|
applet-magic.com Thayer Watkins Silicon Valley & Tornado Alley USA |
|---|
|
into the Greek Alphabet |
An apparently overlooked aid for students learning a new language that uses a different alphabet, such as Russian or Greek, is to provide them with text in their native language but written in the new alphabet. This would give them practice pronouncing words in the new alphabet and allow them to directly convert in their minds the symbols into sound rather than mentally translating the the new alphabet into their familiar alphabet and then pronouncing the words. If they are working with words in the new language in the new alphabet they are not always sure they are getting the right pronunciation. In contrast with native language text in the new alphabet they get instant feedback concerning the correctness of their pronunciation.
Consider this example.
Greece is a small country of about eleven million people. Geographically it is a peninsula made up of smaller peninsulas. This promoted the early development of marine travel which led to trade and contact with other cultures.
Transliterated into the Greek alphabet this would be:
Γρισ ιζ α σμαλ κοντρι οφ αβαυτ ελεφεν μιλυν πιπλ. Γεογραφικαλλy ιτ ισ α πενινσυλα μαδε υπ οφ σμαλλερ πενινσυλασ σισ προμοτεδ θε εαρλy δεβελοπμεντ οφ μαρινε τραβελ λιχ λεδ το τραδε ανδ κονταcτ υιιθ οθερ κυλτυρεσ.
This transliteration is for classical Greek rather than modern Greek. It is not perfect because there are no Greek equivalents for some of the sounds and letters of English, such as the ubiquitous uh phoneme (sound) of English. Neither are there any letters or letter combinations corresponding to the ch and sh sounds of English. Nevertheless a reasonable approximation can be made.
Here is a table of the correspondences.
| The Greek Letters and Their Correspondences to Latin Letters |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper | Lower | Latin Letter | Pronunciation |
| Α | α | a | father |
| Β | β | b | brother |
| Γ | γ | g | get |
| Δ | δ | d | deed |
| Ε | ε | e | net |
| Ζ | ζ | z | fez |
| Η | η | e | say |
| Θ | θ | th | thick |
| Ι | ι | i | in |
| Κ | κ | k | kiss |
| Λ | λ | l | lamb |
| Μ | μ | m | moon |
| Ν | ν | n | new |
| Ξ | ξ | x | extra |
| Ο | ο | o | ohm |
| Π | π | p | pie |
| Ρ | ρ | r | row |
| Σ | σ | s | signal |
| Τ | τ | t | tow |
| Υ | υ | u | rue |
| Φ | φ | f, ph | phone |
| Χ | χ | ch, kh | loch |
| Ψ | ψ | ps | perhaps |
| Ω | ω | o | home |
However, for the transliteration of English into Greek the correspondences have to be directed the other way.
| The Latin Letters and Their Correspondences to Greek Letters |
|
|---|---|
| Latin Letter | Greek |
| a | α |
| b | β |
| c | κ or σ |
| d | δ |
| e | ε |
| f | φ |
| g | γ |
| h | ' |
| i | ι |
| j | none |
| k | κ |
| l | λ |
| m | μ |
| n | ν |
| o | ο, ω |
| p | π |
| q | κυι |
| r | ρ |
| s | σ |
| t | τ |
| u | υ |
| v | β |
| w | υι |
| x | ξ |
| y | none |
| z | ζ |
| ph | φ |
| th | θ |
The rule for the transliteration of English "c" into the Greek alphabet is that when it is followed by "a", "o", "u", "r" or "l" it becomes κ. Also at the end of a word it has the sound of κ. If "c" is followed by "e", "i", or "y" it has the sound of σ.
If "t" or "p" are followed by "h" then they become θ or φ, respectively. The English "gh" is a nuisance and in the transliterations here the "gh" is simply dropped, as in thought and through. This however is not always the correct handling, as in enough.
The English "y" is an "i" sound or an ai after a consonant and a yuh sound otherwise as in year or boy. It is a fairly complex algorithm.
The dilemma is what to do about the English "ch" (as in church) and "sh" (as in shed or shish-kabob). There is no good resolution of the problem. The Greek representation of "h" appears to have been as an apostrophe ('). The least bad way to handle the problem is to replace "sh" with σ' and then represent "ch" as "tsh"; i.e., as τσ', with the student/reader being warned that these replacements are not in the Greek system.
(To be continued.)
Here is a transliteration of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address into Greek letters.
Φουρ σκορε ανδ σεβεν yεαρσ αγο ουρ φαθερσ βρουτ φορθ ον θισ κοντινεντ, α νευι νατιον, κονσειβεδ ιν Λιβερτy, ανδ δεδικατεδ το θε προποσιτιον θατ αλλ μεν αρε κρεατεδ εκυιυαλ.
Νουι υιε αρε ενγαγεδ ιν α γρεατ σιβιλ υιαρ, τεστινγ υι'εθερ θατ νατιον, ορ ανy νατιον σο κονσειβεδ ανδ σο δεδικατεδ, καν λονγ ενδυρε. Υιε αρε μετ ον α γρεατ βαττλε-φιελδ οφ θατ υιαρ. Υιε 'αβε κομε το δεδικατε α πορτιον οφ θατ φιελδ, ασ α φιναλ ρεστινγ πλασε φορ θοσε υι'ο 'ερε γαβε θειρ λιβεσ θατ θατ νατιον μιτ λιβε. Ιτ ισ αλτογεθερ φιττινγ ανδ προπερ θατ υιε σ'ουλδ δο θισ.
Βυτ, ιν α λαργερ σενσε, υιε καν νοτ δεδικατε -- υιε καν νοτ κονσεκρατε -- υιε καν νοτ 'αλλουι -- θισ γρουνδ. Θε βραβε μεν, λιβινγ ανδ δεαδ, υι'ο στρυγγλεδ 'ερε, 'αβε κονσεκρατεδ ιτ, φαρ αβοβε ουρ ποορ πουιερ το αδδ ορ δετρακτ. Θε υιορλδ υιιλλ λιττλε νοτε, νορ λονγ ρεμεμβερ υι'ατ υιε σαy 'ερε, βυτ ιτ καν νεβερ φοργετ υι'ατ θεy διδ 'ερε. Ιτ ισ φορ υσ θε λιβινγ, ραθερ, το βε δεδικατεδ 'ερε το θε υνφινισ'εδ υιορκ υι'ιc' θεy υι'ο φουτ 'ερε 'αβε θυσ φαρ σο νοβλy αδβανσεδ. Ιτ ισ ραθερ φορ υσ το βε 'ερε δεδικατεδ το θε γρεατ τασκ ρεμαινινγ βεφορε υσ -- θατ φρομ θεσε 'ονορεδ δεαδ υιε τακε ινκρεασεδ δεβοτιον το θατ καυσε φορ υι'ιc' θεy γαβε θε λαστ φυλλ μεασυρε οφ δεβοτιον -- θατ υιε 'ερε 'ιλy ρεσολβε θατ θεσε δεαδ σ'αλλ νοτ 'αβε διεδ ιν βαιν -- θατ θισ νατιον, υνδερ Γοδ, σ'αλλ 'αβε α νευι βιρθ οφ φρεεδομ -- ανδ θατ γοβερνμεντ οφ θε πεοπλε, βy θε πεοπλε, φορ θε πεοπλε, σ'αλλ νοτ περισ' φρομ θε εαρθ.
(To be continued.)
|
HOME PAGE OF Thayer Watkins |