Talking about languages in ancient Greek
“What language do you speak?” τίνι γλώττῃ λαλεῖς;
If you don’t know the answer in ancient Greek, you can take a look at the free resource I compiled: a complete list of all the languages attested in ancient Greek texts. You can download the file by subscribing to our newsletter:
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Transcript
χαίρετε. τὴν ἑλληνικὴν γλῶτταν μανθάνοντες ὡς εἰκὸς καὶ πολλὰς ἄλλας γλώττας ἤδη ἐπίστασθε· διά γε τοῦτο σήμερον διαλεξόμεθα περὶ τοῦ τίνι γλώττῃ λαλεῖς; ἀρξώμεθα δέ.
Hi! Since you’re learning the Greek language, you, probably, already know many other languages, too. For this reason we will talk today about (the topic): What language do you speak? But let’s start!
Ῥογῆρος· Salve Germaniae delicium, salve etiam atque etiam, litterarum decus.
Ἰέννι· οὐδὲν συνῆκα· διὰ τί βαρβαριστὶ λαλεῖς;
Ῥογῆρος· τί λέγεις; οὐκ εἰμὶ βάρβαρος οὐδὲ λαλῶ βαρβαριστί.
Ἰέννι· τίνι οὖν γλώττῃ ἐλάλησας;
Ῥογῆρος· ῥωμαϊστί.
Ἰέννι· Ah, νῦν συνίημι. ἆρα ἐπίστασαι καὶ ἄλλας γλώττας;
Ῥογῆρος· πάνυ γε, ὀλίγας δέ· λαλῶ καὶ ἑλληνιστὶ καὶ γερμανιστὶ καὶ βρετανιστί. ἡ δὲ ἱσπανική ἐστι πατρῴα γλῶττα.
Ἰέννι· πολύγλωττος οὖν εἶ.
Ῥογῆρος· οὐκ οἶδα· σὺ λέγεις.
Rogelio: [talking Latin]
Jenny: I didn’t understand a word: Why do you speak like a barbarian?
Rogelio: What do you say? I am not a barbarian nor do I speak like one!
Jenny: So what language did you speak?
Rogelio: Lat in .
Jenny: Now I understand. Do you know other languages, too?
Rogelio: Yes, a few. I also speak Greek and German and English. Spanish, however, is my mother tongue.
Jenny: So you’re a polyglot.
Rogelio: I don’t know… you say it.
τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἐρωτῶμεν· τίνι γλώττῃ λαλεῖς; ἀποκρινόμεθα δέ·
ἐγὼ λαλῶ ἑλληνιστί, ῥωμαϊστί, βαρβαριστί.
ὅταν γὰρ περὶ γλωττῶν διαλεγώμεθα, χρώμεθα τούτοις τοῖς ἐπιρρήμασι ἃ λήγει εἰς -ιστί. ὑπάρχει δὲ καὶ ἄλλα ῥήματα λήγοντα εἰς -ίζειν. παραδείγματος ἕνεκα·
ἀντὶ τοῦ ἑλληνιστὶ λαλῶ ἔξεστι καὶ λέγειν· ἑλληνίζω
ἀντὶ τοῦ ῥωμαϊστὶ λαλῶ· ῥωμαΐζω.
ἀντὶ τοῦ βαρβαριστὶ λαλῶ· βαρβαρίζω.
So at first we ask: What language do you speak? We answer:
I speak Greek, Latin, “Barbarian”.
Whenever we talk about languages, we use these adverbs that end in -isti. But there are also other words, which end in -izein . For example:
Instead of “I speak Greek.” (hellenisti lalo) one can also say: “I speak Greek.” (hellinizo)
Instead of “I speak Latin .” (romaisti lalo): “I speak Latin.” (romaizo)
Instead of “I speak (like a) Barbarian.” (barbaristi lalo): “I speak (like a) Barbarian.” (barbarizo)
διὰ τί δὲ ὑπάρχουσιν τοσαῦται γλῶτται; ἡ παλαιὰ διαθήκη διηγεῖται ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν μία φωνὴ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι ὑπερήφανοι ἐγένοντο λέγοντες·
οἰκοδομήσωμεν ἑαυτοῖς πόλιν καὶ πύργον, οὗ ἡ κεφαλὴ ἔσται ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ποιήσωμεν ἑαυτοῖς ὄνομα.
ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἰδὼν τὸν πύργον ὠργίσθη καὶ εἶπεν·
συγχέωμεν τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ ἀκούσωσιν ἕκαστος τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ πλησίον.
καὶ συνέχεε ὁ θεὸς τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν καὶ διέσπειρε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς.
But why are there so many languages? The Old Testament recounts that in the beginning there was only one language common to all humans. But the humans became arrogant saying: Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name!
But God seeing the tower became angry and said: Let us confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
And God confounded their language and scattered the humans upon the face of all the earth.
οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες ὅμοιον μῦθον καὶ περὶ τῶν ζῴων διηγοῦνται· ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις τοῦ χρυσοῦ γένους ἦν μία φωνὴ πᾶσι τοῖς ζῴοις, ὥστε καὶ ἀλλήλοις καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐδύνατο διαλέγεσθαι·
καὶ πλωτὸς ἰχθὺς συνελάλει φίλῳ ναύτῃ,
στρουθοὶ δὲ συνετὰ πρὸς γεωργὸν ὡμίλουν.
ἦν οὖν πλῆθος τῶν ἀγαθῶν· τὰ δὲ ζῷα ὑπερήφανα ἐγένετο· διά γε τοῦτο ἐπρεσβεύετο πρὸς τὸν Δία αἰτούμενα ἀθανασίαν καὶ νεότητα εἰς ἀεί. ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς ὀργισθεὶς ἑτερόγλωττα ἐποίησε τὰ ζῷα, ὥστε ἔτι καὶ νῦν οὐ συνίασιν ἀλλήων.
The Greeks tell a similar story about the animals, too. In the times of the Golden Age there was one language common to all animals so that they could talk with one another and with the humans:
And the swimming fish conversed with his friend, the sailor,
and the sparrows talked intelligibly to the farmer. (Babrius 1,10-11)
So there was an abundancy of good things. But the animals became arrogant. They, therefore, sent an embassy to Zeus asking for immortality and everlasting youth.
But Zeus became angry and made the animals speak different languages so that still today they don’t understand each other.
ὦ Ἄργε, τίνι γλώττῃ λαλεῖς σύ; (ὁ Ἄργος κυνιστὶ ἀποκρίνεται)
καὶ ὑμεῖς; τίσι γλώτταις ὑμεῖς λαλεῖτε; λέγετε ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς κάτω ὑπομνήμασιν. κατάλογον δὲ τῶν γλωττῶν εὑρήσετε ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ σελίδι· triodos-trivium.com/glottai
Argos, what language do you speak?
And you? What languages do you speak? Tell us in the comments below! You can f in d a list of different languages on our homepage.
ἔρρωσθε οὖν καὶ valete, bye, ciao, salut, pa, pa!, Tschüss!