[B-Greek] Fw: Analytical Greek Lexicon
Ernest Blum
eblum at adelphia.net
Sat Jan 28 17:53:08 EST 2006
Re "Analytical Greek Lexicon:
Bert de Haan should not be apologetic about investigating unorthodox methods
to learn to read Greek.
The fact is that he can easily read the 24 books of the Iliad in Greek in
one month. It's not the kind of reading that the scholars on b-greek do or
advocate, but it beats Lattimore, I guarantee it.
I would plead with Bert de Haan to go to the internet and find a copy of
Thomas Clark's interlinear translation of "The Iliad of Homer" (David McKay
Co., 1952. He'll never regret it.
Those who denounce interlinear translations, analytical lexicons and other
"crutches" are confusing writing with reading. What one sees on "b-greek"
is Greek viewed from the viewpoint of the writer, not the reader. The fact
is that a native reader of any language is rarely aware of the gramatical
substrate of the sentences he is reading. Why should Bert de Haan have to
do this for Greek when he doesn't do so for his native language?
The answer is that Greek scholars, beginning with "Perseus" et al, have
failed to responsibly furnish neophyte readers with the "crutches" that
every beginner has a right to expect.
The reason: There is an unfortunate and universal theory in academia that
the only way to read a foreign language is by knowing grammar and memorizing
a vocabulary list, enabling one to deductively "decipher" those mysterious
foreign writings.
But all native speakers originally acquire their languages by induction, not
deduction, and adults can repeat this process through interlinear
translations. (Also helpful is a voice-over, vide "The Iliad of Homer"
tapes, read by Stephen G. Daitz).
Speaking for myself, I have learned to read a dozen languages, including
Homer and GNT, through interlinear translations or other "crutches" with
comprehensive vocabulary lists on each page of text, with the barest
smattering of grammar. One then advances to the original text without
English, referring to the interlinear text only for increasingly diminished
difficulties.
Even though this method does not allow me to see the text from the vantage
point of a native writer or grammarian--and this is certainly necessary for
full language mastery, not to say indispensable for scholars--such a
vantage point is not at all a factor required for semantic and aesthetic
understanding. How could it be when we are totally oblivious to grammar
when reading our own language?
What Bert de Haan has heard in this (and other interchanges on b-greek) is
equivalent to having a music teacher dissuade him from listening to
Mozart's 41st Symphony before learning how to play the piano and mastering
music theory.
Ernest Blum
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bert de Haan" <b_dehaan at sympatico.ca>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2006 8:10 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Analytical Greek Lexicon
> After re-reading my previous post I thought that it could come across as
> rather polemic.
> It was not intended that way. My intention in asking these questions was
to
> get an answer, not to ruffle anyones feathers.
> Bert de Haan.
>
>
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