Finding the root of words (especially verbs)

How can I best learn new vocabulary items? What aids are there and what pitfalls should be avoided? How does a beginner learn to use a lexicon?
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Brian Renshaw
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Joined: March 20th, 2012, 8:59 pm

Finding the root of words (especially verbs)

Post by Brian Renshaw »

I am a beginning Greek student in my second semester (I believe this is most people's second year but we do elementary in one semester and syntax the next semester). I have found in my reading of Greek I get thrown off in figuring out "μι" verbs because I am not familiar with their root. Is there any method (or lists anywhere) of figuring out the verbal root of verbs.

Thanks for your all your help. I have been reading this forum for a couple weeks and have realized the importance in learning to read Greek for Greek and not necessarily just trying to translate into English (which is what we do in class) and this has really helped my learning.
cwconrad
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Re: Finding the root of words (especially verbs)

Post by cwconrad »

I have always (i.e. for about fifty years) been an advocate of learning the roots of all verbs, but most especially of the irregular verbs that undergo unpredictable alterations as they combine with other verb-formative elements. My active teaching was concentrated in Classical Attic and I have compiled my own list of Attic Greek irregular verbs, accessible at
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/d ... 0Roots.pdf

I've also prepared a list of GNT Irregular verbs that I've drawn up from the vocabulary of Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek, indicating frequency in the GNT, basic English meanings, principal parts, form(s) of the simple root of the verb, and some comment on idiosyncracies of each verb.
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/d ... rbsGNT.pdf

These can be downloaded directly from those URLs, or from a page of "Course Materials from Years Past" that I've kept online from my years of active teaching:
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/current.html
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Brian Renshaw
Posts: 7
Joined: March 20th, 2012, 8:59 pm

Re: Finding the root of words (especially verbs)

Post by Brian Renshaw »

Thank you! This should be a great help, just wish I had memorized them the first time through
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