I have similar problems with finding the right Greek words for 401K, carburetor, kangaroo, cheesecake, Coca Cola, contrail, HTML, clutch, etc. I would have great difficulty describing my feelings and relationships adequately in Koine Greek, I'm a product of a very different culture.Stephen Hughes wrote:I have a problem with the world "bottle". It seems to me that the concept of putting so ephemeral a thing as wine or water into such an expensive and lasting container as glass was not conceived of. Should each "bottle" as we modernly think of them be translated as λήκυθος or φιάλη.Jonathan Robie wrote:Koine Greek wasn't really designed to describe the modern world or to think like modern people think.
Should Koine be a tool to describe things "as we modernly think of them", or a way to get into the mindset of how they thought back then?
You and I have different goals here, I think. I have no real interest in discussing the Titanic or last night's Republican debate in Koine Greek. Modern English is wonderfully appropriate for that. Modern Greek would do the trick too, though I suspect some aspects of the Republican debate are easier to convey in the language of the modern United States. If we create a new language that is capable of doing that, based on Koine and modern Greek and some constructions of our own invention, it is no longer Hellenistic Greek.
If I'm going to go to the trouble of reading Hellenistic texts in the original language, I probably want to read accounts of the Titanic in the original language too.
For me, historical usage trumps all of these.Stephen Hughes wrote:Does function supercede form, shape or materials in the priority of naming.
I'm not saying that everyone else has to have the same goals that I do. But I think I'm fairly consistent in pursuit of my goals.