Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Textbooks, Graded Readers, Beginner Resources and links, Teaching aids, etc.
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NathanSmith
Posts: 62
Joined: June 10th, 2011, 12:38 am
Location: Portland, OR, USA
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Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by NathanSmith »

I am wondering if there are any lists of basic Koine vocabulary which are based on general usage rather than a corpus (i.e. the New Testament). For example:
  • Numerals/ordinals, etc.
  • Body parts
  • Clothing articles
  • Giving directions
  • Meals
You know, the same sort of stuff I learned in my high school German class. The German-English-Attic phrase book hosted by Louis Sorenson is in this vein, though not quite the format I'd like to see. I know there are a lot of good Greek grammars in the public domain, but the very sparse sampling I've looked at have vocab lists which seem to be fitted to the classic texts.
Paul-Nitz
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Joined: June 1st, 2011, 4:19 am
Location: Sussex, Wisconsin

Re: Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by Paul-Nitz »

Nathan,

1. Here is one method to search for an English word in Greek, as described on
και τα λοιπα
http://danielstreett.wordpress.com/2012 ... rd-search/

Liddel can lead to a good phrase. For example, looking at ποτε in Liddel yesterday yielded:

When if not now? πότ' εἰ μὴ νῦν . .;

2. There is one aged book (1871) on dialogue that I've only browsed a bit. It's Blackie's Greek and English Dialogues. Ι really got to get back to reading it... the first dialogue kind of discouraged me.

Image

3. Jordash Kiffiac (with Biblical Language Center) has a "Draft Immersion Greek Teacher's Manual" which has a number of things you'd be looking for, but it's not too extensive. I have no idea how someone would get a hold of that. I bought it directly from him after a BLC workshop.

But none of these resources are quite what you are looking for, I don't think. I've wanted something just like that, too. And, yes, the Sprechen Sie Attisch is cool, but not quite what we need.

In my opinion, what is needed more than a phrasebook is a community in which teachers and learners can ask "So how do you say _____ in Greek?" We need a community for the simplest of questions. Take for example, "What is your name?" I've heard it different ways (maybe they are all legitimate).
  • τί εστιν ονομα σοι;
    ονομα σοι, τί εστιν;
    τίς εἵ;
    το ονομα σου, τί εστιν;


I've seen how the Latin Best Practices group continuously discusses how to phrase things for their communicative Latin Lessons. I thought, "We need that for Greek!" So, a couple other interested individuals and I started the Ancient Greek Best Practices group we started. https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en& ... -practices

Image

If you have specific questions about a phrase, try posting it there. I'm going to go over there just now and see what the members have to say about "What is your name?"
Paul D. Nitz - Lilongwe Malawi
cwconrad
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Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:52 pm
Location: Burnsville, NC 28714
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Re: Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by cwconrad »

I'd just like to lodge a little protest at the inclusion of these sizable chunks of graphics -- especially the segments of screen-shots. For my part, I think it would be just as easy to give a URL pointing readers to where they can look at these items.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Jesse Goulet
Posts: 87
Joined: October 15th, 2011, 12:48 pm

Re: Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by Jesse Goulet »

NathanSmith wrote:I am wondering if there are any lists of basic Koine vocabulary which are based on general usage rather than a corpus (i.e. the New Testament). For example:
  • Numerals/ordinals, etc.
  • Body parts
  • Clothing articles
  • Giving directions
  • Meals
You know, the same sort of stuff I learned in my high school German class. The German-English-Attic phrase book hosted by Louis Sorenson is in this vein, though not quite the format I'd like to see. I know there are a lot of good Greek grammars in the public domain, but the very sparse sampling I've looked at have vocab lists which seem to be fitted to the classic texts.
Here's a lexicon of the Greek New Testament based on semantic domains, such as geographical features, which are then subdivided into bodies of water, land areas, areas above the ground, etc: http://www.amazon.com/Greek-English-Lex ... =pd_cp_b_1
NathanSmith
Posts: 62
Joined: June 10th, 2011, 12:38 am
Location: Portland, OR, USA
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Re: Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by NathanSmith »

Jesse Goulet wrote:
NathanSmith wrote:I am wondering if there are any lists of basic Koine vocabulary which are based on general usage rather than a corpus (i.e. the New Testament). For example:
  • Numerals/ordinals, etc.
  • Body parts
  • Clothing articles
  • Giving directions
  • Meals
You know, the same sort of stuff I learned in my high school German class. The German-English-Attic phrase book hosted by Louis Sorenson is in this vein, though not quite the format I'd like to see. I know there are a lot of good Greek grammars in the public domain, but the very sparse sampling I've looked at have vocab lists which seem to be fitted to the classic texts.
Here's a lexicon of the Greek New Testament based on semantic domains, such as geographical features, which are then subdivided into bodies of water, land areas, areas above the ground, etc: http://www.amazon.com/Greek-English-Lex ... =pd_cp_b_1
I guess Louw and Nida would be a good place to start if someone were constructing such a list.
Devenios Doulenios
Posts: 229
Joined: May 31st, 2011, 5:11 pm
Location: Carlisle, Arkansas, USA
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Re: Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by Devenios Doulenios »

χαιρε Ναθαν, χαιρετε πασιν,

I've recently started a new blog, Let Ancient Voices Speak, to provide materials for and promote this very thing, not only for Koine but for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic and Latin also. As it happens, the second post gets you started with the feminine forms for the numbers 1-10 with a set of PowerPoints which include pictures and audio as well as text, and teach the numbers in context (number + color word + concrete object, e.g.,. one red ball, four brown loaves, etc.). The masculine and neuter forms will be covered in additional sets over time, and there will also be a set with example sentences from the Greek Bible and other Greek texts.

You can access the post, which includes links to download the PP and audio, here:

http://letancientvoicesspeak.preachersf ... %B4%CE%AD/


Feedback is welcome. Due to spammers, online comments are blocked, but you can either PM me here or email me at dewayne.dulaney@gmail,com.

Δεβένιος
Dewayne Dulaney
Δεβένιος Δουλένιος

Blog: https://letancientvoicesspeak.wordpress.com/

"Ὁδοὶ δύο εἰσί, μία τῆς ζωῆς καὶ μία τοῦ θανάτου."--Διδαχή Α, α'
Paul-Nitz
Posts: 497
Joined: June 1st, 2011, 4:19 am
Location: Sussex, Wisconsin

Re: Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by Paul-Nitz »

Δεβενιε,
ευχαριστω σοι υπερ της powerpoint σου.
I'll use it some day.
Paul D. Nitz - Lilongwe Malawi
Devenios Doulenios
Posts: 229
Joined: May 31st, 2011, 5:11 pm
Location: Carlisle, Arkansas, USA
Contact:

Re: Basic Koine Vocabulary List

Post by Devenios Doulenios »

χαιρω, ω Σαυλε. ελπιζω οτι ευχρηστον η σοι και τοις μαθηταις.

Correction: In my Gmail address, the last part is .com (dot com), NOT ,com (comma com). Sorry about the typo.

Δεβένιος
Dewayne Dulaney
Δεβένιος Δουλένιος

Blog: https://letancientvoicesspeak.wordpress.com/

"Ὁδοὶ δύο εἰσί, μία τῆς ζωῆς καὶ μία τοῦ θανάτου."--Διδαχή Α, α'
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