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Episcopus
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`arpadso

Post by Episcopus »

:lol:

I am to begin the Ancient Greek episode in the near future; I want a good primer, admittedly as similar to that of D'Ooge as possible, without obviously the hic haec hoc. I want a harsh old book, but one with exercises and lively content rather than JWW.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 86-0180401

Does any one know this book? If it is bad, do you have any recommendations?

Thank you, you foreigners :wink:

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

Most languages fall short in their capability of encapsulating my words of praise for this book! A superb amount of information is detailed in a marvellously concise manner. It was (and often still is) invaluable to me in my learning of Greek and I favour it over the (admittedly rather good) Oxford Classical Greek Grammar (by Morwood) that is slowly eclipsing A&M among British Classics teachers.
I would advise you, however, to hit abebooks and get a hard-back version as the paperback will soon give in to over-use, I imagine.
Obviously the grammar does not cover the most detailed aspects of grammar and syntax (for which Goodwin and Smyth are the men), but it is likely to suffice for your first couple of years of Greek learning.
A shower of superlatives!

~dave

Episcopus
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Post by Episcopus »

Really? It's as good as under my pillow then!

My instinct for the discarding of such titles as "Athenaze" and the JACT series seems to have done well.

Does the book have exercises and conjugations (appendices) also? It seems a little short compared to the D'Ooge book. The Morwood I hear is more of a reference grammar, is this book similar to a reference, with a few exercises/examples.

Hard backs hurt me. I like the glossy paper of paperbacks. Fresh ones. Like the Cambridge Latin Anthology, whose price if I recall was very similar if not the same as this Greek Primer. :o

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

I interpreted your wish as one for a good working grammar, which A&M definitely is. However, if you want a book to learn from, there are many candidates.
I tend to draw back from the works the newer they are, as, in my view, they tend to drift further and further from the actual linguistic issues as time progresses, issues which ought (quite naturally!) to be at the core. My advised book would be Wilding's Greek for Beginners. The work is very well set out and deals with teaching the language in an order that seems admirably sequential on logical terms.
Although the A&M is effectively a tutorial grammar, with very good notes on syntax in its last quarter, it lacks any exercises in composition or translation. Wilding, however, introduces well-scaled exercises at a very early stage. Furthermore, there are often exercises of Greek composition, which begin at an early stage, and are a superb way of really coming to grips with the language.
The book, though written long ago, is still happily in print.

Glad to see that you're ready to take the reins of both of the two horses, although perhaps they are less discordant than Plato's!

~dave

chad
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Post by chad »

hi episcopus, dave's choices go particularly well together because wilding refers to specific A&M sections for more grammatical info if i recall.

the only thing which annoyed me about A&M when i started (coincidentally it's been my main grammar as well ever since i started) is that you have to search around a bit in the adjectives section to find the spelling of participles, which don't have their own section. it made sense later on, but at the beginning it was a bit confusing.

good luck :)

annis
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Post by annis »

My A&M is the standard grammar I carry about with me if I feel I need to review some obscure paradigm, or if I need a grammar for air travel and I have a weight restriction. My edition at least does one very annoying thing: it uses peculiar terminology for the subjunctive and optative, calling them both "conjunctive", one "historical," if I recall correctly.

If you're not going to learn Greek with Pharr and Homer :) I think you'd do well with the Initia Graeca First Greek Course. The book is a bit, um, intense, but I think anyone who taught himself Latin could handle this. If it's too much too fast, White's "First Greek Book" will remind you of D'Ooge in terms of pace and style.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

PeterD
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Post by PeterD »

Try to get a copy of Greek: An Intensive Course by Hanson & Quinn. It's a "meat and potatoes" introductory text that will serve you very well in the beginning; sooner or later you will come to it.

The JACT series, although not thorough in its grammatical explanations, allows you to jump into reading (and writng) Greek right away. If it's accompanied by a text such as the one mentioned above, you'll have some very powerful learning tools.

Take care,

PeterD

PS: Don't submerge yourself with too many texts in the beginning.

PeterD
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Post by PeterD »

Try to get a copy of Greek: An Intensive Course by Hanson & Quinn. It's a "meat and potatoes" introductory text that will serve you very well in the beginning; sooner or later you will come to it.

The JACT series, although not thorough in its grammatical explanations, allows you to jump into reading (and writng) Greek right away. If it's accompanied by a text such as the one mentioned above, you'll have some very powerful learning tools.

Take care,

PeterD

PS: Don't submerge yourself with too many texts in the beginning.

Episcopus
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Post by Episcopus »

I don't like JWW. It's not an attractive text for me, although fairly paced. D'Ooge is on another level.

Here they are trying to revive Greek but how will it happen if a poor boy can not find the texts. In the UK Wilding is out of stock, and I was looking for "New introduction to Greek" which looked nice and succinct, recommended by people over Wilding, but it was nowhere.

Episcopus
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Post by Episcopus »

Sorry for my questions.

To what level would JWW take me? It looks fair, since I have many other languages (I do mean many) to study at the same time, so need a book that is not insanely intensive. Thanks Greek People.

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