Classical Greek: A New Grammar
Greek grammar taught and explained, with examples
A new grammar for both absolute beginners and students who already have a sound knowledge of the language but need to revise and enhance it.
Title: Classical Greek: A New Grammar
Subtitle: Greek grammar taught and explained, with examples
ISBN: 978-0-9571387-0-4
Number of pages: 355 (plus 5 blank pages for notes at the end)
Printed by: CreateSpace (South Carolina, USA)
Printed in: South Carolina (USA), United Kingdom and continental Europe
The publication of this book may raise this question: Is it a grammar or a textbook?
The answer is very simple: it is a grammar, as the title says. It is not supposed to be a textbook like for instance Athenaze, Reading Greek, From Alpha to Omega, etc.
The question has arisen from the fact that it is written in a peculiar way, as if talking to the student, and the explanation is really simple: some years ago, during my period teaching Greek and Latin at the University of Oxford (2003-2007), I conceived the idea of writing two new language courses, one for Greek and one for Latin, but further ahead I decided to write a grammar for each language rather than a textbook. Nevertheless, as I still had that "language course" idea, I have ended up writing a grammar that may have some kind of "teaching flavour" in the way it is explained. I would define it as a grammar explained as if it were a course textbook.
Although in the corresponding sub-pages of this site you can find more concrete information on the characteristics of the book, I would like to offer here a summary of them (this is the same information that can be seen on the back cover of the book):
• ALL NECESSARY GRAMMAR: With complete explanations, removing the need for the student to consult a larger or more advanced grammar after the
initial stages.
• CLEAR EXPLANATIONS: Grammar explained as if hearing the teacher’s voice from the whiteboard, with additional class-style comments included where
necessary.
• CLEAR STRUCTURE: Division into different blocks for the nominal system, the verbal system, syntax of cases and syntax of clauses, and internal
subdivisions in each of these blocks for a completely clear presentation.
• BASIC VOCABULARY: List of the most useful terms that follow a given scheme after it has been presented: nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.
• USE OF ORIGINAL AUTHORS: Combination of made-up examples, which allows the adaptation of any sentence to an easy level when necessary, and
sentences taken from classical authors for more advanced students.
• APPENDICES: Covering the basic rules for accentuation, the characteristics of Homeric dialect and the dual, all of them with examples.
• EXERCISES IN AN ADDITIONAL BOOK: Allowing the grammar itself to be kept to a more reasonable size and price, ideal for those who want only the
grammar for consultation.
• WHOLE GRAMMATICAL INDEX: All the grammatical terms relating to accidence and syntax (functions, types of verbs, kinds of subordinates, different
uses of participles, etc.), alphabetically presented at the end of the book.
• INDEX OF GREEK GRAMMATICAL WORDS: Lists all Greek words used in presenting and explaining grammatical functions and usage.
