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As we're moving into this new year, there's one thing I hope to be able to keep doing both as a human and an actor.
Μετά (meta) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'after'. Μορφή (morfi) means 'shape' . The combined word was first introduced in English in 1447 by Osbern Bokeman, an English poet and friar who travelled to Italy a lot. The word in Latin sounds exactly the same as the Greek but the spelling is Latinised and it means 'the process of becoming something new', 'constantly changing', 'transforming', 'reshaping' .
ΜΕΤΑΜΟΡΦΩΣΗ/METAMORPHOSIS

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Happy New Year, Everyone!
The oldest and the most elegant of the muses-according to Hesiod and Ovid- was Calliope. Her name meaning 'beautiful voice'. She was the mother of Orpheus and she presides over song, dance and epic poetry. Επος (epos) in Ancient Greek meant a tale, a story and a poem about heroic acts was called Επικο (epiko) . The word came to English in two parts. In 1580 it started being used as a 'long poem' regardless of content and in 1731 was used as the Greeks intended, the praising of heroic acts like The Odyssey or The Iliad. 
May this year be full of new memories that will lead to amazing stories. ΕΠΙΚΟ/EPIC

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Hello everyone!
As the end of 2024 approaches, I'd like to take a minute to thank each and every one of you for the love and support you've shown for this podcast. I intend to keep your minute of knowledge ad free and try and find other ways to make this a profitable endeavour. In the meantime, there is a way you can help. Share this podcast. Far and wide. Post your favourite episode on social media, tell your friends, write a review, play an episode on speakers on the train. No, don't do that! Just share the joy of learning. You can also send me your comments, questions or thoughts about anything you've heard on this podcast to [email protected] or, follow me on Instagram and Blue Sky @yourgreeksunday and leave a comment there. 
Have a wonderful New Year's Eve and I'll be back on January 5th with a bright new word! 

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Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating and, have a restful week ahead to those of you who don't. This is a spice that has travelled far and wide . Once a present fit for Kings or an offering to the Gods; It's referenced in most ancient religions as 'Precious'. In Greece it arrived form the Phoenicians and as far as we know the very first reference in Ancient Greek was in a poem by Sappho in 7th century BC. In Ancient Rome it was one of the most expensive spices, just 327 grams of it, cost a ten month salary! There were many myths in the ancient world about its origin. From the bottom of the Nile to plants guarded by dragons it arrived in England after the East India company took control of its trade in 1767 and the name came through the Latin and French but based in the Ancient Greek one  ΚΙΝΝΑΜΩΜΟΝ/CINNAMON

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It's getting a little festive in some parts of the world so, I thought of giving you a word that describes one of my favourite festive traditions. Χάρτης (Chartis) in ancient Greek and Χαρτί (charti) in modern, means paper. The word came to English in the 15th century through Latin: Carta then French: Carte and in old English the name for a piece of paper you could play games with. The meaning of a stamped paper that you could write on and post to people, is from 1870 and a little earlier 1862 we find the same word to describe writing and sending wishes for special occasions on a ΧΑΡΤΙ/CARD. 

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Τηλέ (tele) is an Ancient Greek adverb meaning ‘far away’.  Φωνή (phone) in both ancient and modern Greek means voice . In 1835 a system of conveying words to a distant point by means of musical notes, was invented by the French composer Jean Francois Sudre. For obvious reasons it wasn’t very practical. The combination of Greek words that was used to describe it however, carried on into foghorns signalling from ship to ship. That didn’t stick either. Then on March 7th 1876 Alexander Graham Bell used the combination of the words for one last time when he submitted his invention of a ΤΗΛΕΦΩΝΟ /TELEPHONE

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I think this might be a tricky one if you're learning Greek at the moment so, I'd definitely recommend reading the transcript for the spelling because, if you rely on listening to this, you will get confused. If you're not learning Greek and just enjoying a minute of knowledge, you'll be fine without reading ;unless of course you want to! This is a combined word where the second component is an -ology. An easy way to remember what -ologies do is that they make the first word an expert. Ετυμος (etymos) is an ancient greek word that is not used anymore by itself. It meant 'The true one', 'The original'. The combined word means 'the expert study of the original'  and it came to English through Latin and French in the 14th century. It is used for language and tracing back words to their original meaning . Pretty much what this podcast does. ΕΤΥΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ/ETYMOLOGY

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Before we begin, I have an announcement; From December 1st our account on X will no longer exist. Instead we're moving into Blue Sky and I'll put the handle on the description so you can find us there. @yourgreeksunday.bsky.social . I think it's a much friendlier platform. If you don't have an account there, you can find us on Instagram @yourgreeksunday where I also post videos with additional information on specific episodes or, you can follow my acting page on Facebook : Emmanuela Lia, a place where I share all my work including this podcast. And finally, if you're not into social media, thank you for waiting to listen to today's word! Let's go!

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Πους (pous) in ancient Greek and Πόδι (podi) in modern, means 'foot/leg'. Τρία (tria) means 'three'. From Ancient China to Ancient Greece we see many three- legged portable stands, cauldrons and vases. The first time the combination of those two words was recorded, was in the ancient syllabic alphabet used by the Mycenaeans and predating Ancient Greek, Linear B. The syllables read TI-RI-PO and of course nobody knows how they were pronounced but they were describing three-legged objects. The word was used in Ancient Greek and Latin and it came to English in 1603 in a translation of Plutarch's 'The Morals' by Philemon Holland and, a Latin pronunciation. ΤΡΙΠΟΔΟ/TRIPOD

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Today we have not one but two terms that were made up from Greek words and were coined in England. This time in 1865 by banker, philanthropist, scientist and polymath John Lubbock. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline and promoted the need for public libraries, among other things. In his study of archaeology and the need to clearly distinguish Stone Age periods, he formed two new words. Παλαιό (paleo) in Greek means 'old' and Νεο (neo) means 'new' . Λίθος (lithos) means 'stone'. The combination seems fairly simple to us now but the concept is genius! The division of the Stone Age into ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΙΘΙΚΟΣ & ΝΕΟΛΙΘΙΚΟΣ/PALAEOLITHIC & NEOLITHIC

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Aristotle used this word in his definition of Greek Drama and in particular Tragedy
Έστιν ουν τραγωδία, μίμησις πράξεως σπουδαίας και τελείας...' This is tragedy, the imitation of a significant and absolute act. Richard Dawkins used it to coin a new term in 1976 and according to Wikipedia 'it is an idea, behaviour or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme' Well, in today's digital and visual language, it has taken the form of a short image-burst, that may or may not have words but it's an imitation of an idea, action or vibe. ΜΙΜΗΣΗ/MEME

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