I’m beginning to use J.A.C.T.s Reading Greek to learn Greek. I am in Section 1-E. I’ll give a few sentences for context.
μη μενε, αλλα φευγε και συ, και ριπτε σεαυτον εκ του πλοιου. αναβαινουσι α ηδη οι ανδρες.
I can’t figure out what the ‘α’ means in “α ηδη” here. It is not in the running vocabulary or any of the companion books that I can find. I think that the sentence means “the men are coming up already”. But what is the function of the ‘α’ in “α ηδη”?
[Edit]
I edited to change English text to Greek. I also wanted to say that I forgot my manners. I would greatly appreciate any help.
That is odd! That would make sense. Can I ask, do you have the second edition? If so, then what printing? Mine says “9th printing 201”. I did double check. Mine uses “α ηδη” instead of “γαρ ηδη”. Do you have any idea what the former might mean if it is not a misprint?
You’re killing me with all that Greek, man. It’s all Greek to me! I want to be able to read it, but I have no where near the skill to do so. Could you possibly edit in an English translation? Why do I see the same formation in your text?
It’s my attempt to give the misprint a context that would work. It doesn’t really succeed.
They say that reading in translation is like kissing a woman through a veil, but I promise that the above is not something that you would want to kiss, with or without a veil.
ἅ (note the accentuation) is who/which. It’s declined, more or less like the article, from ὅς / ἥ / ὅ
τὰ δένδρα ἅ κατακόπτω – The trees which I am cutting down.
That doesn’t work in the context. However, the meaning is a bit wider in Homeric Greek. In Homer, it can be a demonstrative (ie., “that”). The person speaking in my above passage apologizes and says “I’ve been reading too much Homer.” But I’m likely using it incorrectly even then. We’ll have to wait for some of the better Greek speakers on the board to correct me. My passage is meant to be funny more than an actual proposal. In your textbook it is definitely a misprint.
