[B-Greek] Definitions in Greek - Format

Daniel Streett danstreett at yahoo.com
Fri Nov 30 20:51:49 EST 2007


Listers,

I am using a communicative approach in my first year Greek course. Rather than give my students English glosses for Greek words, I have been compiling a picture dictionary. Some words, of course, would be very difficult to define via pictures, so I have been attempting to come up with definitions in Greek. I would value any input from the list about the best format for a definition in Greek. I have consulted some of the ancient Greek  lexicographers like Photius and Hesychius to see how they went about writing definitions, but I have found that they mostly give one-word synonyms and not true definitions.

Here is an example. Let me know what you think:
πιστευειν
(ῥημα)= 1) δοκειν τι εἰναι ἀληθες. 2) δοκειν τινα λαλειν το ἀληθες.
PISTEUEIN (hRHMA)= 1) DOKEIN TI EINAI ALHQES; 2) DOKEIN TINA LALEIN TO ALHQES

Also, would anyone be interested in a collaborative effort to compile such a Greek-Greek dictionary? My students have certainly responded positively to the idea. The definitions, to be really helpful in a first-year class, would need to be written at a beginner's level, employing the most common words in order to define less common words.

Daniel Streett
Assistant Professor of NT and Greek
Criswell College
Dallas, Texas



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs


More information about the B-Greek mailing list