Grammars that are better than Smyth?

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pster
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Grammars that are better than Smyth?

Post by pster »

I would like a list of all grammars that are better than Smyth irrespective of language. Are there any in German or French or Italian that are as good as Smyth?

Thanks in advance.

Markos
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Re: Grammars that are better than Smyth?

Post by Markos »

χαίροις, ἄριστε!

τὸ τοῦ Διονυσίου τοῦ Θραικὸς βιβλίον, ὄν Ἑλληνιστἰ, μεῖζον τοῦ Σμυμου ἐστιν. φημι δή τοῦτο:

http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/graec ... ch.html#17

ἔρρωσο, φίλε μου!
οὐ μανθάνω γράφειν, ἀλλὰ γράφω τοῦ μαθεῖν.

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Paul Derouda
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Re: Grammars that are better than Smyth?

Post by Paul Derouda »

I have no idea about Attic. For Homeric Greek, Pierre Chantraine's Grammaire Homérique is unsurpassed. I hardly ever look at volume 1 though (Phonétique et morphologie) since I find it's more like a scientific monograph than a reference work, but volume 2 (Syntaxe) is for anybody who wants to study Homer beyond the basics. All the commentaries on Homer refer to it all the time.

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pster
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Re: Grammars that are better than Smyth?

Post by pster »

I'll keep that in mind. But I definitely need Attic. Especially prose.

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Re: Grammars that are better than Smyth?

Post by spiphany »

One of my Greek professors (who was trained in Germany) quoted Kühner-Gerth on a regular basis. It's about as standard in Germany as Smyth is here, and is somewhat longer and presumably more thorough (I haven't worked with it much at all). It also dates from around the same time as Smyth, so you may encounter some of the same frustrations I suspect you're struggling with in Smyth -- i.e., the Victorian style, the condensed and sometimes rather cryptic explanations, certain assumptions made on the basis of Greek and Latin knowledge being far more widespread than it is now, etc.
Perseus seems to have put at least part of it online: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... irect=true

Schwyzer's Griechische Grammatik is similar in scope. It's (slightly) more recent.

There's a guide to various reference books here which you might find helpful:
http://people.duke.edu/~wj25/Bibliograp ... ogica.html
IPHIGENIE: Kann uns zum Vaterland die Fremde werden?
ARKAS: Und dir ist fremd das Vaterland geworden.
IPHIGENIE: Das ist's, warum mein blutend Herz nicht heilt.
(Goethe, Iphigenie auf Tauris)

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pster
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Re: Grammars that are better than Smyth?

Post by pster »

Very helpful spiphany. Yes that is exactly what I wanted.

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