Learn about word formation in Greek, specifically how words are created through composition and by using root words and compounds
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hello everyone and welcome back to GreekPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate, Season 1, lesson 3, Oh, The Injustice of It All in Greece! I’m Becky. |
| Stefania: And I’m Stefania. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn more about word formation in Greek, specifically how words are created through composition. |
| Stefania: The conversation takes place at the office of the daily Greek newspaper, and it’s between Antonia and the photojournalist Vasilis Antoniou. |
| Becky: The characters know each other well, so they are using informal Greek. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Βασίλης:Τι έγινε Αντωνία; Γιατί τέτοια μούτρα; |
| Αντωνία:Αχ, φιλαράκι μου! Τα γνωστά. Το αφεντικό ξανάγραψε το κομμάτι μου. |
| Βασίλης:Αυτό που κάναμε προχτές μαζί; |
| Αντωνία:Ναι. |
| Βασίλης:Και δεν σε πήρε τηλέφωνο πρώτα; |
| Αντωνία:Πλάκα κάνεις; |
| Βασίλης:Καλά μωρέ, μην το παίρνεις κι εσύ κατάκαρδα. Τώρα αρχίζεις... |
| Αντωνία:Όλοι το ίδιο λένε! Και το ξέρω κι εγώ. |
| Βασίλης:Οπότε; Τι χολοσκάς; |
| Αντωνία:Γιατί έξι μήνες ξημεροβραδιάζομαι εδώ μέσα ρε Βασίλη και αυτό έχει αρχίσει να γίνεται αποκαρδιωτικό. |
| Βασίλης:Είσαι σίγουρη ότι έχεις το κατάλληλο στομάχι για δημοσιογράφος; (γέλια) |
| Αντωνία:Εξυπνάδες. Μια χαρά είναι το στομάχι μου! Αλλά αυτό είναι αδικία! |
| Βασίλης:Μάλλον δεν σας είπαν στο πανεπιστήμιο ότι σ' αυτή τη δουλειά υπάρχουν πολλές αδικίες, ε; (γέλια) |
| Αντωνία:Μας το είπαν. Αλλά άλλο να το ακούς και άλλο να το ζεις! |
| Vasilis: What's up, Antonia? Why the long face? |
| Antonia: Oh, my friend! The usual. The boss rewrote my copy. |
| Vasilis: The one we did together the other day? |
| Antonia: Yes. |
| Vasilis: And he didn't call you first? |
| Antonia: Are you joking? |
| Vasilis: Oh well, don't take it to heart. You're just starting... |
| Antonia: Everybody says the same. And I know it too. |
| Vasilis: So? Why bother? |
| Antonia: Because for six months I've been spending all my days and nights in here Vasilis, and it's starting to become disheartening. |
| Vasilis: Are you sure you have the right stomach to be a journalist? (laughs) |
| Antonia: Wisecracks! My stomach is just fine. But this is injustice! |
| Vasilis: I guess they didn't tell you at University that in this job there are many injustices, did they? (laughs) |
| Antonia: They did. But hearing about it is one thing and living it is another! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: So we have another character – a photojournalist. |
| Stefania: Yes. And he’s senior to our main character, Antonia. |
| Becky: And this is important? |
| Stefania: In most workplaces, yes. Especially in Greece, seniority is quite a big thing, you know. |
| Becky: But Greek society isn’t a very strict hierarchy, is it? |
| Stefania: No, not at all. But seniority in a workplace is important. |
| Becky: I wonder why that is… |
| Stefania: Well, I guess it comes from the fact that most Greek males serve in the army. |
| Becky: Oh, really? Do you all have to serve? |
| Stefania: Women don’t have to serve unless they want to, but it is compulsory for all men unless there are serious medical reasons. In that case, a man can be excused from serving in the army. |
| Becky: So men are all veterans in Greece! |
| Stefania: Well... I wouldn’t say that! Although there are different army corps, so the service can either be a tough experience or a rather boring one since, luckily, Greece hasn’t been at war since WWII! |
| Becky: Thank God! |
| Stefania: I agree. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Stefania: ξαναγράφω [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to rewrite |
| Stefania: ξαναγράφω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: ξαναγράφω [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: χολοσκάω [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be bothered |
| Stefania: χολοσκάω [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: χολοσκάω [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: αποκαρδιωτικό [natural native speed] |
| Becky: disheartening |
| Stefania: αποκαρδιωτικό [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: αποκαρδιωτικό [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: δημοσιογράφος [natural native speed] |
| Becky: journalist |
| Stefania: δημοσιογράφος [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: δημοσιογράφος [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: αδικία [natural native speed] |
| Becky: injustice |
| Stefania: αδικία [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: αδικία [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: πανεπιστήμιο [natural native speed] |
| Becky: university |
| Stefania: πανεπιστήμιο [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: πανεπιστήμιο [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: φιλαράκι [natural native speed] |
| Becky: close friend, buddy |
| Stefania: φιλαράκι [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: φιλαράκι [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: προχτές [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the day before yesterday, the other day |
| Stefania: προχτές [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: προχτές [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: ξημεροβραδιάζομαι [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to spend all day and night |
| Stefania: ξημεροβραδιάζομαι [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: ξημεροβραδιάζομαι [natural native speed] |
| Stefania: εξυπνάδα [natural native speed] |
| Becky: cleverness, wisecrack |
| Stefania: εξυπνάδα [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Stefania: εξυπνάδα [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Stefania: The first word is “εξυπνάδες”. It is an exclamation used when the person you’re talking to is trying to be smart and funny, and you don’t actually think they are! |
| Becky: And what does it really mean? |
| Stefania: The word in its singular form is “εξυπνάδα” meaning “cleverness”. But here it is used as an idiom. |
| Becky: And it’s plural. |
| Stefania: Yes! So the word “εξυπνάδες” is characterizing the other person’s words as “wisecracks”. |
| Becky: Ok, what’s next? |
| Stefania: We have the neuter noun “φιλαράκι”. |
| Becky: This is a derivative like the ones we saw in our previous lesson, which is actually a diminutive, literally meaning “little friend”. |
| Stefania: However the essence of the word is “close friend” or “buddy”. And speaking of “friend”, when the famous sitcom “Friends” was broadcast on Greek television, the Greek title was “Tα φιλαράκια”, which is the plural of “φιλαράκι”. |
| Becky: That’s interesting. |
| Stefania: And the words “Tα φιλαράκια” mean “the buddies”. There is also a similar word in the feminine gender, which is “η φιλενάδα” and it means “girlfriend” or “girl”. It can be used just like the English “girlfriend”. |
| Becky: Is there a similar word in the masculine form? |
| Stefania: Actually yes! There is a masculine word that means “buddy” too. It is the word “φιλαράκος”. You should only use it to refer to a man or a boy who is a close friend, so male buddies often use it in Greece. |
| Becky: That’s a good tip. What’s our last word? |
| Stefania: The word “προχτές”. |
| Becky: This is an adverb used to say “the day before yesterday” but is also used as a substitute for a non-specified recent moment in time. |
| Stefani: We have the sample sentence “Προχτές πήγα για μπάνιο” |
| Becky: Which means “The day before yesterday I went for a swim” |
| Stefania: Right! We translated it as “The day before yesterday” but the speaker could also mean 4-5 days back, in the same way we could say “the other day” in English. |
| Becky: Got it! Okay, now it’s time to move onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn about word composition. |
| Stefania: It’s a very interesting procedure. |
| Becky: So again it is about creating words? |
| Stefania: Yes. Last time we had derivatives… |
| Becky: …that is, words that come from other words. |
| Stefania: Right! |
| Becky: And in this lesson, we have another way to create words: through composition. Stefania, how do we do that? |
| Stefania: By combining words or by adding prefixes to words. |
| Becky: Can we have some examples? |
| Stefania: Of course! Let’s take the prefix “τηλέ-” which means “far” and the word “φωνή” which is “voice”. |
| Becky: OK... |
| Stefania: If we put them together, we have a “τηλέφωνο”. A familiar word since it is the same in English too: “telephone”. |
| Becky: I see. And in our dialogue, it was used as? |
| Stefania: Και δεν σε πήρε τηλέφωνο πρώτα; Meaning “And he didn’t call you first?” |
| Becky: Nice. Once again, so the listeners can repeat it... |
| Stefania: Certainly! “τήλε” and “φωνή”, “τηλέφωνο”! [pause] |
| Becky: OK. And “tiléfono” is the compound, right? |
| Stefania: Exactly! We combine the prefix τηλέ-” with the word “φωνή”. |
| Becky: I see. We actually have a whole lesson on prefixes, don’t we? |
| Stefania: Yes, so let’s now focus on the other way to make compounds: by joining words. |
| Becky: Let’s see a couple of examples of those. |
| Stefania: For example “δημοσιογράφος”, journalist. |
| Becky: That’s the profession of our main character Antonia. |
| Stefania: Yes! A very tough profession! |
| Becky: Indeed! And this comes from? |
| Stefania: “δημόσιος” which means “public” and “γράφω” which is “to write”. |
| Becky: Once again? |
| Stefania: Sure: listeners, repeat after me: “δημόσιος” and “γράφω”, “δημοσιογράφος”. [pause] |
| Becky: This seems easy! |
| Stefania: It is. Especially as you learn more Greek words, you can see that they can be combined in this way to create new words. For example, if you know that “ανεβαίνω” means “to go up” and “κατεβαίνω” means “to go down” what do you understand if you hear “ανεβοκατεβαίνω”? |
| Becky: Er... go up and down? |
| Stefania: Exactly! |
| Becky: Ok listeners, don’t forget to check the lesson notes! There, you’ll find more examples of Greeks words that are produced through composition. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
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Outro |
|---|
| Becky: That’s all for this lesson, everyone! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Stefania: Γεια χαρά! |
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