Before we begin I have a small update for you, we did not win last week's  Independent podcast awards but we're very happy we were nominated and, we got to spent the evening with so many interesting people, who are all passionate about the podcasts they create. So, go to the Independent Podcast Awards website, look up all the winners and the nominees. I'm sure you'll find more than one podcast to subscribe to. 
But for today, 
Happy Halloween
Let the spooky words in

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

In modern Greek κοιμάμαι (kimame) means 'I sleep', in ancient Greek κείμαι (kime) meant  'I lie down' and a κοιμητήριο (kimitirio) was 'a bedroom'. After Christianity came along and suggested that death is nothing but a long sleep until the second coming, this place, would for some writers be an exceptional starting point for their ideas to come to life. Among other things. The word travelled to England through the usual route, Latin and French and Christianity secured the meaning. Although, Morpheus, the God of Sleep and his brother Death, never loosened their grip. ΚΟΙΜΗΤΗΡΙΟ/CEMETERY

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(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Διδάσκειν (didaskin) is ancient Greek infinitive, the noun is Διδαχή (didahi) and the verb that is also used in modern Greek is Διδάσκω  (didasko). The word came to English from the French in the 1600s in a translation by Samuel Hartlib, who was a fascinating man and was described as 'The European intelligencer' , what a way to describe someone who's life goal is to further knowledge! Although today the word has a negative connotation that comes from the 19th century, it didn't start that way, it meant exactly was the Greek word still means today. Someone capable of teaching. ΔΙΔΑΚΤΙΚΟΣ/DIDACTIC

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(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

One of the benefits of being bilingual is that it gives you a bigger language field to get lost in and explore. However, sometimes you forget the obvious or take some words for granted; Like the one today which, I was convinced I've already talked about but haven't. Φίλος (philos) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'friend'. Σοφία (sofia/sophia) means 'wisdom'. The combined word was used to describe a practice in ancient Greece. The search for knowledge. Later on, it took the meaning of 'rational thought' and in English we first find it in Middle English as a direct loan from the French and meaning 'the exploration of all sciences including Alchemy'. As thinkers and scientists got more specific in their practices, so did the word. It got attached to the thinkers and, stayed. ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΙΑ/PHILOSOPHY

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Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that you can always email me with comments, questions or anything you want to say about what you hear in this podcast at [email protected] . You can also follow me on Instagram and X @yourgreeksunday and leave a review or a comment on the platform of your choice.

(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Welcome to season 8! Wow! Although technically this is 7 and a bit, as I started season 1 on a January but who's counting, right? Well, this summer I realised how long I've been doing this because I got a few people asking me for advice on how to start a podcast and, I could answer; which also gave me the idea of our first word. Here we go! When Odysseus left Ithaca for Troy, he assigned his best friend to stand in for him for his son Telemachus; he would advise and protect the boy and occasionally be replaced by the Goddess Athena for some extra wisdom (because Gods did that!). His name became a character quality in 1699 (and much much much later, a job) after the publication of the French novel 'The adventures of Telemachus' by Francois Fenelon; which seems to have been very popular both in France and England and the book itself has a very interesting journey, have a look when you get a chance. So, for this magnificent human skill that comes with years of hard work, experience or divine intervention, we have one character in Homer's Odyssey to thank for and his name is ΜΕΝΤΟΡ/MENTOR

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Hello and Happy Autumn, everyone or Happy Fall if you're on the other side of the pond. Our new season will start in October but until then, I have some wonderful news! Our podcast has been nominated for an Independent Podcasts Award! The awards ceremony will be held at The King's Place in London and I'll put a link in the description (see below) , in case you want to book a ticket for the night and join the fun. 
Now, you cannot vote for us since this year's judges are the ones deciding the winners BUT what you can do is, go to the platform of your choice and leave us a review. That, will help more people discover us and experience what you already enjoy, not to mention I love reading your reviews! Thank you for listening and getting us so far. Oh, and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @yourgreeksunday for short videos and updates. 
See you soon! 

Link to the awards
https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/independent-podcast-awards-2024/

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Have you noticed how this year, the first word of every month has been a myth or myth related? Whether you have or not, thank you for listening and staying with me for another season. As this is the last episode before our summer break, I would be amiss not to mention amazing musician Laertes Malkotsis who composed our theme tune and Laurence Parsons who designed our logo. During the break, there might be a bolus episode or two so, keep your ears sharp and don't forget: you can find me on Instagram & Twitter @yourgreeksunday and you can email me with comments, questions or anything you like to discuss that you've heard on this podcast at [email protected]
Here we go! 

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This word first appears in writing in Homer's Epic, The Iliad and it meant 'a saying' , 'an opinion', 'an utterance'. Shortly after, Hesiod came along and used the word to detail the origins of human kind, its gods and heroes. And finally, Aristotle applied it to the plot of theatre plays and storytelling. The word came to English via Latin and around the 1800s was linked to fables and stories with heroic acts and supernatural elements ΜΥΘΟΣ/MYTH

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(Intro & piano music)

Sometimes, Greeks seem to have many words for the same thing but to their defence, they had many years of thinking, inventing and applying words to very specific things. So although we've already found the word for 'pebble' in a previous episode, today, we're using another one Κρόκη (Kroke); And combined with the word for 'Lizard' Δίλος (Delos) It gives us the word, the ancient Greeks used for the animal found in the river Nile. As language evolved, the spelling in modern Greek has changed and in English, it's directly from the Latin one ΚΡΟΚΟΔΕΙΛΟΣ/CROCODILE

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(Intro & piano music)

Most English words have arrived here either via Latin or Germanic ones. And because it was easier geographically, the ones that originated in Greece are the Latin based ones. But there are some exceptions and today we have one of them. A small pebble in ancient Greece was called Κάλυξ (Calix) and in Latin it was called 'Calx' . However, the word did not go to the French and then English as usual but it rerouted to Germany where they used it for 'limestone'. So, when the word came here and was called 'caelc' in old English, it meant 'the soft, white limestone' found on the South of England and cut in small pieces it was used to mark debt or game scores. The modern spelling of the work is from the 14th century mimicking the Latin one. ΚΑΛΥΞ/CHALK

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(Intro & piano music) 

This word came to English in 1845 from the French that gave it the specific meaning we use today but: Ακρη (akri)  in both ancient and modern Greek, means 'the edge' of a place, regardless if it's a mountain or a sidewalk and Βαίνειν (venin) is the ancient Greek infinitive for 'walking/Going' so, the one who walks on the edge of any place not just a high one and not only a rope, is an ΑΚΡΟΒΑΤΗΣ/ACROBAT

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Before we begin, I have a little announcement ,the podcast has finally made it to Instagram. It has now its own separate account than my acting one and it has everything , including videos with additional information and fun facts. So, go ahead, give us a follow @yourgreeksunday and I'll see you there! 

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Today's word is also linked to Dionysus as it's supposed to be one of the states his followers found themselves in, but it has a history of its own. Εκ (ek) in ancient and modern Greek is a preposition and means 'from', Ιστημι (istimi) is an ancient greek verb and it means 'I stand/I am in place'. The combined word means 'being out of place' and for the ancient Greeks that also meant being out of touch with yourself and your sanity. In the 14th century , writers of mystical theories, used the word to describe a state where your body was still but your mind and soul contemplated divine issues and that's where it probably got the positive link to euphoria. The word came to English in the 14th century from France through religious texts. ΕΚΣΤΑΣΗ/ECSTASY

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