The information in this video is fascinating and enlightening even for native Greeks. It disproves the assertion that NT Greek is a dead language. There are some dialects of Greek spoken today eg Cypriot, Pontic Greek and Griko (spoken in southern Italy) which exhibit a huge number of archaisms not found in Modern Greek. Here are some examples: some infinitives of verbs are still used, το δειν < from ἰδεῖν; ὧδε instead of εδώ (here); ᾠόν instead of αυγό (egg); third person plural endings eg θέλουσιν instead of θέλουν (very common in Cyprus). In addition, there are Modern Greek words which at first sight seem unrelated to Ancient Greek but in fact the opposite is true eg τώρα (now) < τῇ ὥρᾳ (ταύτῃ) = at this time= now; νέρο (water) < νεαρὸν (ὕδωρ) = fresh (water), then the word ὕδωρ was dropped. But ὕδωρ is still used in words like υδραυλικός = plumber. And, of course, as you point out, there are 1000+ words still used in MG which are exactly the same as they were over 2000 years ago.
Useful video. I have a question: how was pronounced la letter "eta" during Jesus times, 2.000 years ago?. It seems to me that the common pronunciation at that time was like an italian closed 'e' and not like an italian 'i' or iota. The same name of Jesus can be an evidence: in latin is Iesus (the second letter is pronounced like an italian closed 'e' and different from the initial letter that sounds like an italian 'i') and in hebrew is Yeshua or Yeshu (also in this case the second letter is pronounced as an italian closed 'e'). In greek that name was rendered as Ιησούς and phonetically the second letter, the 'eta' would have sound like an italian closed 'e' and not like a iota: that way in those three languages the same sound would have been maintained
All you need to do is see Plato's comments regarding ι, η, and ει. Essentially, he is saying that in his time people interchanged these three letters. For example, people in his time would write ἱμέρα, then εἱμέρα, and now ἡμέρα. By this he did not mean that the the word for "day" was pronounced three different ways, but rather that the three spellings made no difference in pronunciation. That means that in Plato's time, ι = η = ει. Plato lived more than four centuries before NT times. By NT times, η [i] had long been established as a letter that represented the same sound as the letter ι [i] (officially since 403 BC) and the "genuine diphthong" ει [i]. Looking at η as anything else, e.g., a more closed or open "e," etc. is looking at Greek sounds through the English phonological system. Greek has no "more open" or "more closed" sounds, only five "straight" and equally-timed vowel sounds: [a, e, i, o, u]. -PZ
@@Flugs0 I think that PhilemonZachariou is referring to the following passage: Plato, Cratylus LCL 167: 118-119 "her. What do you mean? soc. I will tell you. You know that our ancestors made good use of the sounds of iota and delta, and that is especially true of the women, who are most addicted to preserving old forms of speech. But nowadays people change iota to eta or epsilon, and delta to zeta, thinking they have a grander sound. her. How is that? soc. For instance, in the earliest times they called day ἱμέρα, others said ἑμέρα, and now they say ἡμέρα. her. That is true. soc. Only the ancient word discloses the intention of the name-giver, don’t you know? For day comes out of darkness to men; they welcome it and long (ἱμείρουσι) for it, and so they called it ἱμέρα. her. That is clear. soc. But now ἡμέρα is masquerading so that you could not guess its meaning. Why, some people think day is called ἡμέρα because it makes things gentle (ἥμερα). her. I believe they do."
@danieled1135 That is an interesting passage indeed, thank you. But if he's talking about how people think that eta has a grander sound than iota, isn't that already proof that they sounded different? And in his second statement in this passage he talks about how people *said* ἱμέρα , then ἑμέρα, then ἡμέρα, doesn't that also suggest that those three versions all have a different sound? He's talking about what people say after all, not what they write.
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THANKS
Likewise. -PZ
The information in this video is fascinating and enlightening even for native Greeks. It disproves the assertion that NT Greek is a dead language. There are some dialects of Greek spoken today eg Cypriot, Pontic Greek and Griko (spoken in southern Italy) which exhibit a huge number of archaisms not found in Modern Greek. Here are some examples: some infinitives of verbs are still used, το δειν < from ἰδεῖν; ὧδε instead of εδώ (here); ᾠόν instead of αυγό (egg); third person plural endings eg θέλουσιν instead of θέλουν (very common in Cyprus).
In addition, there are Modern Greek words which at first sight seem unrelated to Ancient Greek but in fact the opposite is true eg τώρα (now) < τῇ ὥρᾳ (ταύτῃ) = at this time= now; νέρο (water) < νεαρὸν (ὕδωρ) = fresh (water), then the word ὕδωρ was dropped. But ὕδωρ is still used in words like υδραυλικός = plumber.
And, of course, as you point out, there are 1000+ words still used in MG which are exactly the same as they were over 2000 years ago.
Thank you, friend. Your feedback is appreciated! -PZ
Useful video. I have a question: how was pronounced la letter "eta" during Jesus times, 2.000 years ago?. It seems to me that the common pronunciation at that time was like an italian closed 'e' and not like an italian 'i' or iota. The same name of Jesus can be an evidence: in latin is Iesus (the second letter is pronounced like an italian closed 'e' and different from the initial letter that sounds like an italian 'i') and in hebrew is Yeshua or Yeshu (also in this case the second letter is pronounced as an italian closed 'e'). In greek that name was rendered as Ιησούς and phonetically the second letter, the 'eta' would have sound like an italian closed 'e' and not like a iota: that way in those three languages the same sound would have been maintained
All you need to do is see Plato's comments regarding ι, η, and ει. Essentially, he is saying that in his time people interchanged these three letters. For example, people in his time would write ἱμέρα, then εἱμέρα, and now ἡμέρα. By this he did not mean that the the word for "day" was pronounced three different ways, but rather that the three spellings made no difference in pronunciation. That means that in Plato's time, ι = η = ει. Plato lived more than four centuries before NT times. By NT times, η [i] had long been established as a letter that represented the same sound as the letter ι [i] (officially since 403 BC) and the "genuine diphthong" ει [i]. Looking at η as anything else, e.g., a more closed or open "e," etc. is looking at Greek sounds through the English phonological system. Greek has no "more open" or "more closed" sounds, only five "straight" and equally-timed vowel sounds: [a, e, i, o, u]. -PZ
He is lying. Of course Eta used to be pronounced as an Italian "e". As you're showing yourself, that makes much more sense.
@@PhilemonZachariou Could you please show the passage where Plato says this instead of just making groundless claims?
@@Flugs0 I think that PhilemonZachariou is referring to the following passage: Plato, Cratylus LCL 167: 118-119
"her. What do you mean?
soc. I will tell you. You know that our ancestors made good use of the sounds of iota and delta, and that is especially true of the women, who are most addicted to preserving old forms of speech. But nowadays people change iota to eta or epsilon, and delta to zeta, thinking they have a grander sound.
her. How is that?
soc. For instance, in the earliest times they called day ἱμέρα, others said ἑμέρα, and now they say ἡμέρα.
her. That is true.
soc. Only the ancient word discloses the intention of the name-giver, don’t you know? For day comes out of darkness to men; they welcome it and long (ἱμείρουσι) for it, and so they called it ἱμέρα.
her. That is clear.
soc. But now ἡμέρα is masquerading so that you could not guess its meaning. Why, some people think day is called ἡμέρα because it makes things gentle (ἥμερα).
her. I believe they do."
@danieled1135 That is an interesting passage indeed, thank you. But if he's talking about how people think that eta has a grander sound than iota, isn't that already proof that they sounded different? And in his second statement in this passage he talks about how people *said* ἱμέρα , then ἑμέρα, then ἡμέρα, doesn't that also suggest that those three versions all have a different sound? He's talking about what people say after all, not what they write.