1. You speak Greek
More than 6.000 Greek words that are used in English
You just don't know it
2. How to use this book
Just to make it easier for you to pronounce the
words in Greek, we have created 3 columns:
1st
column: the English word in English
2nd
column: the pronunciation guide - the Greek
word spelled with English characters
3rd
column: the Greek word in Greek
In order for you to read the word in the second
column you have to keep in mind that:
• The "i" is always pronounced as "i" in "epic"
• The "e" is always pronounced as "e" in "epic"
• The "s" is always pronounced "s" and never "z"
• The "h" is always pronounced as "h" in "Helen"
• The "th" is always pronounced as in the word
"theme" and not as in the word "the"
• The "nt" is pronounced as "d"
• The "mp" is pronounced as "b"
• The "d" stands for the Greek "δ"
• The "g" stands for the Greek "γ"
The stress in the Greek word is shown by the
"bold" letter.
Note: in some cases the English word comes
from a Greek one that doesn't have the same
meaning.
In these few cases you will come across 2 Greek
words:
The first is the origin of the word. The second
is the Greek word used today,
e.g.: the English word "police" comes from the
Greek word "politia" - "polis" which means
"state" - "city".
In this case you will come across the word
"polis" and the word "astinomia" which is the
Greek word for "police".
This book is not for sale. It is freely distributed.
Αυτή η έκδοση δεν πωλείται. Διανέμεται δωρεάν.
Α, α Alpha (pronounced as: "a" in "academy") Α λ φ α
Β, β Vita (pronounced as: V in "violef') Βήτα
Γ, γ G a m m a (pronounced as: "y" in "yes") Γάμα
Δ, δ Delta (pronounced as: "th" in "this") Δ έ λ τ α
Ε, ε Epsilon (pronounced as: "e" in "ec/ιο''/Εψιλον
Ζ, ζ Zita (pronounced as: "z" in "zephyr") Ζ ή τ α
Η, η Ita (pronounced as: the first "e" in "electron") Ή τ α
Θ, θ Thita (pronounced as: "th" in "theory") Θ ή τ α
I, ι Yiota (pronounced as: "i" in "idiom") Ιώτα
Κ, κ Kapa (pronounced as: "k" in "kinetic") Κ ά π α
Α, λ L a m d a (pronounced as: Ί" in "lion") Λ ά μ δ α
Μ, μ M i (pronounced as: "m" in "metaphor") M l
Ν , ν N i (pronounced as: "n" in "Nike") N i
Ξ, ξ Ksi (pronounced as: "cs" in "ecstasy") Ξι
Ο , ο O m i k r o n (pronounced as: "o" in "Olympic")'Ομικρον
Π, n Pi (pronounced as: "p" in "politics") Πι
Ρ, ρ Ro (pronounced as: "r" in "rhythm") P o
Σ, σ, ς Sigma (pronounced as: "s" in "stadium") Σίγμα
Τ, τ T a p h (pronounced as: "t" in "telephone") Τ α υ
Υ, υ Ipsilon (pronounced as: "y" in "hysteria") Ύ ψ ι λ ο ν
Φ , φ P h i (pronounced as: "ph" in "physics") Φ ι
Χ, χ H i (pronounced as: "h" in "hero") Χι
Ψ , ψ Psi (pronounced as: "ps" in "synopsis") Ψι
Ω, ω O m e g a (pronounced as: "o" in "ocean") Ω μ έ γ α
The Greek digraphs
ΑΙ, αι represents "e"
EI, ει represents "i"
ΟΙ, οι represents "i"
YI, ui represents "i"
ΟΥ, ou represents "ou"/"u"
ΜΠ, μπ represents "b"
NT, ντ represents "d"
ΓΚ, γκ represents "g"
ΓΓ, γγ represents "g"
AY, au pronounced as "av" or "af"
ΕΥ, ευ pronounced as "ev"or "ef"
3. «Λ,
%ikmnA&m, 4 0 m m , Φ
fig,
HFinttiia.
Eg*
«•St®!
as
Ϊ3Ι.
Kg® a
i t ΐ i f "Alphavita"—£
« Φ ^ β Μ ^ Ι ® . Alpha in Vita.
analysis,
angel, atmosphere, automatic, bible,
cinematography, democrat, diagram, diploma,
echo, ecstasy, ethics, galaxy, grammar,
gymnastics, hormone, hypocrite, icon, idiom,
kinesis, logistic, lyric, marathon, mechanic,
megaphone, monopoly, nausea, neon, oil,
Olympics, pathology, phenomenon, philology,
phobia, phrase, physics, practical, protein,
rhapsody, scene, sphere, sympathy, thesaurus,
trauma, Utopia ill zonec
i m ^ ^ m m ^ m ^ i s m m , t t
ίΡ: tele-scope, astro-logy, electro-cardio-graph,
thermo-mc'tcr,.
aeHsaSiis^ffifflMra^ft·
4. Dear friends,
Welcome to Greece.
Let us guide you through a wonderful journey into the magic of
an exceptional language, the Greek language.
Seen from every aspect, the Greek language is one of the richest,
most accurately structured and logical languages of all times. It
is a language where every word has a meaning and a reason for
its existence. There is a direct connection between the "word"
and the "meaning" of the word.
At the same time it is considered a rather difficult language for
a foreigner to comprehend and learn. Thus, one often uses the
expression "it's all Greek to me".
Yet, once you take a closer look you will see that you already
speak Greek, you just don't know it.
One out of four words in the English language is Greek or of
Greek origin! When it comes to medical terminology, more
than 50% of the words or the word elements used is Greek!
The booklet you are holding is not a scientific lexicon. It is
a selection of more than 6.000 words, out of hundreds of
thousands of Greek words that, more or less, each one of you,
dear English speaking friends and visitors, use quite often in
your everyday vocabulary.
The intonation or pronunciation may vary a little, but you can
see for yourself that you are using words in English that are not
just coming from the Greek language; in most cases, they are
exactly the same!
In other words, you speak Greek, you just don't know it.
5. Let's start with the "Alphabet". But you already know this word,
don't you? It is the absolute Greek word "Alphavita" - which
describes the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and
Vita.
Are you familiar with words like: analysis, angel, atmosphere,
automatic, bible, cinematography, democrat, diagram, diploma,
echo, ecstasy, ethics, galaxy, grammar, gymnastics, hormone,
hypocrite, icon, idiom, kinesis, logistic, lyric, marathon,
mechanic, megaphone, monopoly, nausea, neon, oil, Olympics,
pathology, phenomenon, philology, phobia, phrase, physics,
practical, protein, rhapsody, scene, sphere, sympathy, thesaurus,
trauma, Utopia, zone?
Do you ever use Greek prefixes or suffixes in your vocabulary,
such as: tele-scope, astro-logy, electro-cardio-graph, thermo-
meter?
Then, you speak Greek, you just don't know it.
These are only a few examples chosen from more than 40.000
Greek words that are used today in the English language.
So, is it really all Greek to you?
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6. Αγαπητοί φίλοι,
Ελάτε να περιπλανηθούμε στη μαγεία μιας σπουδαίας
γλώσσας, της ελληνικής.
Αυτό το ταξίδι στη γλώσσα μας απευθύνεται κυρίως στους
αγγλόφωνους φίλους μας για να τους δείξει πόσες ελληνικές
λέξεις χρησιμοποιούν καθημερινά, πιθανόν χωρίς να το
έχουν συνειδητοποιήσει. Ωστόσο, μπορεί να αποδειχθεί
εξίσου ενδιαφέρον και για τους'Ελληνες, δημιουργώντας την
ευχάριστη έκπληξη: "και αυτή η λέξη χρησιμοποιείται στην
αγγλική;"
Παρ' όλες τις αλλαγές, τις διαφοροποιήσεις και την εξέλιξη
μέσα στους αιώνες, αναρίθμητες ελληνικές λέξεις έχουν
περάσει στην αγγλική και σε άλλες ευρωπαϊκές γλώσσες,
είτε αυτούσιες είτε σε συνδυασμούς, με σημασία ίδια ή
παραπλήσια.
Περίπου το 25% του αγγλικού λεξιλογίου, αποτελείται
από ελληνικές λέξεις ή από λέξεις με ελληνική ρίζα. Στην
ιατρική ορολογία, το ποσοστό αυτό αυξάνεται στο 50% και
παραπάνω!
Λέξεις όπως: ιδέα, αρμονία, αλφάβητο, φιλοσοφία,
αρχιτεκτονική, θέατρο, μουσική, δημοκρατία, γυμναστική,
φράση, ποίημα, σκηνή, σφαίρα, πανάκεια, λογική,
ενέργεια, φαινόμενο, άτομο, ακαδημία, είναι μόνο μερικά
παραδείγματα ελληνικών λέξεων που έχουν περάσει
αυτούσιες στην αγγλική και χρησιμοποιούνται καθημερινά.
Ίσως λοιπόν οι αγγλόφωνοι μιλούν ελληνικά και δεν το
ξέρουν!
7. Αυτή η παρουσίαση δεν αποτελεί επιστημονικό λεξικό.
Είναι μία επιλογή περίπου 6.000 ελληνικών λέξεων από
περισσότερες από 40.000 λέξεις που χρησιμοποιούνται
σήμερα στην αγγλική γλώσσα και, μέσω αυτής, παγκοσμίως.
Είναι μία προσπάθεια να αποδειχθεί η διαχρονικότητα και η
σπουδαιότητα της γλώσσας μας, με έναν τρόπο όσο γίνεται
πιο περιεκτικό και μαζί περιληπτικό.
Η παρουσίαση των λέξεων γίνεται σε 3 στήλες: στην πρώτη
υπάρχει η αγγλική λέξη, στη δεύτερη, η ελληνική γραμμένη
με αγγλικούς χαρακτήρες για να δείξει την ελληνική προφορά
και στην τρίτη, η ελληνική λέξη στα ελληνικά.
Ελπίζουμε και ευχόμαστε, με αυτόν τον τρόπο, να έρθουν οι
ξένοι κοντά στη γλώσσα μας, να την αγαπήσουν και να την
εκτιμήσουν όπως της αξίζει.
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