Learn some common noun prefixes in Greek
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some noun prefixes in Greek? |
| Chrissi: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At GreekPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Consider the following situation: Sasha Lee, a high school student, is reading one of her textbooks, but finds a word she has never seen before. She turns to her friend, Frosso, and asks, |
| "What is 'proskínio'?" |
| Σάσα Λι: Τι είναι το «προσκήνιο»; (Ti íne to 'proskínio'?) |
| Dialogue |
| Σάσα Λι: Τι είναι το «προσκήνιο»; (Ti íne to 'proskínio'?) |
| Φρόσω Γιαννιτσάνου: Προ- σημαίνει «μπροστά» και -σκήνιο σημαίνει «σκηνή». (Pro- siméni "brostá" ke -skínio siméni "skiní".) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Σάσα Λι: Τι είναι το «προσκήνιο»; (Ti íne to 'proskínio'?) |
| Michael: "What is 'proskínio'?" |
| Φρόσω Γιαννιτσάνου: Προ- σημαίνει «μπροστά» και -σκήνιο σημαίνει «σκηνή». (Pro- siméni "brostá" ke -skínio siméni "skiní".) |
| Michael: "'Pro-' means 'before' and 'skínio' means 'scene'." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A noun prefix is an affix that we place at the beginning of a word, creating a different meaning for that word. The prefix can be either a letter, an affix word, or a normal word. In Greek, some prepositions can become prefixes in words as well. In this lesson, we will focus on noun prefixes in Greek. One example would be: |
| Chrissi: αμφίβιος (amfívios) |
| Michael: meaning “amphibious.” Here, we have the prefix, |
| Chrissi: αμφί- (amfí-) |
| Michael: which means “around” or “both sides,” added to the noun, |
| Chrissi: βίος (víos) |
| Michael: or “life.” This gives us the meaning “life on both sides” or “double life.” And that’s what the word “amphibious” means—having the ability to survive on both land and water. Another example would be |
| Chrissi: δυσεντερία (dysendería) |
| Michael: or “dysentery.” This is a combination of the prefix, |
| Chrissi: δυs- (dis-) |
| Michael: meaning “bad,” and the noun, |
| Chrissi: έντερο (éndero) |
| Michael: which refers to “intestine.” |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "What is 'proskínio'?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Chrissi as Sasha Li: Τι είναι το «προσκήνιο»; (Ti íne to 'proskínio'?) |
| Michael: The prefix in this example is, |
| Chrissi: προ- (pro-) |
| Michael: which is a preposition that means “before” or “in front of.” Don’t confuse it with a similar preposition also used as a prefix, |
| Chrissi: προς/προσ- (pros/pros-) |
| Michael: which means “toward, to.” You will know what the prefix is by identifying the root, which, in this case, is |
| Chrissi: -σκήνιο (-skínio) |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at our second sentence for more details about this word. |
| Do you remember how Frosso Giannitsanou says "'Pro-' means 'before' and 'skínio' means 'scene'?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Chrissi as Froso Giannitsanou: Προ- σημαίνει «μπροστά» και -σκήνιο σημαίνει «σκηνή». (Pro- siméni "brostá" ke -skínio siméni "skiní".) |
| Michael: We already know what the prefix in the given word means. As for the root, Froso explains that it means “scene.” This gives us the meaning “before scene” or “the scene in front.” Properly translated, we get the word “foreground.” |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ve learned that noun prefixes are a letter, an affix word, or a normal word added at the beginning of a word to form another word with a different meaning. Now, let’s look at some example sentences using Greek nouns with prefixes starting with |
| Chrissi: Αυτό το αστέρι είναι ορατό στους ουρανούς του νότιου ημισφαιρίου. (Aftó to astéri eínai orató stus uranús tu nótiu imisferíu.) |
| Michael: “This star is visible in the skies of the southern hemisphere.” In this example, we have the word, |
| Chrissi: ημισφαιρίου (imisferíou) |
| Michael: meaning “of the hemisphere.” This word is derived from the Ancient Greek word, |
| Chrissi: ἡμισφαίριον (imisférion) |
| Michael: which is a combination of the prefix, |
| Chrissi: ἡμι- (imi-) |
| Michael: meaning “half, semi” and the noun |
| Chrissi: σφαῖρα (sféra) |
| Michael: which means “sphere,” giving us the word “half sphere,” which refers to one of the two of our planet’s hemispheres. Here’s another example: |
| Chrissi: Οι λάτρεις της μουσικής ακούνε τη συμφωνία με έντονο ενδιαφέρον. (I látris tis musikís akoúne ti simfonía me éndono endiaféron.) |
| Michael: “Music lovers listen to the symphony with great interest.” Here, we have the word, |
| Chrissi: συμφωνία (simfonía) |
| Michael: which means “symphony” and is actually an ancient Greek word which means “agreement in sound.” It’s composed of the prefix |
| Chrissi: συν- (sin-) |
| Michael: which becomes |
| Chrissi: συμ- (sim-) |
| due to phonological reasons and which means “together,” and we also have the ancient Greek noun |
| Chrissi: φωνή (foní) |
| Michael: meaning “voice, sound.” This gives us the meaning “sounds playing together,” or, in other words, “symphony.” |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Many of the prepositions used in Greek also function as prefixes. For instance, there’s the prefix, |
| Chrissi: περί- (peri-) |
| Michael: which means “around,” such as in the word, |
| Chrissi: περίμετρος (perímetros) |
| Michael: or “perimeter.” And then there’s the suffix, |
| Chrissi: προσ- (pros-) |
| Michael: which means “toward, to” or “in addition to,” such as in the word, |
| Chrissi: προσθετική (prosthetikí) |
| Michael: or “prosthetics.” |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: If you’re familiar with Latin, you’ve probably observed that many Latin prefixes are similar to that of Greek. And that’s because many Latin words have been derived from Greek. For example, there’s the prefix, |
| Chrissi: εν- (en-) |
| Michael: which is “in” in Latin and means “in” or “into.” There’s also the prefix, |
| Chrissi: εξ-/εκ- (ex-/ek-) |
| Michael: which is “ex” in Latin and means “out of.” And, finally, there’s the prefix, |
| Chrissi: ὑπέρ (ipér) |
| Michael: or “super” in Latin and means “over,” "hyper," or “above.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! (Ya hará!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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