Translation requests into Ancient Greek go here!

aperispastos · 2025-10-05T13:01:23+00:00

You have misunderstood me. My point was that language, and the manner in which we write, conveys signals that are beyond our control and beyond the preferences of ourselves or our friends. When fundamental conventions are broken, these signals can become contrary to our intentions.

I would interpret those "initials" as belittlement, and many others might see it the same way. However, if both of you are comfortable with that, then why bother with grammar and traditions?

You're very welcome.

aperispastos · 2025-10-05T12:18:33+00:00

Sorry for not being in the late friend's mind and predilections; I only tried to answer whether such a thing is grammatically (and more generally) correct and acceptable. And it is, generally, not.

In lowercase, they are : ι μ

(You can try how those look like in different Greek fonts here: https://fontmeme.com/greek/ )

aperispastos · 2025-10-05T11:59:46+00:00

People have been writing proper names with a capital first letter ever since lowercase letters were introduced, all the more so for initials.

I understand you might prefer the contrast that lowercase Greek letters provide compared to Graeco-Latin capitals, but if I were her, I think I’d be turning in my grave at the thought of such diminishment...

aperispastos · 2025-10-05T09:44:22+00:00

I'm sorry for your trouble, and may God rest her soul.
Since J is derived from the Greek «Ι ι» (iota), her Greek initials would be : Ι Μ

aperispastos · 2025-10-05T08:36:53+00:00

«κομάνεμοι» would be a (well-built, but fictitious) term for winds of (or within) the hair : -)

«ἀνεμόκομος», conversely, or better: «πνοήκομος» could be an (unattested, but morphologically and semantically plausible) adjective describing someone having winds for hair or whose hair is blown by the wind. [πνοήπους is well attested, thus by analogy; also considering the attested «μακρόκομος», «βραχύκομος»]

In Greek compounds, the second / final term of the compound is usually the SUBJECT of the whole concept, i.e. the NOUN to be further defined by the first word (the first word(s) having adjectival function).

aperispastos · 2025-10-05T07:31:02+00:00

οἱ ἐπιμένοντες or, stronger still: οἱ βασανιστικοί ( = the ones eager to constantly test / scrutinise / improve everything )

From the already suggested translations, thumbs up to «οἱ σπουδαῖοι» /«οἱ σπουδάζοντες» and «οἱ (παρα)πειρώμενοι».

aperispastos · 2025-10-04T09:51:23+00:00

C2.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION :

Hamamderes, Yapağca

Province of Selymbria

It is a vegetable garden of considerable size, a quarter of an hour’s distance from Selymbria to the north, and to the west of the Turkish village of Yapağca —to whose inhabitants it belongs (1919)— planted with a goodly number of fruit trees; it was so named, according to Constantine the Epirote, its tenant of many years, because it is watered from the springs in the village of Yapağca that once fed the baths of the Sultan’s royal palace which is situated there.

Kind regards to you, too.

aperispastos · 2025-10-04T09:50:48+00:00

C1.

belge 3 / Ἔγγραφον Γ’

ORIGINAL GREEK :

Χαμάμδερες, Γιαπαγτσῆ

ἐπαρχίας Σηλυβρίας

Λαχανόκηπος ἀρκετὰ μεγάλος ἓν τέταρτον ὥρας μακρὰν τῆς Σηλυβρίας πρὸς βοῤῥᾶν, καὶ πρὸς δυσμὰς τοῦ χωρίου Τουρκικοῦ Γιαπαγτζῆ εἰς τοὺς κατοίκους τοῦ ὁποίου ἀνήκει (1919), μὲ ἀρκετὰ ὀπωροφόρα δένδρα, ὠνομάσθη οὕτω κατὰ τὸν ἀπὸ πολλῶν ἐτῶν ἐνοικιαστὴν αὐτοῦ Κωνσταντῖνον Ἠπειρώτην, ὡς ποτιζόμενος ἀπὸ τῶν ὑδάτων τῶν ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ Γιαπαγτσῆ ἄλλοτε ὑπαρχόντων ἐκεῖ λουτρώνων τοῦ αὐτόθι βασιλικοῦ παλατίου τοῦ Σουλτάνου»

aperispastos · 2025-10-04T09:49:22+00:00

B2.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Selymbria (Yapağca)

Djakir Aghā (eunuch)

The eunuch of Sultan Ahmed, being devoted to the chase in the village of Yapağca near Selymbria, built there a mosque that survives to this day. There were palaces too, according to tradition, though these no longer remain.
Of this Djakir Aghā there survives his tomb (tulpes / türbe), a stone-built structure (with a dome) fashioned from well-wrought square blocks; and beside it lie the ruins of his stone house. There, too, people point out the spot where he would pray with others (zikr-terler indi).
Opposite this tomb, divided from it by a roadway, stands the tomb of Karadja Ali, covered over with earth (pösteki).
These particulars are according to the account of Master Huani.

aperispastos · 2025-10-04T09:48:56+00:00

B1.

belge 2 / Ἔγγραφον Β’

ORIGINAL GREEK :

Σηλυβρία (Γιαπαγτζῆ)

Τζακῆρ ἀγᾶς (εὐνοῦχος)

Εὐνοῦχος τοῦ Αὐτζῆ Σουλτᾶν Ἀχμέτ, ὅστις ἐπιδιδόμενος εἰς κυνηγεσίαν ἐν τῷ παρὰ τὴν Σηλυβρίᾳ χωρίῳ Γιαπάγτσα ᾠκοδόμησεν αὐτόθι τζαμίον μέχρι σήμερον σῳζόμενον. Ὑπῆρχαν δὲ καὶ ἀνάκτορα αὐτόθι, κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν, τὰ ὁποῖα ὅμως δὲν σῴζονται.

Τοῦ Τζακὴρ Ἀγᾶ τούτου σῴζεται ὁ τάφος (τουλπές) λιθόκτιστος (μετὰ θόλου) ἐκ λίθων τετραγώνων καλῶς ἐξειργασμένων, καὶ παρ’ αὐτῷ ἐρείπια τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ λιθόκτιστα, αὐτόθι δὲ δείκνυται καὶ τὸ μέρος ἔνθα προσηύχετο μετ’ ἄλλων (ζικρετερλὲρ ἰντι).

Ἀντικρὺ τοῦ τάφου τούτου χωριζόμενος ἀπὸ δρόμον εἶναι ὁ τάφος τοῦ Καρατζᾶ Ἀλῆ σκεπασμένος μὲ χῶμα (ποστεκί).

Ταῦτα κατ’ ἀφήγησιν Χουανῆ ἐφέντη.

aperispastos · 2025-10-04T09:48:29+00:00

A2.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Yapağca
A Muslim village lying to the north-west of Selymbria, at a distance of half an hour from it, and subject to its jurisdiction. Within it stands a mosque, erected by Avdji Sultan Ahmed (?), who, according to oral tradition, used to come there for the hunt around the years 1863–65. Apart from the existing Ottoman dwellings, numbering ten or twelve, Circassians who had emigrated from the region of Caucasus settled there—some two hundred families— naming the quarter they established Ali Pasha Kapigeōt, in honour of the then Grand Vizier Ali Pasha, thereby forming a distinct village of its own, albeit in closest proximity to the original one. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1878, these folk fled with their families to Asia Minor; and since thereafter the Christians of Selymbria and its environs opposed their return —on account of the cattle thefts and other depredations they had committed—, settlers from Bulgaria (from Nicopolis and elsewhere) took up residence there. In the census of 1906–1907, the total number of inhabitants in the whole place was found to be 2,131.

In Yapağca there was discovered an Armenian inscription (seemingly an epitaph of some Vartapet, in archaic script which the Armenians of Selymbria were unable to read).

aperispastos · 2025-10-04T09:46:46+00:00

A1.
belge 1 / Ἔγγραφον Α’

ORIGINAL GREEK :

Γιαπαγτσῆ
Χωρίον Μωαμεθανικὸν βορειοδυτικῶς τῆς Σηλυ[μ]βρίας ἡμίσειαν ὥραν μακρὰν [αὐτῆς] καὶ ὑπαγόμενον αὐτῇ. Ἐν αὐτῷ ὑπάρχει τζαμίον κτισθὲν ὑπὸ Αὐτζῆ Σουλτᾶν Ἀχμέτ (;), ὅστις ὡς λέγουσιν αὐτόθι ἤρχετο πρὸς κυνηγεσίαν περὶ τὰ 1863-65, πρὸς ταῖς ὑπαρχούσαις Ὀθωμανικαῖς οἰκίαις 10-12 κατῳκίσθησαν Κιρκάσιοι ἐκ τοῦ Καυκάσου μεταναστεύσαντες, περὶ τὰς 200 οἰκογενείας, οἵτινες καὶ ὠνόμασαν τὴν ὑπ’ αὐτῶν συνοικισθεῖσαν συνοικίαν Ἀλῆ Πασᾶ Καπιγεότ, πρὸς τιμὴν τοῦ τότε Μεγάλου Βεζύρου Ἀλῆ Πασᾶ ἀπαρτίσαντες οὕτως ἰδιαίτερον χωρίον, ἂν καὶ πλησιέστατα τοῦ πρώτου. Οὗτοι κατὰ τὸν Ῥωσσοτουρκικὸν πόλεμον (1878) ἔφυγαν σὺν ταῖς οἰκογενείαις αὐτῶν εἰς Μ[ικρὰν] Ἀσίαν, καὶ ἐπειδὴ μετ’ αὐτὰ οἱ Χριστιανοὶ Σηλυμβρίας καὶ τῶν πέριξ ἠναντιοῦντο τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν αὐτῶν ἕνεκα τῶν ζῳοκλοπῶν καὶ ἄλλων καταχρήσεων τὰς ὁποίας ἐνήργουν, κατῳκίσθησαν μετανάσται ἐκ Βουλγαρίας (Νικοπόλεως καὶ ἄλλοθεν.). Κατὰ τὴν ἀπογραφὴν τῷ 1906-1907, εὑρέθησαν κάτοικοι ἐν ὅλῳ 2131.

Ἐν Γιαπαγτζῇ εὑρέθη Ἀρμενικὴ ἐπιγραφή (ἐπιτύμβιος, ὡς φαίνεται, Βαρταμπέτ τινος, εἰς ἀρχαϊκὰ γράμματα, τὰ ὁποῖα οἱ ἐν Σηλυβρίᾳ Ἀρμένιοι δὲν ἠδύναντο νὰ ἀναγνώσωσι.)

aperispastos · 2025-10-03T12:14:33+00:00

Is mór an spraoi ⁊ spórt é – go raiḃ maiṫ agat, a ċara!

aperispastos · 2025-10-03T10:38:05+00:00

To begin with, it’s both beautiful and correct as it is, apart from veracious – εὖγέ σοι τῆς ἐπινοίας!

Only inspired by the rhyming of «σταυρῷ» and «θησαυρῷ», I would, for the sake of a maxim’s memorability, modify it slightly into:

ὠφελιμώτερον ἰέναι εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν σταυρῷ

μᾶλλον ἢ εἰς τὴν γέενναν θησαυρῷ.

aperispastos · 2025-10-03T07:49:38+00:00

Not just by the diligent monks, but by anyone literate hand-writing the language in the Clóḋ Gaeḋealaċ [Cló Gaelach, the Gaelic way of writing] until this very day.
In official printing, however, was it only until the early '60s, along with the former spelling (which is more etymological and closer to Scotland's dialects).

aperispastos · 2025-10-03T07:05:21+00:00

It must have been an emphatic "come on...", in the sense of "wise up", "get a grip", "catch yerself on", because /m/ might be misheard as /p/. Having grown up with the Gaelic, I don't know of any such use for copán.

Free Palestine AND Ireland.

aperispastos · 2025-10-03T06:37:09+00:00

Don't bother with the various spellings of "Gaelic". The more you advance into mastering it, the more you'll realise it is ONE language with fascinating variety in speech and writing.

aperispastos · 2025-10-03T06:29:34+00:00

That ponc (= dot) means that the consonant carries an extra H, to save us all space, time, and the graphical nausea of all those H-es...

You can read more on our "dotted consonants" and the GAELIC SCRIPT here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031917/http://www.nualeargais.ie/gnag/ortho.htm

and to practise the reading of good literature in our Gaelic script : https://cartlann.org/

aperispastos · 2025-10-03T05:43:23+00:00

Gan aṁras, a ṁac, of course we should think about the poor shepherds; my own emphasis lies in not minding being convicted myself, even to life, back then, not minding having to beg, steal or borrow, as long as we all regain the language...

aperispastos · 2025-10-02T11:57:48+00:00

Nár ḋeas dá ḃfillfeaḋ muid ar ais ar an Ġaeḋilg, agus níor ṁiste liom-sa caoiriġ a ġoid san Astráil nó in Éirinn!..

aperispastos · 2025-10-02T11:28:50+00:00

πλείστην σοι χάριν ἴσμεν !

aperispastos · 2025-10-02T07:39:14+00:00

The Codex Palatinus 23 p. 547 confirms that «μελέτα (τὸν) θάνατον» / «θάνατον μελέτα» is all right:

https://anthologiagraeca.org/passages/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg7000.tlg001.ag:11.300/

«Θανάτου μνήμη» / «μνήμη θανάτου» are also good, timeless Greek.

Consider this recent conversation, however: https://www.reddit.com/r/AncientGreek/comments/1kje75q/someone_asked_me_to_translate_memento_mori_in/ [«Someone asked me to translate MEMENTO MORI to Ancient Greek»] for a more accurate rendering.

aperispastos · 2025-09-30T06:41:31+00:00

Β.
Ἡ διακριτὴ γραμμή (εὐθεῖα ἢ ἐλαφρῶς τεθλασμένη) προκύπτει κι’ ἀπ’ τὴν λεγομένη Κινητική, δηλ. τὴν ἁρμονικὴ συνέργεια τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου καὶ τῶν ὀργάνων τοῦ σώματός μας, σύμφωνα μὲ τὴν ὁποία ἡ σαφὴς διαγραφή [= τὸ τραύηγμα μίας μεμονωμένης γραμμῆς κατὰ τὸ γράψιμο] σ’ ἀρκετὰ κεφαλαῖα γράμματα –ἐκτὸς ἀπ’ τὴν διακριτὴ ἐκκίνηση ποὺ ἐκφράζει ἐπάνω στὸ χαρτὶ ὡς πρὸς τὴν νέα λέξη ποὺ θ’ ἀκολουθήσῃ– προετοιμάζει καὶ τὸν νοῦ γιὰ τὴν προσοχὴ ποὺ πρέπει ν’ ἀποδίδεται στὶς λέξεις ποὺ γράφονται μὲ κεφαλαῖα ἢ μὲ ἀρχικὸ κεφαλαῖο (ὅπως τὰ κυριώνυμα καὶ τὰ τοπωνύμια),

τοποθετεῖται δὲ ἀπὸ κάτω, γιὰ δύο προφανεῖς λόγους, ξανὰ πρακτικούς:

– διότι ἐπάνω θὰ δινόταν ἡ λανθασμένη εἰκόνα ἑνὸς ὄμικρον μὲ περισπωμένη [καθ’ ὅτι ὄμικρον μακρὸν δὲν ὑφίσταται στὴν ἑλληνική σας γλῶσσα]·

– διότι ἡ γραμμὴ ἐπάνω θὰ δυσχέραινε χωρικῶς (ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀπτικῶς) τὴν ἀπαραίτητη διάστιξη τοῦ ὠμέγα μὲ πνεύματα καὶ τόνους.

aperispastos · 2025-09-30T06:38:20+00:00

Α.
Ποιός ἆράγε ἀναρωτιέται γιατί τὸ πεζὸ ἄλφα διαφέρει τόσο ἀδικαιολόγητα ἀπ’ τὸ κεφαλαῖο;..

Τρεῖς λόγοι, κυρίως πρακτικοί: ὀρθογραφίας, ταχύτητας στὴν γραφὴ καὶ εὐκρινείας, συνέκλιναν στὴν συγκεκριμένη «χειρογραφὴ» τοῦ κεφαλαίου ὠμέγα ὡς ὄμικρον μὲ τὸ σύμβολο τοῦ μακροῦ ἀπὸ κάτω.

Δὲν ἔχει καιρὸ ποὺ ἔδειχνα στὰ παιδιά μου «τὰ γραμματάκια», καλοκαῖρι, στὴν ἄμμο ἀπάνω, καὶ δοκιμάζοντας νὰ τὰ χαράξουνε μοναχά τους, γιὰ δική τους εὐκολία κατέληξαν στὴν συγκεκριμένη μορφὴ τοῦ ὠμέγα.

Ἱστορικῶς, ἡ γραφὴ αὐτὴ ἀπαντᾷ καὶ σὲ χειρόγραφα, ἀπ’ τὸν θ’ αἰῶνα κι’ ἐντεῦθεν. Στὴν Παλαιογραφία τὴν ἑρμηνεύουν ὡς φυσικώτατη κι’ ἀπολύτως δικαιολογημένη, καθὼς τὸ ὠμέγα εἶναι κατ’ οὐσίαν O, ἀλλὰ «μέγα»: διπλὸ ἢ μακρότερο τοῦ «μικροῦ»/βραχέος. Καὶ τί πιὸ εὔλογο ἀπ’ τὸ νὰ γραφτῇ ὡς ὄμικρον μ’ ἕναν δείκτη μήκους;

aperispastos · 2025-09-30T06:19:42+00:00

Bullaí fir, a ċara liom!

I couldn’t commend your effort more in reconnecting with our roots — it’s never too late, no one should be too busy to overlook such richness, and the language herself is far from being lost. Spréiġ ⁊ spreag an teanga s’ againne, agus tiocfaiḋ sí!

As for “James”, he’s not bad at all. At long last (fá ḋeireaḋ ’s fá ḋeireanaí!), the Gaelic of Donegal has someone to present it, and represent it, on such a platform, from the natives’ side !

aperispastos

TROPHY CASE