[B-Greek] Fw: PS-- Analytical Greek Lexicon

Ernest Blum eblum at adelphia.net
Sat Jan 28 18:30:11 EST 2006


The interlinear Iliad Homer mentioned in my e-mail  includes Books 1 to 8,
omitting 9 to 24.

But once acquiring Books 1 to 8, a neophyte reader can follow the rest of
the Greek Iliad through use of the reasonably literal A.T. Murray
translation in Loeb.
(Murray has to be forgiven for making Homer a 17th Century Englishman).

Of course, the best solution would be an interlinear edition of all of the
Iliad. (Perish the thought.).  Ernest Blum

--Message--
From: "Ernest Blum" <eblum at adelphia.net>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: <bdehaan at sympatico.ca>
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2006 5:53 PM
Subject: Fw: [B-Greek] Analytical Greek Lexicon


> 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.
> >
> >
> > ---
> > B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
> > B-Greek mailing list
> > B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-greek
> >
> >
> > --
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> >
>




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