Learn the meaning of Greeklish
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What is Greeklish? |
| Chrissi: And is it commonly used? |
| Michael: At GreekPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee receives a message from his Greek friend, Lia Andreadaki, saying, "Geia sou!" |
| He doesn't recognize the greeting, so he asks, |
| "Is this English?" |
| Μπεν Λι: Αυτά είναι αγγλικά; (Aftá íne angliká?) |
| Dialogue |
| Μπεν Λι: Αυτά είναι αγγλικά; (Aftá íne angliká?) |
| Λία Ανδρεαδάκη: Είναι Greeklish! (Íne 'Greeklisch'!) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Μπεν Λι: Αυτά είναι αγγλικά; (Aftá íne angliká?) |
| Michael: "Is this English?" |
| Λία Ανδρεαδάκη: Είναι Greeklish! (Íne 'Greeklisch'!) |
| Michael: "It's Greeklish!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Greeklish is a portmanteau deriving from the words Greek and English. The term refers to the tendency of typing Greek with Latin characters. |
| Chrissi: The first use of Greeklish is believed to have been by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (Ε.Μ.Υ.), during times when Greek characters were not always fully supported in electronic systems and in the digital world in general. |
| Michael: Regardless of its origin, Greeklish flourished among younger generations, along with the development of technology. One of the first uses of Greeklish was in SMS messages, mainly due to character restrictions, as typing in Greek would require more characters for certain vowel and consonant sounds. |
| Chrissi: A good example of this is the /e/ sound written with αι (álfa yóta), which could instead be typed as just an English "e," or the /d/ sound witten with ντ (ni taf), which could alternatively be typed as an English "d." |
| Michael: The use of Greeklish later expanded to all digital communication where passing on a message quickly was more important than using proper spelling or taking the time to accentuate words. |
| Chrissi: Be careful, though! Writing in Greeklish is seen as a very informal method of communication, which has already started to fade out significantly. |
| Michael: This decline in popularity was largely the result of various Greek forums that prohibited typing in Greeklish in an attempt to preserve the Greek language and to provide quality content to their viewers. |
| Chrissi: Many people in their personal lives supported this idea and raised awareness on how detrimental Greeklish could be for the spelling skills of young students and all people in general. |
| Michael: With the fading usage of SMS messaging and the evolution of technology and other communication methods, there is no longer the need to type fewer characters, and with the now wide support of Greek characters across all platforms, there are fewer and fewer reasons to be choosing Latin characters over Greek ones. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sample conversation: Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud, and then listen carefully as Chrissi models the correct answer. Repeat after her, with the focus on your pronunciation. Are you ready? |
| How do you say, "Is this English?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Chrissi: Αυτά είναι αγγλικά; (Aftá íne angliká?) |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again and repeat. Remember to focus on your pronunciation. |
| Chrissi: Αυτά είναι αγγλικά; (Aftá íne angliká?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Chrissi: Αυτά είναι αγγλικά; (Aftá íne angliká?) |
| Michael: Let's move on to the second sentence. How do you say, "It's Greeklish!" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Chrissi: Είναι Greeklish! (Íne 'Greeklisch'!) |
| Michael: Did you get it right this time? Listen again and repeat. |
| Chrissi: Είναι Greeklish! (Íne 'Greeklisch'!) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Chrissi: Είναι Greeklish! (Íne 'Greeklisch'!) |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: It can be said that there are two distinctive styles of Greeklish: One is phonetic, typing the words with Latin characters according to the way that they sound. |
| Chrissi: For example, μπαμπάς (babas), "father," in Greek can be spelled as b-a-b-a-s. |
| Michael: The other style is based on the original spelling: Taking into account the Greek spelling when typing the words with Latin characters and transliterating them letter-by-letter. |
| Chrissi: For instance, μπαμπάς (babas), in this style, would be spelled m-p-a-m-p-a-s. |
| Michael: However, most people that use Greeklish have a mixed style, with some words being typed according to their spelling and other words being typed according to their sound. |
| Chrissi: Occasionally, even numbers are used. For example, θάλασσα (thálasa), meaning "sea," is typed by some people as 8alassa with an 8 representing the initial /th/ sound, since the two forms, 8 and θ (th), are similar in appearance. |
| Michael: It's ultimately just a matter of personal preference. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Chrissi: Γεια χαρά! (Ya hará!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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