LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner Questions

Answered by Stefania #25
Can I Understand Ancient Greek
if I Learn Modern Greek?

CONTENTS
2 Grammar

# 25
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GRAMMAR

The Focus of this Lesson is the Question: Can I Understand Ancient Greek If I Learn
Modern Greek?

"Ancient Greek" is a very general term for all the different forms of Greek that existed
before Modern and Medieval Greek. Archaic and Classical Greek with their many dialects,
such as Attic, Doric, Ionic, and Aeolic among others, are Ancient Greek as well as Koine
Greek, the common language of the Byzantine Empire.

The gap between these forms of Ancient Greek and today's Modern Greek, officially called
Demotic Greek, grows or becomes smaller depending on the era and dialect. The older the
Greek, the more different it is from Modern Greek.

How different is Ancient Greek from Modern Greek?

You might be wondering "How different is Ancient Greek from Modern Greek?"

Well, although the alphabet hasn't changed much since the Classical Period, the grammar
and accentuation system have been simplified today. Apart from the active and the passive
voice, there used to be a middle voice, as well as a dative case along with the nominative,
genitive, accusative, and vocative case. Ancient Greek uses infinitives in a way that Modern
Greek doesn't. The optative verb mood as well as some diacritics didn't survive and there
used to be an extra number called "dual" apart from the singular and the plural. Many
words of course have changed, as well as the endings of inflected words and the formation
of tenses and other verb forms.

Here are some examples.

1. Το «ὕδωρ» σημαίνει «νερό» στα αρχαία ελληνικά.

To "ídor" siméni "neró" sta arhéa eliniká.
"Ὕδωρ means 'water' in Ancient Greek."

2. Το «πῦρ» σημαίνει «φωτιά» στα αρχαία ελληνικά.

To "pir" siméni "fotiá" sta arhéa eliniká.
"Πῦρ means 'fire' in Ancient Greek."

Language Tip

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So now you might be wondering if a native Greek speaker understands any Ancient Greek
at all.

Depending on the era and dialect, Ancient Greek might be totally incomprehensible even to
a native Greek, like the Archaic Greek in the works of Homer, also called Homeric Greek, or
somewhat comprehensible, like the Koine Greek of the New Testament.

Actually, many people ask me if studying Modern Greek will help them understand the New
Testament. Koine Greek is not that far from Modern Greek. Most educated Greeks would
probably understand a large part of it because of the language feel and instinct, also
because ancient Greek is taught in high schools and there are still relics of it in Modern
Greek. Nonetheless, a translation is always required and there are always many high
school students who really struggle and end up going to cram schools to keep up.

Here are some more examples:

1. Ο Όμηρος αναφέρεται στη θάλασσα ως «ἅλς».

O Ómiros anaférete sti thásasa os "als."
"Homer refers to the sea as ἅλς."

2. Δόξα τω Θεώ τα κατάφερα!

Dóxa to Theó ta katáfera!
"Thank God I made it!"

A native Greek speaker who has never studied ancient Greek would struggle
understanding it and would misinterpret even texts in the somewhat more familiar Koine
Greek.

A non-native who is just studying Modern Greek would recognize a few familiar words here
and there, but overall, a piece of ancient Greek text wouldn't make much if any sense,
unless his or her fluency is near-native level.

To give you an idea, at first sight the gap between Homeric Greek and Modern Greek is
probably near as great as the gap between Old English and Modern English, while the gap
between Koine Greek and Modern Greek is probably similar to the gap between Middle
English and Modern English, with Classical Greek being somewhere in between.

Here are some sample sentences:

1. Η κοινή φράση «τοις μετρητοίς» είναι σε πτώση δοτική.

I kiní frási "tis metritís" íne se ptósi dotikí.
"The common phrase τοις μετρητοίς ("cash") is in the dative case."

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2. «Εὖ ζῆν» σημαίνει το να ζεις καλά.
"Ef zin" siméni to na zis kalá.
"Εὖ ζῆν means 'to live well.'"

Coming back to the initial question, "Can I understand Ancient Greek if I learn Modern
Greek?" The answer is "Not really."

You should focus on whatever Greek you want to learn, either ancient or modern, without
any expectation that by learning one you will easily understand the other.

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