After the headache of consonants and vowels we can start sticking letters together into words to make beautiful conversations with the locals. Here is my first attempt at coping with bumping into someone that I would already know in a Greek street (and swiftly moving on after a quick Αντιό!).
| Andreas P | Hello Mrs K | Γεια σου Κυρια Κ | Yiasoo Keereea Κ |
| Despina K | Hello Mr P | Γεια σου Κύριος Π | Yiasoo Keereos Π |
| Andreas P | How are you? | Τι Κάνετε; | Tee Kahnehteh |
| Despina K | I'm fine | Μιά Χαρά | Meeah Harah |
| Andreas P | Me too | Και ερώ Επίσις | Keh-eroh Epeesees |
| Despina K | Good seeing you | Xάρηκα που σε ειδα | Hahreeka poo see eetha |
| Andreas P | Thank you | Ευχαριστώ | Efhareestoh |
| Despina K | Goodbye | Αντίο | Adeeo |
| Andreas P | Goodbye | Αντίο | Adeeo |
the tics in 3rd column are emphasised in bold in the far-right column
Some interesting points from this. The question mark in English "?" is used in Greek with a semi-colon ";" (what they use for a semi-colon is a mystery). Also, Γεια σου (Yiasoo) I understand is used interchangeably for Hello and Goodbye in Cyprus whilst in Greece they use the αντίο (Adeeo) for the Goodbye (so one less word to remember). Also, don't be fooled by the "I'm fine" sentance and assume "I am" equals Μιά because it doesn't. "I am hungry" for example translates to Είμαι νυσταλέος (Eemeh neestalehos) which uses the true translation for "I am" whilst the one shown in the table above translates to "one" (I know, it still doesn't make sense to me either - comments please!).
Written by JuiceSoup.com
Written by JuiceSoup.com
2 comments:
The semi-colon “;” in Greek is a “·” It is called άνω τελεία (ano teleea). It is placed half way up, after the last letter of the word· instead at the bottom of it, like the full stop.
Αντίο means goodbye in Greek. That is Greece and Cyprus. Γεια σου may mean both hello and goodbye in Greek. That is Greece and Cyprus, in the same way as we say good day in English.
Quite right the word “μιά” has nothing to do with “I am”. The phrase “μια χαρά” does not have the verb “I am” in it. Literary translates as “one joy” we can take it as it means “one big joy” “absolutely fine”. I’ll go for “absolutely fine”. If you want you can add the “I am” and make it είμαι μια χαρά. Another good translation is “μια χαρά=great” .
Thanks George, this is good stuff. Please make sure to pick me up on other points in the future!
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