Learn about verb formation elements and, specifically, verb augmentation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello everyone and welcome back to GreekPod101.com. This is Intermediate, Season 1, lesson 3, Getting Stuck in Traffic in Greece. I’m Brandon. |
| Stefania: And I’m Stefania. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, we'll focus on verb formation elements and specifically on verb augmentation. |
| Stefania: This conversation takes place inside a car. It's between Natalía and Erató, who are on the way to a dressmaker. |
| Brandon: The characters are sisters, so they'll be using informal Greek. OK, let's listen to the conversation! |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Ναταλία Ποπό, κίνηση! |
| Ερατώ Έτσι είναι από τότε που μονοδρομήσανε τις λεωφόρους. Έχουν γεμίσει τα στενά με αυτοκίνητα. |
| Ναταλία Θα προλάβουμε να πάμε στη μοδίστρα να πάρουμε τα κουστούμια για την παράσταση, και να πάμε και στην πρόβα άραγε; |
| Ερατώ Τι να σου πω... νομίζω μόλις περάσουμε και αυτό το φανάρι, θα ξαλαφρώσει λίγο η κίνηση. Ελπίζω να μην αργήσουμε και αυτήν τη φορά! |
| Ναταλία Γι' αυτό χαίρομαι που δεν οδηγάω. Το βρίσκω πολύ αγχωτικό. |
| Ερατώ Φαντάσου όμως να έχεις και την κίνηση και να περιμένεις και πότε θα 'ρθει το λεωφορείο... αν έρθει κιόλας στην ώρα του! |
| Ναταλία Μα καλά, κι εσύ τώρα τι ήθελες να πας να πάρεις τα κουστούμια; Δεν άφηνες κανέναν άλλο να πάει να τα πάρει; |
| Ερατώ Γιατί; Κακό είναι που ήθελα να βοηθήσω; Η κυρία Ελπίδα έχει πολλά στο κεφάλι της και μένουν μόνο λίγες μέρες για την παράσταση... δεν σε έφερα μαζί μου για να γκρινιάζεις! |
| Ναταλία Καλά, καλά... |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Ναταλία Ποπό, κίνηση! |
| Brandon: Oh my! What traffic! |
| Ερατώ Έτσι είναι από τότε που μονοδρομήσανε τις λεωφόρους. Έχουν γεμίσει τα στενά με αυτοκίνητα. |
| Brandon: It's been like this ever since they converted the two-way streets into one-way streets. The alleys have been filled with cars. |
| Ναταλία Θα προλάβουμε να πάμε στη μοδίστρα να πάρουμε τα κουστούμια για την παράσταση, και να πάμε και στην πρόβα άραγε; |
| Brandon: I wonder, are we going to make it to the dressmaker to get the costumes for the show, and go to the rehearsal as well? |
| Ερατώ Τι να σου πω... νομίζω μόλις περάσουμε και αυτό το φανάρι, θα ξαλαφρώσει λίγο η κίνηση. Ελπίζω να μην αργήσουμε και αυτήν τη φορά! |
| Brandon: What can I say... I think after we pass this traffic light, the traffic will ease. I hope we won't be late again this time! |
| Ναταλία Γι' αυτό χαίρομαι που δεν οδηγάω. Το βρίσκω πολύ αγχωτικό. |
| Brandon: This is why I'm glad I don't drive. I find it very stressful. |
| Ερατώ Φαντάσου όμως να έχεις και την κίνηση και να περιμένεις και πότε θα 'ρθει το λεωφορείο... αν έρθει κιόλας στην ώρα του! |
| Brandon: But imagine having this traffic and having to also wait for the bus to come...if it comes on time! |
| Ναταλία Μα καλά, κι εσύ τώρα τι ήθελες να πας να πάρεις τα κουστούμια; Δεν άφηνες κανέναν άλλο να πάει να τα πάρει; |
| Brandon: But, why would you want to be the one to go pick up the costumes? Couldn't you let anyone else go and get them? |
| Ερατώ Γιατί; Κακό είναι που ήθελα να βοηθήσω; Η κυρία Ελπίδα έχει πολλά στο κεφάλι της και μένουν μόνο λίγες μέρες για την παράσταση... δεν σε έφερα μαζί μου για να γκρινιάζεις! |
| Brandon: Why? Is it bad that I wanted to help? Mrs. Elpida has a lot on her mind and there are only a few days left till the show... I didn't bring you with me to nag! |
| Ναταλία Καλά, καλά... |
| Brandon: OK, OK... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: So, Erató volunteered to go and get the costumes? |
| Stefania: Yes, it seems like it. |
| Brandon: Speaking of volunteering, are there many volunteer programs in Greece? |
| Stefania: Actually there are quite a few! Most of the programs involve environmental, cultural, or social activities. Are you interested in any? |
| Brandon: I was thinking about it... |
| Stefania: If you’re a good swimmer, you could be a lifeguard at a Greek beach in the summer. Or…how about helping endangered species? |
| Brandon: Sounds interesting, and what would you suggest for people who go to Athens? |
| Stefania: In Greek cities, you can be involved in organizations that help children, abused women, immigrants, or even the poor. |
| Brandon: I'll definitely look into this! But for now let’s take a look at the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Stefania: ποπό [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: oh my, oh dear, wow |
| Stefania: ποπό [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: ποπό [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: κίνηση [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: traffic, movement, activity, motion |
| Stefania: κίνηση [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: κίνηση [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: μονοδρομώ [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to convert a two-way street into a one-way street |
| Stefania: μονοδρομώ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: μονοδρομώ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: στενό [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: alley, narrow and small road, strait |
| Stefania: στενό [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: στενό [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: μοδίστρα [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: dressmaker |
| Stefania: μοδίστρα [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: μοδίστρα [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: παράσταση [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: theatrical performance, play, show, depiction, presentation |
| Stefania: παράσταση [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: παράσταση [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: ξαλαφρώνω [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to ease off, to relieve or lessen the pressure/ congestion/feeling of discomfort |
| Stefania: ξαλαφρώνω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: ξαλαφρώνω [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: αγχωτικός [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: stressful |
| Stefania: αγχωτικός [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: αγχωτικός [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Stefania: κιόλας [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: adverb that gives emphasis on a statement, already, also, on top of it |
| Stefania: κιόλας [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: κιόλας [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Stefania: γκρινιάζω [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to fuss, to moan, to nag |
| Stefania: γκρινιάζω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: γκρινιάζω [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What do we have first? |
| Stefania: We have the noun "στενό", meaning "alley", "narrow and small street" or "strait". |
| Brandon: "Strait" as in the Gibraltar Strait? |
| Stefania: Yes. We use this in our sample sentence. Keep in mind that "strait" in this case is written in lowercase in Greek and in uppercase in English. |
| Brandon: OK. What's next? |
| Stefania: The verb "ξαλαφρώνω", "to ease-off". We use it when we get relieved of pressure, congestion, or discomfort. |
| Brandon: What's interesting about this verb? |
| Stefania: This verb is an active diathesis verb, and it can be transitive or intransitive. |
| Brandon: Listeners, we talked about those terms in the first lesson of this series, in case you want to refresh your memory! |
| Brandon: Ok, In our dialogue, the verb is intransitive. |
| Stefania: That's right. "...θα ξαλαφρώσει λίγο η κίνηση". "The traffic will ease"...no object there! |
| Brandon: But in our sample sentence it's transitive. |
| Stefania: Yes. "Εξομολογήθηκε για να ξαλαφρώσει τη συνείδησή του." |
| Brandon: "He confessed in order to relieve his conscience". The object here is "conscience". |
| Stefania: Correct! Now, the last word is "κιόλας". |
| Brandon: This one is tricky! |
| Stefania: It is, because it can be used in many ways. As a temporal adverb, it means "already", but in our dialogue it's used to give emphasis to the statement about the bus, "if it comes on time", "αν έρθει κιόλας στην ώρα του!". |
| Brandon: It's not easy to translate this into English. |
| Stefania: Right. It's more like saying "also" or "on top of it" in a negative way, for example, "On top of everything, the traffic, waiting for the bus etc., the bus might not even be on time". |
| Brandon: We show the emphasis by stressing the "if" – "IF” it comes on time. Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn about verb augmentation, another verb formation element. What's verb augmentation? |
| Stefania: In ancient Greek, past tenses were formed by adding the letter ε- in front of all verbs starting with consonants. The initial vowel of verbs would just change into η- or ω-. |
| Brandon: Does this still happen today? |
| Stefania: Yes, but not always. Actually, there are three types of augmentation. The syllabic, the internal, and the vowel augmentation. Knowing the rules of each, will help you form the past tenses of verbs correctly! |
| Brandon: So, syllabic augmentation means… |
| Stefania: ...adding an extra ε- at the beginning of a verb that starts with a consonant and has a monosyllabic stem. For example "to bring", "φέρνω" – its stem is "φερν-". This happens because in Greek there is a tendency to stress the third to last syllable of verbs in past tenses. |
| Brandon: So disyllabic verbs need that extra eh-. |
| Stefania: Exactly. For example "φέρνω" becomes "έ-φερν-α". Now, remember, this applies only to the past tenses of the active voice of the first conjugation group of verbs, in singular number; and in the third person plural when the ending is -αν. Also, if there's an augmentation, it will always be accented. |
| Brandon: Listeners, you can find a useful table in the Lesson notes. |
| Stefania: Yes, and some helpful tips. Now about the internal augmentation—The same ε- can be added to compound verbs that consist of a prepositional or some specific adverbial prefixes and a normal verb. In that case, the ε- goes after the last prefix and right before the verb. |
| Brandon: So, that's why it's called "internal"! |
| Stefania: That’s right. For example "διαμένω", "to reside", becomes "διέμενα" in the past. The α- of the prefix δια- got replaced actually by the ε-, διαμένω-διέμενα. |
| Brandon: Does this happen to all prefixes ending in a vowel? |
| Stefania: I'd say it happens to most, with περι- and προ- being the only exceptions. |
| Brandon: Listeners, please review our lesson notes for more examples and exceptions. |
| Stefania: Last, we have the vowel augmentation which applies to very few verbs that start with a vowel or a double vowel that gets accented in the past tenses. |
| Brandon: What happens in this case? |
| Stefania: The vowels change into η-. For example "ελπίζω", "to hope" becomes "ήλπιζα". |
| Brandon: Is there anything more to this? |
| Stefania: Yes. Sometimes we can have a combination of internal and vowel augmentation. For example "υπάρχω", "to exist", becomes "υπήρχα". |
| Brandon: OK. Is that everything about verb formation elements? |
| Stefania: Actually it’s not… but we'll learn more in future lessons! |
Outro |
| Brandon: Well, that’s all for this lesson, everyone! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Stefania: Γεια χαρά! |
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