Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts

Friday, December 22, 2017

Greek Alphabet

We just learned how to Count to ten in Greek.

The Greek alphabet has some letters that look a lot like the English alphabet, but other's don't.
Like the letter a (alpha) looks kind of like the letter a, and the letter b (beta) looks like the letter b.
The word "alphabet" even comes from the greek letters alpha and beta!

Just like English, some of the upper and lower case letters look different.

Α, α (alpha) - Sounds like "ah"
Β, β (beta) - Sounds like the letter "b"
Γ, γ (gamma) - sounds like the letter "g"
Δ, δ (delta) - Sounds like the letter "d"
Ε, ε (epsilon) - Sounds like "ay"
Ζ, ζ (zeta) - Sounds like the letter "z"
Η, η (eta) - Sounds like "ee" or "eh"
Θ, θ (theta) - Sounds like "th"
Ι, ι (iota) - Sounds like "ee"
Κ, κ (kappa) - Sounds like the letter "k"
Λ, λ (lambda) - Sounds like the letter "l"
Μ, μ (mu) - Sounds like the letter "m"
Ν, ν (nu) - Sounds like the letter "n"
Ξ, ξ (xi) - Sounds like "ks"
Ο, ο (omicron) - Sounds like "oh"
Π, π (pi) - Sounds like the letter "p"
Ρ, ρ (rho) - Sounds like the letter "r"
Σ, σ/ς (sigma) - Sounds like the letter "s"
Τ, τ (tau) - Sounds like the letter "t"
Υ, υ (upsilon) - Sounds like "oo" or "ee"
Φ, φ (phi) - Sounds like "ph"
Χ, χ (chi) - Sounds like "kh"
Ψ, ψ (psi) - Sounds like "ps"
Ω, ω (omega) - Sounds like "oh"

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z The Italian alphabet looks the same as the English alphabet.

The German alphabet has the letters ä, ö, ü, ß

The Spanish alphabet:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
H, I, J, K, L, LL, M, N, Ñ
O, P, Q, R, RR, S, T, U
V, W, X, Y, Z

The French alphabet:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
H, I, J, K, L, M, N
O, P, Q, R, S, T, U
V, W, X, Y, Z

Friday, December 15, 2017

Greek - Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

We learned in Greek that 1-5 is ένα, δύο, τρία, τέσσερα, πέντε.
Now let's count up to ten!

6 έξι (éxi) - sounds like EH-k-see
7 εφτά (eftá) - sounds ef-TAH
8 οχτώ (ochtó) - sounds like o-kh-TOH
9 εννέα (ennéa) - sounds like en-NEE-ah
10 δέκα (déka) - sounds like DAY-kah

The letters for these words are:

έ (epsilon) ξ (xi) ι (iota)
ε (epsilon) φ (phi) τ (tau) ά (alpha)
ο (omicron) χ (chi) τ (tau) ώ (omega)
ε (epsilon) ν (nu) ν (nu) έ (epsilon) α (alpha)
δ (delta) έ (epsilon) κ (kai) α (alpha)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

Do you remember how to say it in other languages?

ASL: Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Italian: sei, setto, otto, nove, dieci

German: seis, sieben, acht, neun, zehn

Spanish: seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez

French: six, sept, huit, neuf, dix

Friday, December 8, 2017

Greek - One, two, three, four, five

Let's count to five in Greek!

1 ένα (éna) - sounds like ay-nah
2 δύο (dýo) - sounds like dee-yoh
3 τρία (tría) - sounds like t-dee-yah
4 τέσσερα (téssera) - sounds like tay-say-dah
5 πέντε (pénte) - sounds like pay-n-tay

The letters for these words are:

έ (epsilon) ν (nu) α (alpha)
δ (delta) ύ (upsilon) ο (omicron)
τ (tau) ρ (rho) ί (iota) α (alpha)
τ (tau) έ (epsilon) σ (sigma) σ (sigma) ε (epsilon) ρ (rho) α (alpha)
π (pi) έ (epsilon) ν (nu) τ (tau) ε (epsilon)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)


ASL: One, two, three, four, five

Italian: uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque

German: Ein, zwei, drei, veir, fünf

Spanish: Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco

French: Un, deaux, trois, quatre, cinq

Friday, December 1, 2017

Greek - Dog, Cat


We just learned that to ask if someone speaks Greek you say Μιλατε ελληνικα? (Milate ellinika?).
.

To say dog in Greek, you say σκύλος (skýlos) and it sounds like skee-loh-ss  

To say cat in Greek, you say γάτα (gáta) and it sounds like gah-tah  

The letters for these new words are:

σ (sigma) κ (kappa) ύ (upsilon) λ (lambda) ο (omicron) ς (sigma)
γ (gamma) ά (alpha) τ (tau) α (alpha)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: dog, cat

Italian: cane, gatto

German: Hunt, Katze

Spanish: perro, gato

French: chien, chat

Friday, November 24, 2017

Greek - Do you speak Greek?


Remember that to say please or you're welcome in Greek, you say Παρακαλώ (Parakaló).

To ask if someone speaks Greek, you say Μιλατε ελληνικα? (Milate ellinika?).

It sounds like mee-lah-tay ay-lee-nee-kah  

In the Greek language, the word for Greek comes from the story of Helen, the father of all of the famous rulers of Greece.
Other languages like English call it Greek, because of some other tribes of people that have lived in the area, that called themselves Greek.


To say yes you would say Ναί (Naí) which sounds like nay  

or to say no you would say Οχι (ochi) which sounds like oh-xhee  

Yes and no can be tough for English speakers to remember, because Ναί (Yes) sounds like no, and Οχι (No) sounds kind of like OK.


The letters for these new words are:

Μ (Mu) ι (iota) λ (lambda) α (alpha) τ (tau) ε (epsilon) ε (epsilon) λ (lambda) λ (lambda) η (eta) ν (nu) ι (iota) κ (kappa) α (alpha)?
Ν (Nu) α (alpha) ί (iota)
Ο (Omicron) χ (Chi) ι (iota)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: Do you speak ASL?

Italian: Parli italiano?

German: Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Spanish: ¿Hablas español?

French: parlez-vous français?

Friday, November 17, 2017

Greek - Please, You're Welcome


Remember that to say thank you in Greek, you say ευχαριστώ.

To say please in Greek is Παρακαλώ (Parakaló) - pah-dah-kah-loh.

And to say you're welcome, you say the same thing as please, Παρακαλώ (Parakaló) - pah-dah-kah-loh.


The letters for this new word are:

Π (pi) α (alpha) ρ (rho) α (alpha) κ (kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) ώ (omega)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: Please, You're Welcome

German: bitte, bitte schön

Spanish: Por favor, de nada

French: s'il vous plait, de rien

Friday, November 10, 2017

Greek - Very good thanks, and you?


We just learned to say How are you? in Greek, Τι κάνεις? (Ti káneis?)

and Very good thanks is Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. (Polý kalá, efcharistó)

To be polite you should also ask how the other person is doing.

And you? - εσύ (esý) - sounds like eh-see

εσύ really just means "you". People don't usually say "And you" in Greek, they just say "You?".
Just for fun, the word for And is: και - (kai) - sounds like kay.


So with all that we've learned so far, we could understand a meeting between two people like this:

Γεώργιος (Geórgios) the Greek name for George, sounds like "Yor-yoh-ss"
Μαρία (María) the Greek name for Mary, sounds like "Mah-dee-ah"

Γεώργιος: Γειά σου!
Μαρία: Χαίρετε! Τι κάνεις?
Γεώργιος: Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. εσύ?
Μαρία: Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. Αντίο
Γεώργιος: Καλημέρα!


The letters for these new words are:

ε (epsilon) σ (sigma) ύ (upsilon)
κ (kappa) α (alpha) ι (iota)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)


ASL: Very Good Thanks, and You?

Italian: Molto bene, grazie.

German: Sehr gut, danke. Und Sie?

Spanish: Muy bien gracias. ¿Y tú?

French: Très bien, merci. Et vous?

Friday, November 3, 2017

Greek - How are you?

We just learned some greetings in Greek, like Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), Αντίο (Antío) and Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra), Καληνυχτα - (Kalinychta).

If you want to say How are you? in Greek, you would say:

Τι κάνεις? (Ti káneis?) - sounds like tee-KAH-nee-ss

To respond and say Very good thanks, you would say

Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. (Polý kalá, efcharistó) - sounds like poh-LEE-kah-LAH, ef-kha-dee-STOH


The letters for these words are:

Τ (tau) ι (iota) κ (kai) ά (alpha) ν (nu) ε (epsiolon) ι (iota) ς (sigma)
Π (pi) ο (omicron) λ (lambda) ύ (upsilon) κ (kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) ά (alpha)
ε (epsilon) υ (upsilon) χ (chi) α (alpha) ρ (rho) ι (iota) σ (sigma) τ (tau) ώ (omega)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: How are you?

Italian: Come va? Molto bene, grazie.

German: Wie geht es Ihnen? Sehr gut, danke.

Spanish: ¿Cómo estás? Muy bien, gracias.

French: Comment allez-vous? Très bien, merci.

Friday, October 27, 2017

Greek - Good Morning


We just learned a few ways to say hello and goodbye in Greek, like Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), and Αντίο (Antío).

Sometimes you might want to say good morning, good afternoon, or good night.

Good Morning/Day - Καλημέρα (Kaliméra) - sounds like kah-lee-may-dah

Good Afternoon/Evening - Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra) - sounds like kah-lee-spay-dah

Good Night - Καληνυχτα (Kalinychta) - sounds like kah-lee-nich-tah


The letters for these words are:

Κ (Kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) η (iota) μ (mu) έ (epsilon) ρ (rho) α (alpha)
Κ (Kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) η (iota) σ (sigma) π (pi) έ (epsilon) ρ (rho) α (alpha)
Κ (Kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) η (iota) ν (nu) υ (upsilon) χ (chi) τ (tau) α (alpha)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening, Good Night

Italian: buongiorno, buon pomeriggio, buonasera, buona notte

German: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, Gute Nacht

Spanish: Buenos días, buenos tardes, buenas noches

French: bonjour, bonsoir, bonne nuit

Friday, October 20, 2017

Greek - Hello and Goodbye


We've now learned a whole year of ASL!
Wow!

Let's try another language now, how about Greek?

Greek is very different from the other written languages we know, because it's letters are very different.
Some of them are like English, like A and B, but others are very different, like Θ or Ξ!

Let's try to learn some words, and along the way we'll try to learn how to pronounce the letters too.

First let's learn how to say hello and goodbye.
There are a few ways to say Hello.

Hi - Γειά σου (Geiá sou) - Sounds like Yah-soo
This is like saying Hi to your friends.
It means "To your health", so you can say this for goodbye also.

Hello - Χαίρετε (Chairete) - Sounds like Hee-ay-day-tay
This is like saying hello to a grownup.
It means "Be happy", so you can say this for goodbye also.

Bye - Αντίο (Antío) - Sounds like Ah-dee-oh

The letters for these words are:

Γ (Gamma) ε (Epsilon) ι (Iota) ά (Alpha) σ (Sigma) ο (Omicron) υ (Upsilon)

Χ (Chi) α (Alpha) ί (Iota) ρ (Rho) ε (Epsilon) τ (Tau) ε (Epsilon)

Α (Alpha) ν (Nu) τ (Tau) ί (Iota) ο (Omicron)

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: Hello and Goodbye

Italian: Ciao, arrivederci

German: Hallo, Auf Wiedersehen

Spanish: Hola! Adiós!

French: Bonjour! Au Revoir!