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My very best friend is Greek (Evanthia) and has a very Greek family. She speaks the language and frequently visits her family in Greece. I've had the luck of knowing her since we were about 2 and took Greek lessons with her for a while (though nearly 2 decades later I've forgotten it all!). The recent questions about Greek names has made me realize some of my own, especially after visiting a website that Kassios offered to somebody.
Being around a Greek family for such a long time, I've picked up a lot of things - the biggest being that their common naming practice (at least for this family) is to honor others by using the same name. I know a lot of people that do this but not in this way:
Evanthia was named after her grandmother Evanthia. When we were little girls everyone called her Evanthitsa though. They don't anymore because she now has a little cousin (another Evanthia) who goes by Evanthitsa.
Now, on the site Kassios provided it says this:
"Both male and female names are often familiarized by the addition of a hypocoristic termination such as -akis, -oula or -ita, for example Petrakis from Petros, Nitsa from Eleni."
My questions are 1) what exactly does that paragraph up there mean (lol) and 2) is 'ita' the same as 'itsa'? and 3) what is the male equivalent, if there is one?
Thanks loads, in advance!
edit: fixed a glaring spelling error. :) lol
edit #2: went to that site Kassios referred to and, unfortunately, I'm not a student at Oxford so it won't let me search for names! Is there another reliable website with modern AND ancient Greek names that I can use?
"Chan eil tuil air nach tig traoghadh"
"Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know"
- 'Home', Michael Buble
Being around a Greek family for such a long time, I've picked up a lot of things - the biggest being that their common naming practice (at least for this family) is to honor others by using the same name. I know a lot of people that do this but not in this way:
Evanthia was named after her grandmother Evanthia. When we were little girls everyone called her Evanthitsa though. They don't anymore because she now has a little cousin (another Evanthia) who goes by Evanthitsa.
Now, on the site Kassios provided it says this:
"Both male and female names are often familiarized by the addition of a hypocoristic termination such as -akis, -oula or -ita, for example Petrakis from Petros, Nitsa from Eleni."
My questions are 1) what exactly does that paragraph up there mean (lol) and 2) is 'ita' the same as 'itsa'? and 3) what is the male equivalent, if there is one?
Thanks loads, in advance!
edit: fixed a glaring spelling error. :) lol
edit #2: went to that site Kassios referred to and, unfortunately, I'm not a student at Oxford so it won't let me search for names! Is there another reliable website with modern AND ancient Greek names that I can use?
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know"
- 'Home', Michael Buble
This message was edited 2/11/2006, 3:22 PM
1
Replies
1) "what exactly does that paragraph up there mean (lol)"
From "Collins" dictionary:
"hypocorism"; NOUN a pet name, esp one using a diminutive affix: "Sally" is a hypocorism for "Sarah". History: from Greek "hypokorisma", from "hypokorizesthai", to use pet names, from "hypo" beneath + "korizesthai", from "kore" girl, "kouros" boy.
"hypocoristic" ADJECTIVE
"hypocoristically" ADVERB
In the Greek tradition it is a common thing to give hypocoristic names to babies, children and even to grown ups as a way of showing familiarity and/or affection.
2) "is 'ita' the same as 'itsa'?"
No it is similar though different.
3) "what is the male equivalent, if there is one?"
It will be:
-akis, (Petros-Petrakis) or
-oulis (Tasos-Tasoulis).
“ If you live by nature, you will never be poor; if you live by what men think, you will never be rich. Nature demands little, opinion a great deal.”
(EPICUROS 341-270 BCE)
From "Collins" dictionary:
"hypocorism"; NOUN a pet name, esp one using a diminutive affix: "Sally" is a hypocorism for "Sarah". History: from Greek "hypokorisma", from "hypokorizesthai", to use pet names, from "hypo" beneath + "korizesthai", from "kore" girl, "kouros" boy.
"hypocoristic" ADJECTIVE
"hypocoristically" ADVERB
In the Greek tradition it is a common thing to give hypocoristic names to babies, children and even to grown ups as a way of showing familiarity and/or affection.
2) "is 'ita' the same as 'itsa'?"
No it is similar though different.
3) "what is the male equivalent, if there is one?"
It will be:
-akis, (Petros-Petrakis) or
-oulis (Tasos-Tasoulis).
“ If you live by nature, you will never be poor; if you live by what men think, you will never be rich. Nature demands little, opinion a great deal.”
(EPICUROS 341-270 BCE)
1
Thank you, for both responses of info!
"Chan eil tuil air nach tig traoghadh"
"Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know"
- 'Home', Michael Buble
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know"
- 'Home', Michael Buble
1
"edit #2: went to that site Kassios referred to and, unfortunately, I'm not a student at Oxford so it won't let me search for names! Is there another reliable website with modern AND ancient Greek names that I can use?"
Click here for ancient Greek names: http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/publications/index.html and then click on LGPN I, LGPN II, etc. and then to the "forward" or "reverse" index PDF's and you shall have thousands of Greek names.
Unfortunately you do need to be a student or buy the books to have more detailed information on the names...
1
1. The paragraph means that you can make diminutives by adding -oula or -itsa to female names, and -aki to male names.
2. No idea.
3. The male equivalent is -aki or -ako (it says it right there in the text!)
If you want a more colloquial explanation of Greek diminutives, check out this thread:
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=15029&board=gen
~ Ivayla,
skillfully disguised as a responsible adult
2. No idea.
3. The male equivalent is -aki or -ako (it says it right there in the text!)
If you want a more colloquial explanation of Greek diminutives, check out this thread:
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=15029&board=gen
~ Ivayla,
skillfully disguised as a responsible adult
This message was edited 2/11/2006, 3:46 PM
1
Thanks loads! As for #3 - I'm running on the fumes of 3 hours of sleep and didn't entirely understand the text :) That's why I needed it explained. Again, thank you.
"Chan eil tuil air nach tig traoghadh"
"Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know"
- 'Home', Michael Buble
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know"
- 'Home', Michael Buble
This message was edited 2/11/2006, 4:27 PM
1