Earliest Greek texts that a native can understand?

[JLatin1]

What is the earliest form of Greek that a native speaker of Modern Greek can understand? Ex. 800 CE. I know that you guys can’t understand classical Attic Greek since so much has changed, but I’m not sure if you could understand late forms of Koine.

Thanks,
-Jonathan.

[Olga_R]

@JLatin1

I know that you guys can’t understand classical Attic Greek since so much has changed

Whom have you got this information from? It is not difficult for any Greek (if he knows his language well, of course, and reads literature) to understand Ancient Greek of Classical age. You can trust me in this, for I am a Greek myself It is even possible to understand some passages of Homeric Greek (this, of course, is not so easy without pfreparation, but still possible).

[JLatin1]

@Olga R.

@JLatin1

I know that you guys can’t understand classical Attic Greek since so much has changed

Whom have you got this information from? It is not difficult for any Greek (if he knows his language well, of course, and reads literature) to understand Ancient Greek of Classical age. You can trust me in this, for I am a Greek myself It is even possible to understand some passages of Homeric Greek (this, of course, is not so easy without pfreparation, but still possible).

Olga, I am by no means knowledgeable about Greek so I thank you for your information. I stand corrected.
-Jonathan.

[annis]

@Olga R.

Whom have you got this information from? It is not difficult for any Greek (if he knows his language well, of course, and reads literature)

Surely this last point is key. I would not be able to read Chaucer without the training I received in school. Especially with the passing of Katharevousa I would think reading Classical Greek must require some serious work for a modern Greek.

[JLatin1]

@annis

Surely this last point is key. I would not be able to read Chaucer without the training I received in school. Especially with the passing of Katharevousa I would think reading Classical Greek must require some serious work for a modern Greek.

I have read some Chaucer and while there is much I don’t always understand 100%, I’m sure that with a little bit of practice and maybe a course or two in ME, I could understand it fairly easily.

[Olga_R]

@annis

@Olga R.

Whom have you got this information from? It is not difficult for any Greek (if he knows his language well, of course, and reads literature)

Surely this last point is key. I would not be able to read Chaucer without the training I received in school. Especially with the passing of Katharevousa I would think reading Classical Greek must require some serious work for a modern Greek.

No, not really. You just have to know your language well – that is why reading of literature is essential. For example, an English guy who never reads will never be able to read Shakspeare properly, although Shakespeare’s language does not differ much from Modern English.
By the way, Katharevousa is not dead, but alive and well There are even books published in it.

[JLatin1]

@Olga R.

Whom have you got this information from? It is not difficult for any Greek (if he knows his language well, of course, and reads literature) to understand Ancient Greek of Classical age. You can trust me in this, for I am a Greek myself It is even possible to understand some passages of Homeric Greek (this, of course, is not so easy without pfreparation, but still possible).

Man I wish I was quadlingual in Modern Greek, Hebrew, English and Latin. Then I could read the Greek classics, all the great Hebrew liturgy, the latin classics and of course know the the closest thing to a worldwide lingua franca, English.

[annis]

@Olga R.

No, not really. You just have to know your language well – that is why reading of literature is essential. For example, an English guy who never reads will never be able to read Shakspeare properly, although Shakespeare’s language does not differ much from Modern English.

Well, that was my point. Just as simply knowing modern English doesn’t automatically confer on me the ability to understand Shakespeare, I doubt very much simply knowing modern Greek makes one able to read Sophocles. It takes practice and training.

[annis]

@Olga R.

By the way, Katharevousa is not dead, but alive and well There are even books published in it.

Is it still taught in Greek schools?

[Olga_R]

Well, that was my point. Just as simply knowing modern English doesn’t automatically confer on me the ability to understand Shakespeare, I doubt very much simply knowing modern Greek makes one able to read Sophocles. It takes practice and training.[/quote]

Well, yes But I wouldn’t use the word “training”.

[Olga_R]

@annis

@Olga R.

By the way, Katharevousa is not dead, but alive and well There are even books published in it.

Is it still taught in Greek schools?

Unfortunately no. But texts in Katharevousa still form an integral part of Literature subject, so the children get aquainted with it.

[ThomasGR]

I don’t agree that Plato is easily understood by modern Greeks. It’s rather a case of knowledge of that langauge. From sole hearing Plato’s text a Greek would’t get any sense at all. Whereas reading it’s quite different and easier, because here an inlellectual process takes place and a Greek will start to analyse the words, the grammar and the sentences, he will transform them into modern Greek, and well, at the end he will get the meaning of course.