CLA 30 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Modus Operandi, Summum, Dikaryon
I. October 20, 2014: Greek Alphabet, Conjunctions, Suffixes, Inflection in Latin, Greek, and English
A. Greek Alphabet:
1. Nasalized Gamma
a. When gamma comes before another gamma (γγ), before a kappa (γκ), before a chi (γχ), or before a xi (γξ), the
combination is pronounced “ng” as in sing (+ ks for xi).
b. γγ = “ng”; γκ = “nk”; γχ = “nch”; γξ = “nx”
c. We call it nasalized because it is pronounced through the nose.
d. The Romans wrote and we write this sound as “n”.
2. More on Writing: theta, phi and chi
a. The Greeks had two “k” sounds, two “p” sounds, and two “t” sounds.
b. In each of these pairs, one has a breath of air after it, the other doesn’t, and in each case, the Greeks used
separate letters to distinguish them.
i. Native English-speakers have trouble hearing the difference since they use both forms of “k”, “p”, and “t”
but think they are the same.
ii. For Greeks, they were as different as “p” and “b” or “s” and “z”.
c. When the Romans heard Greeks say phi, theta, and chi, they heard an “h” sound so they wrote Greek sounds
“ph,” “th,” and “ch,” and we still transcribe them into English in that way today.
d. Over centuries, in Greek pronunciation, phi turned to an “f” sound, theta turned to a “th” sounds, and chi turned
to a sound like German “ch” or Spanish “j”.
B. An Important Morpheme in Bioscience:
1. {φυ} = English {phy} = “bring forth”, “bear”, “grow”
a. phylem < Greek φὖλον, tribe ({-ον} = {on} = thing)
b. diphyodont {δι} = {di} = two; {ὀδοντ} = {odont}= tooth
c. {phyto-} / {-phyte} = plant
i. phytoplankton {plankt}= wander + {on}
ii. epiphyte {επι-} = {epi} = on, against
iii. neophyte {neo} = new – used to describe people who are totally new at something
2. Physics is made from the morpheme {phy} which carries the notions of birth, origin, and growth.
a. (φὐσιζ is the Greek word for “nature”)
b. The Latin word nature etymologically means “birth” ({nat} = birth)
c. Physics is the study of things in nature, that is, things that have origins and grow.
i. It is contrasted with things like mathematics, which studies things that don’t change.
C. Conjunctions are words that join two things together.
1. {con} = together + {junct} = join + {ion} = state or action (noun suffix)
a. Ex: John and Mary; Bill or Bob
2. Coordinating Conjunctions join things of the same level together.
a. {co/com/con} = together, same; {ordin} = order, rank, level; {ate} = the act of (verb form) suffix
b. FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
i. The most common ones in English are “and” and “or”
c. Ex: John and Mary eat pizza. I didn’t see John or Bill.
3. Commas
a. In most formal English, sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions require a comma.
i. For very short sentences, some people ignore this rule.
ii. Ex: I didn’t go to Rome, but I did make it to Milan. Or I had no money, so I went home.
b. There are two ways to use commas in series:
i. Some people put commas after all but the last element: I drink coffee, tea, and milk frequently.
ii. Other people leave out the comma before the conjunction: I drink coffee, tea and milk.
c. A comma splice is when two independent clauses with a comma.
i. Ex: John like apples, Mary like grapes.
ii. Use a semicolon instead: John likes apples; Mary likes grapes.
4. Compound Things
a. When subjects, verbs, or even sentences are joined together by a coordinating conjunction, we say we have a
compound subject, compound verb, compound sentence.
i. Ex: Compound Subject – John and Mary are eating pizza.
ii. Ex: Compound Verb – John loves and hates his girlfriend.
iii. Ex: Compound sentence – john went home, and Mary went to the store.
Document Summary
Ng (cid:539) nk nch (cid:543) nx : we call it nasalized because it is pronounced through the nose. The romans wrote and we write this sound as n : more on writing: theta, phi and chi. The greeks had two k sounds, two p sounds, and two t sounds. For greeks, they were as different as p and b or s and z : when the romans heard greeks say phi, theta, and chi, they heard an h sound so they wrote greek sounds. { } = english {phy} bring forth , bear , grow phylem greek (cid:540)(cid:544)(cid:542), tribe ({-(cid:544)(cid:542)} = {on} = thing) diphyodont {(cid:303)(cid:538)} = {di} = two; { (cid:303)(cid:544)(cid:542) } {odont}= tooth. {phyto-} / {-phyte} = plant: neophyte {neo} = new used to describe people who are totally new at something phytoplankton {plankt}= wander + {on} epiphyte {(cid:304) (cid:538)-} = {epi} = on, against.
