itty bitties

Greek Learning Greek
1

I think there’s some sort of natural law that when I’m trying to understand something in a foreign language, 90% of my confusion will come from the most common 10% of the words, especially very short ones. I clearly remember 30 years ago trying to read a stack of Popeye comic book that a Greek friend had given me, and spending endless time being mystified by these words, which I refer to as the “itty bitties.” These malevolent gremlins are usually too common to be mentioned in notes and vocabularies, and often they have a bajillion different meanings, or are used to build complicated constructions out of many small parts, like legos. I feel like there’s a Monty Python sketch that should exist, where a bunch of Greeks are on a Trojan beach, milling around in their armor with their spears and dogs, and saying to each other, “Yes, truly, if indeed when it had been true that the god already now had cursed us, but on the other hand if, perchance, we, hypothetically, were to get out of here alive, then, at that time …”

Below is my attempt to assemble a short guide or list of these for my own use, for the Homeric dialect. If anyone wants to point out errors or suggest things to add, that would be great. Possibly this would be useful to others as well. My definitions are very abbreviated and incomplete, since the LSJ entries for such words are often a page long. If any of these are not actually used in Homer, that would be good to know. I got most of them from specifically Homeric sources, but I did find a few words and correlative constructions by combing through Athenaze, so some unwanted atticisms may have crept in.

I’m thinking I’ll do a separate table for prepositions/adverbs and how they’re used with nouns in the various cases.

Common short words; many are particles, many clitic:

Conjuctions:
καί - and
ἀλλά - but
γάρ - for
δέ - and, but (not a negative like modern δεν)
ὅμως - nevertheless

Negation:
οὐ(κ), οὐχ - not; proclitic
μή - negative form used in imperatives
κε(ν) - used like “if” to limit verbs
αν - like κε, but used in Homer for negative clauses
εἰ - “if;” can be used, e.g., as εἰ κεν + verb αἰ - if; implies a wish or purpose; proclitic
αἰ κε(ν) - if only, so that
αἲ γάρ - oh, that …!
ἣν = εἰ ἄν; also an interjection, “see there!;” cf. epic pronoun ἥν
γε - used before or after a word to mark or emphasize it; often “at least;” postpositive, enclitic
ἄρ(α)/ῥα - time or causation: then/next, therefore; postpositive; in later dialects, can introduce a question, as in “Who, then, will fight?”
γάρ = γε ἄρ “for;” postpositive, enclitic
δέ - but, and, or supplying the reason for something
δή - indeed, truly; postpositive
αὐτάρ, ἀτάρ - similar to δέ
τε - correlative/connecting particle; always postpositive?; enclitic
μέν, μήν - affirmative particles; the difference depends on prose/verse and meter
ἤτοι - indeed, truly (also used in either/or constructions)
ἦ μέν - used in oaths

Time, causation, and temporal order:
ἤδη - already, now
νῦν - now, just now, presently; enclitic
οὖν - postpositive adverb; so, then
ἄρ(α)/ῥα - so, then
ὥστε - so that; adverb+inf; conjuction

Correlatives:
In later dialects, where articles are common, one often has the postpositive between the article and the noun, e.g., ὁ τ᾽ ἥλιος καὶ τὴν σελήνη.
τε …και - A τε …και Β, both A and B
μέν …δέ …- contrasting, “and on the other hand”
οὔτε …οὔτε - neither …nor

2

enclitic νυν might be worth mentioning (and νυ) as it can be confused with νῦν, although it only appears twice (?) in the Iliad.

νῦν is an adverb and not enclitic, I think.

3

Not really on topic, but in Homer, νυ always comes before consonants, and νυν before vowels. I think it’s always νυν in Attic, never νυ, whether or not there is a consonant following, but maybe someone has a counterexample.

4

I know the feeling. When learning Spanish I had to look up some words a dozen times, while the next one stuck with me the first time. It wasn’t Spanish’s fault; Greek and German give me the same issue.
I like this type of chart for helping me with those words that don’t stick. My only suggestion is that in final form it could be alphabetized for quicker reference when I need that little reminder boost.

5

Another confusing word is τοι. It is an enclitic dative =σοι and also an enclitic affirmative particle. It can be combined with γάρ, τοιγάρ.

Do you have Cunliffe? it would be more help than LSJ.

νῦν and νυν might not lead to much confusion in Homer but it is good to be aware of the difference for when you read attic. And also of course for scanning:

ἐκτελέει, ὅσα πού νυν ἐέλπεται· ἀλλά μιν οἴω Il.10.105

where υ in νυν is short. νυν only comes a few times so all this is a bit minor. I mention it because it tripped me up when I began learning.

6

Thanks, everyone – that’s very helpful.

7

Some corrections:
αν/κεν are synonymous in Homer, as far as I know the only difference is that they can be used in different metrical contexts. In actual spoken Greek they belonged to different dialects. The meaning is difficult to pinpoint, “conditional or limiting particle” according to Cunliffe; “if” is not a good translation.
ἣν = εἰ ἄν - wrong aspiration.

ἄρ(α)/ῥα - time or causation: then/next, therefore; postpositive; in later dialects, can introduce a question, as in “Who, then, will fight?”

ἆρα is a different word altogether – note the accent, the initial vowel there is long, whereas it’s short in ἄρα. Your translation of ἄρα doesn’t quite get it, I’d say something like “after all”, “as you’d expect”, “as it turned out” would be better.

8

a bunch of Greeks are on a Trojan beach, milling around in their armor with their spears and dogs

dogs?!

”Yes, truly, if indeed when it had been true that the god already now had cursed us, but on the other hand if, perchance, we, hypothetically, were to get out of here alive, then, at that time …”

Nice. (And now in Greek please.) But the take-away is a linguistic one: Ancient Greek uses particles etc. while English relies instead on intonation. So writing in Greek has a great advantage over writing in English, where tone etc has to be inferred from the context. Hence emojis, inadequately compensating for the dearth of particles in English. :bulb: :frowning:

And I have to say that even as a rough guide Ben your table is far too faulty to be of use.
EDIT. And besides, to be brutally honest, I don’t see the point of it. Surely the best way of mastering such common little words is by reading Homer and familiarizing yourself with them in use. Otherwise you risk letting your “definitions” and your would-be equivalencies control your understanding of the Greek. Which would be bad.

9

οὐρῆας μὲν πρῶτον ἐπῴχετο καὶ κύνας ἀργούς (Iliad 1.50)

10

But you left out the mules. :laughing:

11

Ben, We could talk about these dogs (they are kinda interesting), along with the more typical ones of 1.4, but I’m thinking you might want to address yourself to the more substantial issues. Please understand I don’t mean to be hostile. We’re a supportive bunch here, as you’ve discovered—more supportive than itsy-bitsy yellow polka-dot bikinis, I dare say. (Before your time?)

[One sample correction to your list: γάρ is not enclitic, it’s merely postpositive.]

12

Thanks, that’s helpful. I think my source for thinking there was a distinction was LSJ: “No clear distinction can be traced, but κε as an enclitic is somewhat less emphatic; ἄν is preferred by Hom. in negative clauses, κε（ν) with the relative.” Looking back at it again, it looks like I was overstating the distinction.

Thanks for catching that.

ἄρ(α)/ῥα - time or causation: then/next, therefore; postpositive; in later dialects, can introduce a question, as in “Who, then, will fight?”

ἆρα is a different word altogether – note the accent, the initial vowel there is long, whereas it’s short in ἄρα. Your translation of ἄρα doesn’t quite get it, I’d say something like “after all”, “as you’d expect”, “as it turned out” would be better.
[/quote]
I think we’re talking about two different words, or maybe I’m misunderstanding:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἄρα#Ancient_Greek

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἆρα

13

Thanks for the correction. I’m taking all comments into account as edits in a revised version.

14

It seems to me that this project as well as the others you have written about in other threads are diverting you from the main task of learning Greek, if indeed that is your main objective. There seems to be a lot of process in your posts but not much language acquisition. Its easy to get distracted especially as learning Greek is not an easy task without a teacher.

I mean this to be a supportive post too although I can see that you might not take it as such.

Also as I said earlier you will find Cunliffe more use than LSJ. I would not trust anything in “wiktionary”.

15



Wise recommendations.

16

I think we’re talking about two different words, or maybe I’m misunderstanding:
[/quote]
Sorry, my bad apparently. I thought you were mixing up two different words.

I agree about not trusting anything in wiktionary. Cunliffe is very useful and available online for free http://stephanus.tlg.uci.edu/cunliffe/.