GREEK LANGUAGE WORKSHOP FOR BEGINNERS

The workshop serves as a preparatory and complementary activity to the course Introduction to Greek Literature, offered within the bachelor’s degree programme Ancient Civilizations for the Contemporary World. Its main objective is to provide students with the training needed to analyse Greek texts in the original language and to develop a solid 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 core vocabulary of the Greek language, with particular attention to 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 grasp the general meaning 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 aid of annotations and/or the instructor’s guidance; Ability to identify word patterns and predict the meaning of a word from its root.

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

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

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

The workshop is intended primarily for students with no prior training in Ancient Greek. Students with very limited knowledge of the language are also welcome. Those who wish to have their level of Greek assessed are encouraged to contact the instructor before the start of the workshop.

The workshop will offer 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 pronunciation of Greek; (2) Noun, pronoun and adjective morphology; (3) Verb morphology (present, aorist and future systems); (3) Elementary syntax (case usage and prepositions; uses of the participle; coordinating/subordinating conjunctions and relative clauses); (4) Vocabulary (word derivation and formation; adverb formation).

**N.B.: Instructions on how to access the learning materials will be provided during 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, designed to assess (1) comprehension of a short 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 must achieve a total score of at least 18/30.

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The workshop aims to encourage active student participation through a combination of lectures and practice sessions. Part of each class will be devoted to vocabulary learning and/or consolidation exercises. Classes will be supplemented by weekly home assignments.