Re: Request for help

----- Original Message -----
From: Jeffrey S. Jones
To: cybalist@eGroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2000 9:52 AM
Subject: [cybalist] Re: Request for help

joatsimeo-@... wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/cybalist/?start=1205
> I need a Classical Greek (or better yet Homeric, if anyone can
do it)
> translation of the phrase: "God gave teeth; God will give
bread."
>
> Can anyone help me with that? E-mail would be fine.
>
> Yours,
> S.M. Stirling

I don't really know Greek, but looking through "Homeric Greek -- a
Book
For Beginners" I came up with the following:
ODONTAS EDO_KE THEOS; THEOS DO_SEI (bread-acc.)
1. TH is theta, O_ is omega
2. I couldn't find a word for bread.

Jeff

The word for bread is ARTOS, but my impression is that a "partitive"
genitive (ARTOU "of bread") is more suitable here than an accusative
(ARTON). DO_SEI ARTON would imply giving "a (whole) loaf of bread"
rather than "some/enough bread". Cf. the partitive use of de (du
pain,
etc.) in French.

Piotr

You may be right, but I got the impression that the partitive could be
used only after nouns/adjectives and certain verbs. The only example I
could find using DIDO_MI used the accusative:
APOLLO_N EDO_KEN ALGEA TOISIN AKHAIOISIN ...
Anyways, the corrected version would be
ODONTAS EDO_KE THEOS; THEOS DO_SEI ARTON (acc. or ARTOU gen.)
1. TH is theta, O_ is omega
More improvements, please!

Jeff

PS I just saw your version and wanted to copy it in here for
comparison, but I have been having technical problems.