Hail Freya, it's Friday! Today's #FridayPaganPoll:
I've always said that we Pagans are an academic bunch. Our community has a love of history and renewing old traditions, which I think includes the revival of dead languages, let's see:
Do you use any words, phrases, or prayers in dead languages in your pagan practice?
(Excluding names/epithets)
- Yes (29%, 5 votes)
- No (64%, 11 votes)
- Other answer (comment) (5%, 1 vote)
Simon Ashcroft
in reply to Cat • • •Other.
I use Greek. Just the current version.
Same language, after all.
Cat
in reply to Simon Ashcroft • • •Simon Ashcroft
in reply to Cat • • •DoomsdaysCW
in reply to Simon Ashcroft • • •Simon Ashcroft
in reply to DoomsdaysCW • • •@DoomsdaysCW
I've heard various suggestions as to tonal differences or alterations in breathing. The reality is that we have no recordings and any of our speculations are likely wrong.
Modern Greek tends to concentrate on stress, but how far that has ancient precedent strikes me as supposition.
@Cat_LeFey
DoomsdaysCW
in reply to Simon Ashcroft • • •Simon Ashcroft
in reply to DoomsdaysCW • • •@DoomsdaysCW
It's as good an approach as any, seems to me.
@Cat_LeFey
DoomsdaysCW
in reply to DoomsdaysCW • • •Ooooh. And then there's this!
"Greek and Sanskrit
You have learnt the Greek after going through the twenty lessons, now try to give a lecture. The lecture examines the Indian origin of the Greeks and the similarities between ancient Greek with Sanskrit. Around 4,000-4,500 years ago or earlier, people from India came and settled in Greece. Their languages have displayed similar elements, with common words and mythological representations. This common heritage proves that there was a single family of peoples thousands of years ago."
advocatetanmoy.com/the-origin-…
@SJAsh_03 @Cat_LeFey
The origin of Greeks, similarities between Greek and Sanskrit
advtanmoy (Advocatetanmoy Law Library)Simon Ashcroft
in reply to DoomsdaysCW • • •@DoomsdaysCW
My understanding was that Greek has origins in Sanskrit. It is also a close cousin of Latin – modern Greek and ancient Latin grammar look quite similar, to me.
@Cat_LeFey
mirabilos
in reply to Simon Ashcroft • • •from what I learnt, Latin split off PIE separately from Greek and had different transitions for PIE components, but (due to their high respect for the Greek culture) took a lot of loanwords and the likes.
And if you’re an English native speaker, many of the older languages’ grammars will look similar to you, as English more closely resembles Chinese with its simplifications.
I found that even what bit of Polish I learnt resembles what I know from Latin… probably just the declensions and cases stuff.
mirabilos
in reply to mirabilos • • •if you’re interested in etymologies, do give @yvanspijk a follow (maybe also on his Patreon), he posts very nice and interesting infographics on these things, and while not centred on it, pronunciation changes also come into play.
(Indeed, spelling changes (and the lack thereof) are often how we know about pronunciation, for various reasons.)
Simon Ashcroft
in reply to mirabilos • • •@mirabilos
Thanks for the tip.
@DoomsdaysCW @Cat_LeFey @yvanspijk
DoomsdaysCW
in reply to Simon Ashcroft • • •Simon Ashcroft
in reply to DoomsdaysCW • • •@DoomsdaysCW
I don't doubt that academics have views on this. I'm just unconvinced an ancient Greek would not fall about laughing if able to hear current attempts at pronunciation.
@Cat_LeFey
mirabilos
in reply to Cat • • •Simon Ashcroft
in reply to mirabilos • • •@mirabilos
... (according to the opinions of those who have never heard anyone from before the age of sound recording... )
I have no doubt pronunciation has changed, but maintain every attempt to recreate what ancients sounded like is a modern convention at best.
@Cat_LeFey
Nagaram
in reply to Cat • • •I've been wanting to learn Coptic but I use a lot of Latin.
Fuck Rowling. I'm doing it tastefully
Cat
in reply to Nagaram • • •