The Greeks Had a Word for It - but they probably wouldn’t pronounce it correctly today!

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So, what do you think of first, when preparing for a vacation in a location you haven’t visited before? What are you most likely to buy first? Clothes? A swim suit? Cosmetics? Suntan lotion? Well, naturally I have these on my list but, when it’s somewhere where I don’t speak the language, my first concern is always a dictionary and phrase book. I love languages, and even more I love linguistics, the science of language. I find the similarities and differences between languages, and the way in which spelling and pronunciation have evolved, absolutely fascinating. However, learning is one thing – unlearning is another! In September I’m going to Cyprus with my husband, son and daughter. My daughter had a disastrous holiday there back in February which included, on her second day, a bad car crash in which she considered herself lucky to have escaped with a broken pelvis. She would like now to see places that she wanted to see the first time round. Naturally, we’ll be staying in the Greek part of the island, necessitating the purchase of Modern Greek phrase books and dictionaries. Now I am one of those dinosaurs who studied Ancient Greek at school. Well, “studied” is perhaps too strong a term – let us say rather that I was present at classes, albeit it falling asleep in one of them. (A bad move – only one other girl was mad enough to study Ancient Greek at Advanced Level, which made my slumber rather obvious, and I “caught” an extra essay as a result.) Nevertheless, I did get my A level – by the skin of my teeth. They were hot on the pronunciation of Latin and Ancient Greek at my school – the idea of speaking the words of Homer correctly so that the lines scanned, and so on. Trouble is, Homer, Plato and the rest of them obviously pronounced it incorrectly! Many of the words are the same now as they were when I attempted to learn them back in the late ‘60s. However, I have to learn how to say them in a completely different way! I find it more difficult to learn new things now, and the fact that my daughter seems to be learning phrases as fast, if not faster, than I am is humiliating! Even the letters have changed their names. “Mu” in now “mi” and “nu”, “ni”. This is particularly annoying, since it has spoilt the point of one of my favourite limericks: There was a kind curate of Kew Who once kept a cat in his pew. He taught it each week A letter of Greek But it never got further than "mu"! However, I shall proceed in my attempts. I’m rather afraid, however, that I shall end up sounding rather like the Englishman in the comedy series "‘Allo, ‘Allo", who was always saying “Good Moaning”! (come to think of it, I probably do sound like that when I’m speaking French.) Oh, well – at least the alphabet doesn’t faze me too much – yet…