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On the subject of grammar, Greek grammar (ancient? I assume this one has carried into modernity) has a handy construction I like in the form of the particles μέ
by dmreedy 3y ago
On the subject of grammar, Greek grammar (ancient? I assume this one has carried into modernity) has a handy construction I like in the form of the particles μέν and δέ, used to highlight counterpoint/point through something closer to grammar than word semantics. You might see it translated as "on the one hand x, on the other hand y" or "while x, y" or "x, but y", in English, it loses a lot of its punch. Like the verbal act of holding your hands up to demonstrate in a gesture the balance of the ideas.
- maegul 3y agoYep, Ancient Greek has great particle game that English just can’t translate at all. And as you say, they’re really like gesture words, which make so much sense, especially as text is now read/written without any human speaking behaviour at all. Arguably emojis fill this need, but I’m unconvinced.
- tragomaskhalos 3y agoCoptic had these as loan words, although whether they were literary or used in daily discourse I don't know. Afaik modern Greek does not have these very handy little words sadly.
- stavros 3y agoIt's more "but then", no? As in, "πάταξον μεν, άκουσον δε" ("hit me, but then listen to me")?
- dmreedy 3y agoI never got too too far into the language, so I absolutely believe there are more layers and variances to the meaning than the basic glosses I learned! But that feels like it fits in the counterpoint/point kind of framework, I think? Just with an additional kind of "temporal" or "ordering" connotation.
- stavros 3y agoIt's not so much "on one hand yes, on the other hand no". It's more like "do the thing I want, but also at least do the thing I want too". But there's also the meaning of "this and that", so you might be right.
- dmreedy 3y agoYeah, that sounds right to me; like, "Sure that, but more importantly, this"?