Monday, May 31, 2021

An English dictionary of ancient Greek “don’t blush” with a fresh look at cruelty | Books - Illinoisnewstoday.com - Dictionary

The Victorian attempt to conceal the meaning of the rough words of ancient Greek will be wiped out by a new dictionary created over 23 years. This is the first time in almost 200 years. It’s a fresh look at the language and promises to students studying today’s classics that they don’t have to blush.

Late scholar John Chadwick first came up with the idea of ​​updating HG Liddell and Robert Scott’s 1889 dictionary, the Intermediate Greek-English Dictionary, in 1997. And it’s packed with outdated terminology and understated Victorian translations of the more colorful ancient Greek. Nevertheless, this is the most commonly used reference book for English school and college students.

Initially, Chadwick’s project was thought to take five years, but Professor James Diggle of the University of Cambridge, who was then chairing the advisory board, said that intermediate lexicons are “too old in concept, design, and content.” He said that was soon revealed. The team will have to start over.

Homer … I read it anew. Photo: De Agostini / Getty Images

Diggle and his fellow editors then undertook the “difficult task” of rereading most of the examples of ancient Greek literature from Homer to the beginning of the second century C.E. They then looked up the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet and created a modern guide for today’s students about the meaning and years of development of ancient Greek words. This lexicon is the first since 1843 to be based on a whole new reading of Greek text.

“At the beginning of the project, I promised to read everything the editor wrote. I soon realized that if we were to get to the end, we should start writing our own entries,” Diggle said. Said.

“The greatest moment of relief and joy is when you can sign off for the final proof and tell the publisher,’This is it.’ You can print.” We are finally there. You can’t imagine what it was like to realize that you arrived. I literally cried with joy. “

The completed Cambridge Greek Dictionary is published by the Cambridge University Press and lasts up to two volumes, with approximately 37,000 Greek words quoted by 90 authors and 1,500 pages.

The editor of the new dictionary said, “I’m willing to blush,” when it comes to the phrase “bringing a blush to the Victorian cheeks.”<0xAD><0xAD>ζζω (Chezo), Translated by Liddell and Scott as “easing yourself and doing your own needs”, defined in the new dictionary as “defecation” and translated as “feces”. βινβω (Vineo) Is no longer “Illegal sexual frustration, Khowar”, but “Fuck”. λαικβζω (Leicazo) Was translated as “to a bitch” in a 19th century dictionary, but is now defined as “doing a blowjob” and translated as “sucking a cock”.

Outdated and aggressive words are also renewed. Liddell and Scott are βλαγτη (bellow) As “a kind of slippers worn by Fop”, it is described in the Greek dictionary of Cambridge as “a kind of simple footwear, slippers”. κροκωτ or higher (Crocotos) Is no longer defined as a “saffron robe worn by gay women”, but as a “saffron gown (weared by women)”.

“In the words of Edward Gibbon, Liddell and Scott can argue that’my English is chastity and all lawless sentences are left in the ambiguity of the language learned.’ “It would have been,” said Diggle. “We use modern English.”

The Cambridge Greek Vocabulary also starts each item with a vocabulary of words. This is a radically different approach from the 19th century vocabulary, which began the item with the first appearance of the word in literature. Diggle thinks of words like “π storm” λις, which is familiar to many in the form of “polis” in English. “Our article shows the different sensations that this word can have. In its first use, it’s” Citadel, Acropolis. ” Second, more generally, it is also “city, town”, and “territory, land”. And more specifically, in the classical era, “a city as a political entity, a city-state.” It also refers to city dwellers as “communities, citizen groups”.

Professor Robin Osborne of the Faculty of Classical Studies at the University of Cambridge said the faculty had invested in a new dictionary to “contribute to the Greek education of the next century.”

“This gives students safe and easy access to ancient Greek,” said Osborne. “It is very important that we remain involved in ancient literature. Greece, Not as a frozen text in the past world, but as a text related to the world in which we live. “

Michael Sharp, publisher of Lexicon at Cambridge University Press, states that this is “one of the most important classics ever published” and “a milestone in the history of classics.” ..

However, Diggle said he had no plans to expand further in lexicographic order. “No, no, no, no, no,” he said. “I finished this work with great comfort and joy. For the last 15 years, I haven’t done anything else. Really I Dominated his life. “

This article was revised on May 28, 2021. In previous versions, the Greek word βινκω was misspelled as “βββνβκω”. In addition, the heading was changed and the reference to the dictionary, “the first ancient Greek English dictionary since the Victorian era,” was removed.

An English dictionary of ancient Greek “don’t blush” with a fresh look at cruelty | Books

Source link An English dictionary of ancient Greek “don’t blush” with a fresh look at cruelty | Books

No comments:

Post a Comment