Greek Dialogues - Towards a New Method of Teaching Modern Greek to Classicists

Date and Time: Tuesday, 11th February, 2025 at 17:00h GMT

Online: Access details below

Venue: Online and Room G21, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA

The second Greek Dialogues seminar of Lent Term 2024-25 explores the fascinating interplay between Ancient and Modern Greek with a presentation by Lewis-Gibson Visiting Fellow Professor Jerneja Kavčič (University of Ljubljana). Her talk examines the linguistic continuity of Greek, emphasizing how shared vocabulary bridges its ancient and modern forms.

Focusing on words that have remained relatively unchanged — Professor Kavčič examines how Modern Greek pronunciation often aligns more closely with authentic ancient forms than with the Erasmian pronunciation traditionally used in classical studies. By demonstrating how learning Ancient Greek offers insights into Modern Greek, this method reshapes perceptions of linguistic decline. Her presentation situates Greek within a broader narrative of resilience and transformation, offering a fresh perspective on language evolution and pedagogy.

"Τhere is an overwhelming presence of Ancient Greek vocabulary in the modern language. This phenomenon forms the basis of a method of teaching Modern Greek to classicists, which is a result of a project I initiated along with Brian D. Joseph (Ohio State University).

In this seminar, I present the method and its theoretical background, starting with the concept of “carry-overs”. These are words such as ἄνεμος (wind) and ὄνομα (name) that “remained more or less intact” throughout the history of Greek (Joseph 2009: 369). Arguably, this concept stands in contrast with views that no ancient words are preserved in Modern Greek without undergoing significant phonological and/or morphological change (e.g., Pappas and Moers 2011: 212).

Still, what is crucial for our method is that classicists do not pronounce classical Greek in the same way as Ancient Greeks did: the Erasmian pronunciation is no more than an approximation of the authentic ancient pronunciation and has several local varieties (Allen 1974: 125 – 144, Petrounias 2001: 952). In some cases, this can mean that the pronunciation of an Ancient Greek word is closer to its pronunciation in Modern Greek than to its authentic ancient pronunciation (cf. Petrounias, loc. cit.).

Οur analysis, which is based on the etymologies of LKN, also shows that words of this type may retain in the modern language (roughly) the same meanings as in Ancient Greek. Although their number partially depends on the variety of the Erasmian pronunciation that is adopted in local teaching practice, they are far from uncommon (Kavčič, Joseph, and Brown 2020: 131–135). Moreover, they may be highly frequent in Modern Greek (e.g., τι, όνομα, έχετε, πίνετε) and can be used in plausible sentences and dialogues. The focus on words of this type is the advantage of our proposal, which also contrasts earlier approaches to teaching Modern Greek to classicists. 

Furthermore, this approach shows students of Ancient Greek that by learning the ancient language, they have also learned a part of Modern Greek and may thus help in overcoming the idea of language corruption and decline which continues to characterize classicists’ perception of the history of Greek.

References
Allen, S.  W.1974. Vox Graeca. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Joseph, B. 2009. "Greek." In The World's Major Languages, edited by B. Comrie, 347-372,  New York: Routledge.
Kavčič, J., B. Joseph, and C. Brown. 2020. "Teaching Modern Greek to Classicists: Taking advantage of continuity. Keria, Studia Latina et Graeca 22, 2, 119-139.
LKN: Λεξικό της Κοινής Νεοελληνικής. Θεσσαλονίκη: Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη, 1998."

Topic: Greek Dialogues - Towards a New Method of Teaching Modern Greek to Classicists
Date and Time: Tuesday 11th February, 2025 17:00h GMT

Join Zoom Meeting: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/81079540226?pwd=lm1llcQ3pRRxIRKXeMyZgAObVkRb3A.1

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Meeting ID: 810 7954 0226
Passcode: 287830

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