GREEK LANGUAGE WORKSHOP FOR BEGINNERS

The workshop serves as an introduction and complement to the course ‘Introduction to Greek Literature’, within the bachelor’s degree programme ‘Ancient Civilizations for the Contemporary World’. The workshop’s main goal is to provide students with the training necessary to analyse ancient Greek texts in original language and achieve a sound understanding of their grammatical and linguistic structures.

1. Knowledge and understanding: Knowledge of the basic notions of Classical Greek morphology and syntax; Knowledge of the fundamental vocabulary of the Greek language, with a focus on classical prose; Knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms of word formation and derivation.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: Ability to read with appreciable autonomy Greek passages of very low difficulty; Ability to understand the general sense of a Greek passage of low/medium-low difficulty; Ability to check a translation against the original text; Ability to recognise the linguistic structures of a Greek text of low/medium difficulty with the help of annotations and/or the instructor’s assistance; Ability to identify word patterns and predict the meaning of a word from its root.

3. Making judgments: Ability to evaluate and select among alternative interpretations; Ability to argue logically for or against a given interpretation; Ability to identify similarities and differences between Ancient Greek and other languages.

4. Communication skills: Mastery of the technical vocabulary of Grammar and Linguistics; Ability to describe linguistic phaenomena; Ability to translate Greek passages into English with a sufficient degree of accuracy.

5. Learning skills: Ability to identify linguistic structures and patterns; Familiarity with the main tools (printed and digital) for the study of Greek language and literature; Familiarity with the reference Ancient Greek dictionaries and further lexicographical resources.

The workshop is aimed mainly at students having no training in Ancient Greek. Students with very limited knowledge of the language are also welcome. If you wish to receive an assessment of your level of Greek, please feel free to get in touch with the instructor before the workshop starts.

The workshop will provide a comprehensive introduction to the phonology, morphology, syntax and basic vocabulary of Classical Greek. It will focus on the following thematic areas: (1) Writing and pronouncing Greek; (2) Noun, pronoun and adjective morphology; (3) Verb morphology (present, aorist and future systems); (3) Elementary syntax (case usage and prepositions; participle usages; coordinating/subordinating conjunctions and relative clauses); (4) Vocabulary (word derivation and formation; adverb formation).

**N.B.: Instructions on how to get access to the learning materials will be provided at the first class.**

Reference textbook: Donald J. Mastronarde, Introduction to Attic Greek, 2nd ed., Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013 (see also the resources available at http://atticgreek.org ).
Further resources: James Morwood, Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001 (paperback 2002); Eleanor Dickey, An Introduction to the Composition and Analysis of Greek Prose, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016; James Morwood and John Taylor, The Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002 (see also the dictionaries available at https://logeion.uchicago.edu ).

At the end of the workshop, students will take a written test consisting of three parts, in which they demonstrate (1) understanding of a brief passage of Greek prose; (2) knowledge of the fundamentals of Greek morphology; (3) familiarity with the basic vocabulary of the Greek language. Each part of the exam is worth ten points. To be exempt from part 1 of the ‘Introduction to Greek Literature’ exam, students are required to score 18/30 or above.

The workshop aims to stimulate the students’ active participation by alternating lectures and practice sessions. A part of each class will be devoted to learning vocabulary and/or consolidation exercises. Classes will be complemented by home assignments on a weekly basis.

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