Greetings and Classroom Phrases

Children in ancient Athens did not start with grammar tables. They learned their letters, then syllables and words, then read and recited poetry aloud. This lesson does the same. You will learn a set of phrases as whole units first. The grammar inside them gets explained over the next few lessons, and you will enjoy recognizing them when it does.

Speak every phrase aloud. Reading Greek silently teaches your eyes. Saying it teaches the language.

Hello and goodbye

The everyday Greek greeting is χαῖρε [KHAI-re]. It is a command form of the verb χαίρω, "I rejoice, I am glad," so it means something like "be glad!" or "be well!" Greeks used it both when meeting and when parting (LSJ, under χαίρω). One word does the work of "hello" and "goodbye," like Hawaiian "aloha."

Notice how the accent moves. χαῖρε has two syllables. Its last syllable is short and its first holds the long diphthong αι, so the accent is a circumflex (lesson 3). χαίρετε has three syllables. Verbs have recessive accent, so the accent goes back to the antepenult, χαι-, and an antepenult can only carry an acute. The rules from lesson 3 predict both forms. You do not have to memorize them.

ἔρρωσο comes from a verb meaning "to be strong." It is the standard sign-off in Greek letters, the way "sincerely" ends an English one. LSJ lists it at the close of Plato's first, second and tenth letters and in Xenophon's Cyropaedia (4.5.33).

Adding a name

When you speak to someone by name, Greek often puts the little word ὦ [Ō] before the name, a bit like "O" in old English poetry but much more ordinary. The name itself takes a special form called the vocative, the form for direct address. For many names it looks the same as the dictionary form. For some it changes.

The pattern -ος becomes -ε is the most common one, and lesson 6 explains it. For now, learn φίλε and διδάσκαλε as phrases.

Names

To ask someone's name:

Word by word, τί ὄνομά σοι; is "what (is the) name to you?" Greek often leaves out "is" when the meaning is clear, and it shows possession by saying something "is to" a person. Grammarians call this the dative of the possessor (Smyth, section 1476). You will meet the dative case properly in lesson 6.

• τί [TI]: what?
• ὄνομα [O-no-ma]: name
• σοι [soi]: to you. μοι [moi]: to me.
• καὶ σοί; [kai SOI]: and to you? When the word is stressed, as in a contrast, it keeps its accent: σοί.
• ἐμοὶ δέ [e-moi DE]: "and to me." ἐμοί is the stronger form of μοι, used for emphasis. δέ means "and" or "but" and never comes first in its clause.

Why is it ὄνομά σοι, with two accent marks on ὄνομα? Because σοι and μοι are enclitics. They lean on the word before them and give up their own accent. When the word before has an acute on the antepenult, like ὄνομα, it takes an extra acute on its last syllable (Smyth, section 183 c). Lesson 3 mentioned this. Here is where you will see it most.

"Who are you?"

A shorter way to ask: τίς εἶ; [TIS Ē] Who are you? Answer with your name alone, or with ἐγώ [e-GŌ] I: ἐγὼ Δάνα. "I'm Dana." The verb "I am" can be left out. You will learn it in lesson 8.

Yes, no and good answers

The word for "not" changes shape (Smyth, section 137). Before a consonant it is οὐ: οὐ μανθάνω. Before a vowel with a smooth breathing it is οὐκ: οὐκ οἶδα. Before a rough breathing it is οὐχ, the k turning into the puffed χ. When "no" stands alone, it takes an accent: οὔ. Normally οὐ has no accent, because it leans forward onto the next word (lesson 3, proclitics).

The dialogues of Plato are full of πάνυ γε and οὐ δῆτα. The person Socrates is questioning often answers with little else for long stretches, which is one reason they are good early reading.

How are you?

Greek uses ἔχω, "I have," with an adverb to describe a state, the same way English says "how are you keeping?" καλῶς is "well, finely" and κακῶς is "badly."

Thank you and please

The classical way to say thank you is χάριν οἶδα [KHA-rin OI-da], "I know gratitude," often with σοι: χάριν σοι οἶδα, "I am grateful to you." LSJ lists χάριν εἰδέναι, "to feel grateful," as common in Attic prose. Modern Greek εὐχαριστῶ is a later word. Nearly all of LSJ's examples of εὐχαριστέω come from inscriptions and papyri of the third century BC and later, after Plato's time. If you use it, people will understand you, but it is not what Plato's characters say.

Greek has no single word for "please." Speakers softened a command with the person's name, with ὦ φίλε (my friend), or with εἰ βούλει [ē BOO-lē], "if you like." So: λέγε, εἰ βούλει. "Speak, if you like."

Classroom commands

These are all command forms. The first column speaks to one person, the second to a group. The pattern is the same as χαῖρε and χαίρετε: -ε for one, -ετε for more than one.

Two more words are useful: πάλιν [PA-lin] again, and αὖθις [AU-this] once more. So λέγε πάλιν, "say it again." And the accent of ἄκουε shows recessive accent working: three syllables, short ultima, so the acute goes all the way back to the antepenult. In ἀκούετε it moves to stay three syllables from the end.

You can also ask how to say something in Greek: πῶς λέγεται ἑλληνιστί; [PŌS LE-ge-tai hel-lē-nis-TI] "How is it said in Greek?" The adverb ἑλληνιστί, "in Greek," appears in Xenophon's Anabasis.

Numbers from one to ten

The first four numbers change form, like adjectives, to match what they count (Smyth, section 349). From five on, they never change. The forms below are the ones you use when simply counting. Where there are several, the order is masculine, feminine, neuter, the three genders of Greek nouns explained in lesson 5.

Two notes on the table. First, four is τέτταρες in Attic. Smyth (section 349 f) notes that early Attic prose and tragedy use τέσσαρες, and τέσσαρες (or τέσσερες) is the Ionic and later common form. Attic -ττ- against -σσ- is one of the clearest marks of the dialect, and you will see it again in θάλαττα, "sea." Second, the numbers 1, 3 and 4 have different forms for different genders. When you count out loud, use the masculine (εἷς, τρεῖς, τέτταρες). When you count things, the number matches the thing: μία χώρα (one land), ἓν δῶρον (one gift).

Letters as numbers

Greeks wrote numbers with letters, marked with a small stroke at the upper right (Smyth, section 347). The series follows the old alphabet, including letters that had dropped out of use. That is why 6 is not ζ. The sixth place was held by the old letter digamma, later written as the sign ϛ, called stigma. So ζ, the sixth letter of the classical alphabet, means 7. Tens continue with ι (10), κ (20), λ (30), and so on. You will see these numbers in manuscripts, in the numbering of books of Homer (where the 24 letters number the 24 books, without the extra signs), and in modern Greek for numbered lists and the names of kings and patriarchs.

Putting it together

The vocative Θεανοῖ looks odd. Women's names in -ώ have a vocative in -οῖ, a small separate pattern (Smyth, section 279). If you are not sure of a vocative, using the plain name after ὦ will be understood.