Greece.
The language you will learn in this book is that of everyday life in
~
Greece, so you can familiarize yourself with Greek people, their
CD
customs, the climate and the country.
3 The emphasis is on the communicative aspect ofthe language; fITst
just try to get the gist of the dialogues, bearing in mind the name
of the unit. There are many phrases in the fITstfour units (designed
CD as a 'survival package' - a basic introduction to the language you
need in Greece) which are best learned as phrases. You will meet
the grammar explaining the structure of the phrases in later units.
•~ •• This book will teach you the standard spoken language used today
tn in Greece. It's called demotic meaning 'popular' or 'everyday'
language, as opposed to katharevousa, a form of Modem Greek,
which is almost extinct. For a fuller explanation of the history of
the Greek language, turn to page 273.
You already know a lot of Greek
According to Aristides Konstantinides' book Greek Words in the
English Language there are 45,729 Greek words in English!
As you work through this course, you will become increasingly
aware of Greek loan words in English although sometimes, you
have to stretch your imagination and bend the odd pronunciation rule When you feel confIdent with the material in the unit, you can check
to spot them. Here are some fIrst examples of loan words: problem, your understanding with the Practice section. The exercises are
music, politics, idea, programme, system. Have a go at the Similar designed to practise communication, although there are some
or different exercises in the Practice section of each unit. There are grammar exercises as well.
at least ten words in these exercises throughout this book that test
There is generally a further dialogue in the A little extra! section
your ability to make associations between what you already know
with new vocabulary which provides additional material on the
and what you are learning. These associations can sometimes be
subject.
difficult to detect: for example the words puOo~ (myth), pttpo
D,
(metre) and 1tEpiooo~(period) are easily detected once you know the The last section, marked with looks at the culture of the Greek
Greek alphabet, but the word PtPAio (book) does not carry an people and their country.
immediate association, although bibliography does.
There are three revision tests in Units 5, 10 and 15- with exercises
You might be relieved to know that there are a large number of focusing both on communication and grammar which will consolidate
English loan words in Greek too, for example complex, stress and your newly-acquired knowledge and will allow you to check your
camping. Many sports are also identical in both languages, for progress.
instance tennis and volleyball. New technology has also introduced
Amini test is included at the end of each unit except after the revision
many terms in Greek: computer, fax, and email are a few examples.
units. There isalso acomprehensive revision test after Unit 15.
In Greece many signs are in English, including the street sign for
'stop', the sign 'we' for public toilets, and even 'P' for car parks. The following sections are included at the back of thebook:
Sometimes, there is a Greek word for these words, but the English
• Key to the exercises Here you can fInd the answers to all the
word is generally used in everyday language.
exercises ineach unit. Try towork through the exercises by yourself
before you turn to this section to check your answers.
• Glossary of grammatical terms Here you can look up the
grammatical terms used throughout the book and you will [md a
Read the introduction in English at the beginning of each dialogue short explanation and some examples.
before you read, or listen to, the dialogue. The dialogues marked with • Grammar summary This section provides examples of Greek
D
are on the recording which accompanies this book. To develop articles, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and
good pronunciation, you are strongly advised to use the recording as verbs.
much as possible. • Index ofgrammatical terms and thematic vocabulary Here you
can fInd out where a grammar point was fIrst explained or a topic
Study the dialogue and the vocabulary after the dialogue. Words from
introduced.
all units can be found in the Greek-English glossary at the end of
• Greek history time line Here you can check the most important
the book.
dates and events in Greek history.
In the Language notes section you will fInd explanations of the new • Greek language time line Here you can discover the evolution of
material, as well as useful facts connected with the subject matter of the Greek language through the centuries.
the dialogues. There are also many new words in this section.
• Taking it further Many suggestions and sources of real Greek
Learning these words is extremely important since vocabulary is the
language are collected here for you especially ifyou have access to
backbone of any language - as well as extremely useful when
the Internet.
visiting Greece or talking to Greek people elsewhere.
• English-Greek glossary Some useful words andphrases you may
Grammatical points are explained in the Grammar section. There need to look up on a visit to Greece or as you work through the
are tables and examples tohelp you learn the verbs, nouns, adjectives course.
and pronouns. How you absorb the grammar is up to you. There is • Greek-English glossary Most words and phrases covered in the
also auseful grammar section at the end of the book. fifteen units of this book.
Before you learn the Greek alphabet there are some exercises that cannot be done with the book alone but
in such cases the material is always covered by other activities in the
Contrary to popular opinion, Greek is not a difficult language to
specifIc unit or in the Revision tests.
speak, particularly at beginner's level. The Pronunciation guide in
this introductory section will make most points about pronunciation Itisnot vital to acquire aperfect accent. The aim is tobe understood;
clear. Where Greek offers amore serious challenge tothe learner is in here are a number of techniques for working on your pronunciation:
reading and writing the language. This book uses the standard Greek
1 Listen carefully to the recording, native speakers or your teacher.
alphabet alongside an informal transliteration system, so that the
Whenever possible repeat aloud.
learner can start to understand and speak the language without the
2 Record yourself and compare your pronunciation with that of a
obstacle ofthe new script. Wecall itan informal transliteration system
native speaker.
because various ways have been devised to represent Greek sounds
using a western alphabet but no standard form has ever been 3 Ask native speakers to listen to your pronunciation and tell you
established. The transliteration system used in this book is a close how to improve it.
phonetic representation of Greek words transcribing their sounds into 4 Ask native speakers how a specifIc sound is formed. Watch them
English script. Transliteration does have its shortcomings but its and practise at home in front of a mirror.
value, especially assisting reading at early stages, has been generally 5 Make a list of words that give you pronunciation trouble and
accepted. Transliteration has been used in the dialogues and practise them.
vocabulary boxes in the fIrst ten units.
How to be successful at learning Greek
Transliteration versus Greek script?
1 Do a little bit every day, between 20 and 30 minutes if possible,
Transliteration cannot replace the Greek script. It cannot even be rather than two to three hours in one session.
found in a written form of any kind including books, signs or public 2 Try to work towards short-term goals. For example, work out
notices. It simply helps learners to overcome the challenge of a new how long you'll spend in a particular unit and work within this
script in theearly stages, asalready stated above. The book makes use time limit.
of both transliteration and Greek script. If you are interested in 3 Revise and test yourself regularly using the Mini tests found in
practising the Greek script further, look out for Teach Yourself each unit.
Beginner's Greek Script and the Teach Yourself Beginner's Greek
4 Listen to the recording as many times and as frequently as
course, from the same publisher as this title.
possible. Ifyou don't have the recording, grasp any opportunity to
hear the language (by native speakers in Greece, on the radio, in
A few words about the recording
fIlms, in Greek restaurants or social clubs, etc.).
This book can be successfully studied without its accompanying 5 Hear yourself speak! If at all possible fmd yourself aquiet place
recording. However, it is highly advisable to use it since it will help to study where you can speak out loud. It will build up your
you a great deal to pronounce Greek correctly, acquire a more listening and speaking skills as well as your confIdence!
authentic accent, and distinguish sounds - something extremely vital 6 Use every opportunity to speak the language. Youdon't have to
at this early stage. Many learners sometimes complain about not go to Greece to do this. Find a native Greek speaker to help you
being able to speak a language, even after some considerable effort, and fInd out about Greek social clubs, etc.
but ithas been widely accepted that the more we hear alanguage and
try to tune into its sounds and rhythms the more we can speak it in
Symbols and abbreviations
practice. The recorded dialogues and exercises will also offer you a
plenty of practice in understanding and responding to basic Greek.
Thi~ indicates that the recording is needed for the following
Keep in mind that although we can always ask native speakers to
section.
repeat something for us, we can play the recording back and forth o
without hesitation as many times as needed to hear something or This section looks at the culture of the Greek people and their
distinguish a sound. Readers without the recording will fInd that country.
As in French, German, Spanish and other languages, Greek nouns A a [alfa] N v [nil
have gender. In Greek, there are three genders: masculine, feminine B ~ [vita] s: l; [ksi]
and neuter. They are marked (m), (0 and (n). You will also find the r r
[ghama] 00 [6mikron]
following abbreviations:
A 0 [THelta] II1t [pi]
(sing) singular E £ [epsilon] P p [ro]
(pI) plural Z ~ [zfta] 1:(J/~ [sigma]
(lit.) literally H11 [ita] T t [taf]
(fml) formal 8 () [thfta] Y l) [fpsilon]
(infml) informal I 1 [y6ta] CJ) (f) [fi]
K K [klipa] X X [hi]
Punctuation A A [lamTHa] 'I' '" [psi]
M J1 [mil nco [omega]
Greek punctuation is very similar to that of English. The only
obvious difference is the semicolon [;] which is used as a question Greek, unlike English, is a phonetic language. This means that you
mark in Greek! The Greek semicolon looks like an English full stop canreadorpronounce anyword onceyou know thealphabet, something
slightly raised. similar to German, Italian or Spanish.
Distinguish the different sound of [TH] and [th]. The first is used to
produce the sound of A 0 as in this, though or thus. The second is
used to produce the sound of 8 ()as in thin, thought, or thug.
Awritten accent isused in allwords of more than one syllable to show
where the stress falls, both in the Greek script and in the transliteration. Be careful with two letters that have almost the same name: E £
Try toobserve this ascarefully aspossible. Changing the stress can alter [epsilon] and Y l) [fpsilon].
themeaning entirely, sopay close attention. Capital lettershave nostress
marks. Youcan read more about 'stress and intonation' onpages 12-13.
Pronunciation guide
Consonants
a
~,y,o,s,e,K,A,~,V,;,1t,p,cr/~,t,~,X, 0/
The Greek alphabet
Two-letter consonants
The Greek alphabet has 24 capital letters and 25 small letters. This is ts
because the letter 1: [sigma] becomes a small (J in any position of a yy, YK,YX,~1t, vt,tcr,
word except at the end, where itis ~.Ifyou have the recording, listen Vowelcombinatioos Twosame-letter consonants
to how the alphabet sounds when recited in Greek. Alternatively, au, eu ~~, KK, AA, ~~, VV,1t1t,pp,crcr,tt
check the names below:
The sounds of vowels and consonants in each sub-group above are
explained in the following section.
Letters and sounds
In general, remember that all letters have one sound, except for r r
[ghama], 1: (J/~ [sigma], and X X [hi]. Otherwise, the vowel or
consonant sounds are always pronounced in the same way in Greek,
in contrast with English where one letter usually has more than one
sound, e.g. a as in mat, mate, mayor, etc.
D Pp [ro] r as in rest
8 Vowel sounds 9..
1:0'/<; [sigma] 1s as in set
aS" Aa [<ilfa] a as in raft 2 z as inzip s·
8-
Qcll.. EHETJ [[eitpas]ilon] eiaassiinnimnnet T.tq» [[tfai]f] tf aass iinnfittea ca
o'
0:l I1 [y6ta] ias in sit Xx [hi] Ihasinhat :l
00 [6mikron] o as in lot 2ch as in loch
Yv [ipsilon] ias in inn If',,, [psi] ps as in laps
firo [omega] o as in lot
*There is no equivalent sound in English.
Examples of vowel sounds:
Examples of consonant sounds:
Aa [a] aEponAuvo [aerophino] aeroplane Up [v] ~OUtT\PO [vutiro] butter
EE [e] EAtKOntEpO [elik6ptero] helicopter ry
[gh]* yUAa [gh<ila] milk
HTJ [i] llProw; [iroas] hero
[y] ytayui [yaya] granny
I1 [i] tOEa [iTHea] idea AC) [TH] OlULoKpatia [THimokratia] democracy
00 [0] o~uyovo [oksigh6no] oxygen
Z~ [z] scioto [z6THio] zodiac
Yv [i] uno9EcrT\ [ip6thesi] hypothesis
88 [th] geatpo [theatro] theatre
firo [0] cipa [6ra] hour
KK [k] Kt9upa [kithara] guitar
Greek vowels can be short or long. The transliteration system used in AI.. [1] AEJ.l0Vt [lem6ni] lemon
this course does not show this since in Greek, unlike English, you Mp [m] 1l0U(}lKl1 [musikJ.1 music
will rarely fmd word pairs such asfit-feet or sit-seat. Consequently,
Nv [n] vocrtaA yia [nostalghia] nostalgia
the Greek word crnin house is transliterated as [spiti] although the a~
[ks]** ~EvoooXdo [ksenoTHochio] hotel
first [i] is longer than the second.
fin [p] muvo [piano] piano
Remember that HTJ, 11, and Yv have the same sound (i as in sit). Pp [r] pUOto [raTHio] radio
Also, 00 and firo have the same sound (0as in lot).
1:0'/<; [s] craAUta [salata] salad
D [z] Kocrllo~ [k6zmos] cosmos/world
Consonant sounds
Tt [t] tpevo [treno] train
Up [vita] vas in vet Yv [i] uno9EcrT\ [ip6thesi] hypothesis
ry [gMma] 1gh soft gh sound* .q» [f] cprotoypa<pia [fotoghrafia] photography
2 y as inyes Xx [h] xopo~ [hor6s] chorus/dance
AC) [THelta] TH as in this [ch] OXt [6chi] no
Zs [zita] z as in zip 'P", [ps] '1IUxoMyta [psihologhia] psychology
08 [thita] th as in thin *The transliteration [gh] sounds almost like y inyield and not gh in
KK [kapa] k as in kit ghost.
AI..
[lamTHa] Ias in let
**The letter S ~ [ksi] sounds like the x in six or box.
Mp [mil mas in met
Nv [nil n as in net Please note that all these transliterations are approximate sounds and
only the recording or native speakers can offer the exact sound.
E~ [ksi] ks as in banks
fin [pi] pas inpet
a
I b as in boy
Two-letter vowels
2 mb as in timber
The following two-letter vowels have only one sound, short or long, I d as in day
depending on whether they are found in a stressed syllable or not. 2 nd as in end
AI at [e] [aIfa-yota] e as in set The g, b and d sounds occur at the beginning of Greek words,
EI Et [i] [epsilon-yota] ias in inn whereas the ng, mb and nd sounds occur within a Greek word.
01 01 [i] [ornikron-yota] ias in inn
Examples of two-letter consonants
OY ot> [u] [ornikron-ipsilon] u as input
[ng] AYYAia [anglia] England
The remaining two-letter vowels have two different sounds each:
[g] yKOA<j> [golf] golf
[af] [aIfa-ipsilon] af as in after [ng] uyKupa [angira] anchor
[av] av as in avenue yx [00] uyxo~ [anhos] stress
ref] [epsilon-ipsilon] ef as in effort MTI/M1t 11ft [b] /l1tPU~O [bravo] bravo
rev] ev as in ever [mb] Aa/l1ta [lamba] lamp
* It is always [af] and ref] when at>or Et>is followed by any 0, K, ~, [d] v'to/lu'ta [domata] tomato
ft, a,(j), "I., '" letter. [nd] /lOV'tEpVO [mondemo] modern
** It is always [av] or rev] when at>or Et>is followed by any p, y, 0, TZ/T~ t~ [tz] 't1;;a1;; [tzaz] jazz
~,A,11, v, p, letter or any vowel. TI:/Ta taltr; [ts] 'tcrtyupo [tsigharo] cigarette
Examples of two-letter vowels:
AI [e] Vat [ne] yes
AY [af] au'toKi vrrco [aftokinito] car The following two same-letter consonants are always pronounced as
[av] Auyoucr'to~ [avghustos] August the one letter consonant.
EI [i] d/lat rime] lam [v] :Eu~~a'to (Saturday) vas in vet
EY ref] EUKaipta [efkeria] chance [k] !>KK!>V'tP1KO(e~ccentric) k as in kept
rev] Eupffi1tll [evropi] Europe [1] /lE'taAAo (metal) Ias in let
01 [i] OlKOVo/lia [ikonirnia] economy [m] 1tpoypa/l/la (programme) mas inmet
OY [u] oupavo~ [uranos] Uranus/sky [n] 'tupavvia (tyranny) n as in net
a [p] 11t1to8po/lo~ (hippodrome) pas inpet
Two-letter consonants [r] 't()ppavo~ (tyrant) r as in rent
[s] yAO)crcrUpW(glossary) s as in set
The following two-letter consonants have only one sound:
[t] Bp!>'t'tavia (Britain) t as in tent
11 [gMma-gMma] ng asinEngland (Notasinengine)
yx [ghama-hi] Dbasin inherent
Some other remarks
'ta [taf-sigma] ts asinsets
t~ [taf-zita] dz asinadze 1 The following six words have two different spellings: one with the
final letter v and one without.
The remaining two-letter consonants have two different sounds each:
au't'll au't'llv her (personal pronoun)
Ig as ingo
'tll 'tllV the/her (article, personal pronoun)
2ng as in England
Eva Evav one (indefinite article, numeral)