為何要學希臘文? (Why Study Greek?)
http://philipyim.0catch.com/Pastor/Greek1.htm#why- There are so many good English translations. When they differ, how will you know which one most accurately reflects the text itself?
- No translation is perfect; it is not possible to transfer everything from one language into another. However, in the final analysis, whether we choose to study God's Word from a translation, literal or not, the Scriptures were communicated in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; all else is translation.
- Greek has a great influence on the Western culture and it has influenced the Latin too.
From the earliest times the Greeks had penetrated and molded Italic civilization. Greek craftsmen and purveyors of culture, high and low, had settled in Rome supplying words from their various callings. Roman nobles had brought Greek pedagogues to instruct their children… The upper classes had become bilingual, receiving formal instruction in Greek even before their own language. (L.R. Palmer, The Latin Language 176) - Greek has influenced Latin and English has been affected by these two languages heavily, especially from 1500s onwards.
- Greek is the language used to formulate the doctrines in the catholic councils. To understand the doctrines fully included this language and its philosophy. (about 15% of the words in the English language come from Greek.) Estimated by Prof. Louis H. Feldman. Besides, GREEK ROOTS contains: over 500 modern English roots with their original Greek meanings.over 1000 modern Greek derived prefixes and suffixes. The Greek Influence on the English Language: In this page you can see a good example how Greek words influence English (about 19% of the words used are derived from Greek in this example). according to the Webster International Dictionary the total of the word stock of the English language is 166,724 words, out of which 41,214 are Greek. On the other hand, A. Konstandinides, in his remarkable work "The Greek Words in the English language", argues that the whole of the medical terminology in English amounts to 43,716 words, out of which 20,346 are Greek. [Details please see my lecture note: Use Your Greek in Daily Life (2): Greek influence on English]
- Many English words are rooted in the Greek Language. The terminology of modern sciences and technologies is derived mainly from Greek.
- The study of the Greek roots of English raises awareness of the functions and modes of expression in a variety of languages.
