Χαίρετε!
I know that μανθάνω means learn, but I was wondering how I would say, “Learn about . . .”?
- Would I use μανθάνω with an accusative?
- Would I use a genitive?
- Would I use a dative?
- would I use a preposition?
- Would I use a different verb?
You have to get out of the habit of taking an English expression and trying to turn it literally into Greek. You need to decide what an English expression or sentence means and then decide how that might be expressed in Greek. I have often said in the past that Greek works differently than English. Often you need more words in English than Greek to express the same thought.
The question you need to ask yourself is what do I mean in English by “learn about”? Is “I am learning about Greek” any different from “I am learning Greek”? It might be different but it might be the same it all depends on what you are trying to say. So decide that first.
When you say “I am leaning the greek language” do you mean anything different when you say “I am learning about the greek language”?
“I am leaning the greek language” would mean you use the verb μανθάνω plus acc.
“I am learning about the greek language” might mean exactly the same thing as “I am leaning the greek language” and so you would use use μανθάνω plus acc.
it might mean something like “I never knew the Greeks had their own language and I am learning about its existence”. Then you would perhaps use εὑρίσκω (find, find out, discover) or πυνθάνομαι, learn (by inquiry), inquire. It would all depend on what you intended the English to mean.
If the English sentence is not your’s, there will be some context which will make it obvious what’s intended. “Today we learned about μι-Verbs” will probably mean exactly the same as “Today we learned μι-Verbs” and you would use μανθάνω.
If you grasp this principle and stop looking for ways to translate things like “about” literally in a sentence the sooner you will simplify your life and you won’t need to list possibilities which dont make a lot of sense.
Dont take this as a discouragement to asking questions. It’s the only way for all of us to learn. The principle here is straightforward but putting it into practice takes constant attention and thought.
If you grasp this principle and stop looking for ways to translate things like “about” literally in a sentence the sooner you will simplify your life and you won’t need to list possibilities which dont make a lot of sense.
This is a great point and should be grasped firmly. Composition is really, really, important, and slow for all of us at first. If you keep up your reading (even, especially, if very simple things!) and check the dictionary entries for important common words like manthanw, you will slowly but surely absorb the relevant principles.
Yes, for composition it’s very important to heed Plato’s wise words: περὶ ὀνομάτων ὀρθότητος μαθεῖν δεῖ.
Useful Resources for Composition in the Composition Board.
I was asking because on occasion at night, I take a few minutes to head outside and look at the sky with a one-page star chart that I print off the Internet. If someone asked me what I am doing, I would say something like, “I am stargazing or I am learning about stars.” It got me wondering if Ancient Greek would say, “I am learning abut stars or I am learning stars.”
Now you have provided some context. So you need to ask your self what does “learning about stars mean”? Another way of saying this would that you were studying astronomy and so you could use the verb “ἀστρονομέω, study astronomy”. Because you have not really done a lot of Greek prose composition you would be best advised when thinking of sentences to consider how they can be rephrased so that the idea behind what you say can be easily expressed in Greek.
ΣΤΡΕΨΙΑΔΗΣ
τί γὰρ οἵδε δρῶσιν οἱ σφόδρ᾿ ἐγκεκυφότες;
ΜΑΘΗΤΗΣ
οὗτοι δ᾿ ἐρεβοδιφῶσιν ὑπὸ τὸν Τάρταρον.
ΣΤΡΕΨΙΑΔΗΣ
τί δῆθ᾿ ὁ πρωκτὸς εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν βλέπει;
ΜΑΘΗΤΗΣ
αὐτὸς καθ᾿ αὑτὸν ἀστρονομεῖν διδάσκεται.
Strepsiades
And these here, what are they doing all bent over?
Pupil
They’re scrutinizing the murkiness below Tartarus.
Strepsiades
Then why the arsehole peering at the sky?
Pupil
Learning astronomy on its own.
Aristophanes Clouds 191-194 
Hard to believe that “learn about” is such an un-Greek expression. It’s probably more my speed to μανθάνειν περὶ ῥυθμῶν, as Aristophanes says in that play.
I didnt mean to suggest it was. My answer to Lukas was based on previous posts he has made where he doggedly tries to translate every single English word into Greek. I was hoping to encourage him to think to think more laterally about the meaning of the English he wants to translate.
I was concerned to establish a general point which he will find helpful in the future rather than answer a specific question about how to translate “learn about”. Scribo understood that.
Greek as you know is very flexible and so there will be lots of ways of translating a particular English thought. My Aristophanes quote was simply intended to be amusing.
Speaking of that, which constellation is also an astronomer?
Answer: Βοώτης ὁ ἀστρονέμων
Hmmm. Not one of the bears or Draco.
Or maybe it is a bear. The Big Dipper, Ursa Major, ἄμαξα, Μεγάλη άρκτος, or whatever the ancients called it, does point to some constellations and stars.
Sorry. I saw your question but did not see your answer until tonight.
The joke is that he’s stargrazing (his oxen). -νέμων
Despite the LSJ’s gloss of ἀστρονομέω as “study astronomy”, I wonder if the references don’t seem to point more to “practice astronomy”. Thales was looking up and theorizing about astronomy when he fell into the well, not studying it. The clouds reference can’t be “teach himself to study about astronomy”. If the word were more parallel to γεωμετρέω instead – about practice, not study – it would make a lot of sense to me.