Μαθαίνοντας Ελληνικά - Βασικά

in progress

Greek (Modern Greek: Ελληνικά; Ancient Greek: Ἑλληνική) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Greek language - Wikipedia

Continued updating of this post is a long-term project, one that may span several years on my learning journey. The title, Μαθαίνοντας Ελληνικά - Βασικά, means Learning Greek - Basics. Of course, "Greek" refers specifically to modern Greek here, as distinct from Classical, Koine, or Medieval Greek.

The end of the Medieval Greek period and the beginning of Modern Greek is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary. Modern Greek - Wikipedia

Some learning resources I access, in Chinese or English, are as follows:

• 初级现代希腊语 (Elementary Modern Greek)¹
• 零起点希腊语语法轻松学 (Easy Greek Grammar for Beginners)²
• Greek and English Proverbs³
• translation tools with voice pronunciation, and relevant knowledge base websites
  (for example, DeepL and Modern Greek Conjugation in all tenses)
• electronic or paper-based Greek dictionaries
  (for example, Collins Greek Dictionary: Essential Edition, Amazon.com Books)

Part 1 - Introduction

Alphabet and Pronunciation of Letters

There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. The letter σ appears only at the beginning or in the middle of a word, while the letter ς is used at the end of a word exclusively.

Throughout antiquity, Greek had only a single uppercase form of each letter. It was written without diacritics and with little punctuation. By the 9th century, Byzantine scribes had begun to employ the lowercase form, which they derived from the cursive styles of the uppercase letters. Greek alphabet - Wikipedia

Combined Pronunciation and Diacritics

Someone might notice that, for common vowel pronunciations, there are several Greek letters pronounced [i], but none pronounced [u]. Additionally, there are

• The combination ου is pronounced [u].
• The combination ει and οι are pronounced [i].
• The combination αι is pronounced [e].
• The combination αυ is pronounced [af] or [av], and the combination ευ is pronounced [ef] or [ev], depending on the following sound. If the combination appears at the end of the word or is followed by one of the letters κ, π, τ, ξ, φ, θ, σ, χ, or ψ, it is pronounced as [af] and [ef], respectively. Otherwise, if the following letter is a vowel or one of β, γ, δ, ζ, λ, μ, ν, or ρ, it is pronounced as [av] and [ev], respectively.

by vowels and

• The combination γγ and γκ are pronounced [g]. At the beginning of a word, only γκ can be used.
• The combination μπ is pronounced [b] or [mb].
• The combination ντ is pronounced [d] or [nd].
• The combination τζ is pronounced [dz].
• The combination τσ is pronounced [ts].

by consonants.

Moreover, the pronunciation of double consonants (ββ, κκ, λλ, μμ, νν, ππ, ρρ, σσ, ττ) sound the same as their single consonants while the only exception is γγ.

In Modern Greek phonology, the simplified monotonic (compared to the polytonic system) orthography uses only two diacritical marks: the single accent (or tonos, acute accent) (´) and the diaeresis (¨). If a text contains numerous accent and breathing diacritics, such as circumflex accent (ˆ), grave accent (`), and smooth breathing (᾿), it can be identified as written in the polytonic system for older forms of Greek.

• The single accent is placed over a vowel (e.g., ά) or the second vowel of a combined pronunciation (e.g., ού) to indicate stress in a word.
• The diaeresis appears on the letters ι and υ (i.e., ϊ and ϋ) to show that a pair of vowel letters is pronounced separately, breaking a potential diphthong.

The diaeresis may combine with the accent (e.g., αΐ).

Punctuation

• Comma (κόμμα) ,
• Period (τελεία) .
• Colon (διπλή τελεία) :
• Semicolon (άνω τελεία) ·
• Question Mark (ερωτηματικό) ;
• Exclamation Mark (θαυμαστικό) !
• Quotation Marks (εισαγωγικά) « »
• Parentheses (παρένθεση) ( )

Some of the above are similar to those used in English, while others are represented differently. These punctuation marks are a modern development, that is, ancient Greek had none.

Part 2 - Elements

Essential Communication Expressions

Greeting

Formal greetings:

• Γεια σας.
• Καλημέρα σας.
• Καλησπέρα σας.

Informal greetings:

• Γεια σου.
• Γεια.
• Καλημέρα.
• Καλησπέρα.

When talking to strangers, elders, or people being respected, use the second-person plural form for verbs and pronouns.

• Πολύ καλά ευχαριστώ. Εσείς;

Basic Words

• τεράστιος/τεράστια/τεράστιο  huge,enormous (m/f/n)