Your Greek Word On A Sunday

A big welcome to the small town of Voorburg in the Netherlands! It was fascinating to read about the history of this  town. It’s one of the oldest inhabited places  in the Netherlands, dating back to the 1st century and its name means ‘in front of the castle’. Thank you for listening Voorburg. I hope I'm saying your name right.
(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! 
According to the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, when Xerxes sent his spies to observe how the Spartans were training before battle, they reported back saying they were training for Κάλλος (Kallos) and Σθένος (sthenos). For beauty and strength. Eons went by and  in 18th century France a new term appeared for the exercise young girls were required to take, in order to be graceful and healthy. In 1842, in England, the term appears for the first time in writing, it was already in use in everyday language, in The New Monthly Magazine in an article by Thomas Hood. A term that combined the two Greek words and is now more than a physical exercise for little girls. ΚΑΛΛΙΣΘΕΝΙΚΗ/CALLISTHENICS

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Welcoming one of my favourite cities this week. Vienna! Did you know that there are more dead people occupying the Vienna cemetery than alive people in the city? Ha!  Welcome Vienna , thank you for listening! 
(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! 
This word has an extensive Catholic history but that’s for another episode perhaps. Δοκέιν (dokeen) is an Ancient Greek infinitive meaning ‘to think, to have an opinion’ a term still used today in modern Greek . But it also meant ‘to believe in something as the absolute truth’ and that’s the meaning we’re exploring today. In English the noun arrived in the 1600s through Latin and was solely associated with religion.  In the 1800s it started getting popular and was used closer to the original meaning as  ‘a philosophical tenet’. but it was between 1920 and 1940 that it got the meaning we know today. And the reasons were obvious. European thinkers,  linking unshakable beliefs imposed on the population with authoritarian regimes  . Such a practice and  belief is called ΔΟΓΜΑ/DOGMA

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Hello! This week I’m happy to welcome Toronto in our audience! Did you know that in Mohawk language 'Toronto' means ‘the place where trees stand in water’? You do now! Thank you for listening Toronto!
(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! 
Στένω (steno) is an Ancient Greek verb meaning 'to groan' or 'to mourn loudly'. In Homer’s Iliad, the goddess Hera possesses the body of a herald to empower the soldiers when they were losing a battle. The herald she chose, had a fantastically loud and clear voice. They said, he sounded not like one but fifty men and later, when he was challenged by Hermes to a shouting battle and won , Hermes killed him. His name became an adjective and came to English through a translation from Latin in the 1600s. And the name was ΣΤΕΝΤΩΡ/STENTORIAN
I’d like to dedicate this episode to every loud voice against oppression, violence and war in our world today.  
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Today’s shout out goes to Rio De Janeiro! Welcome Rio! Thank you for listening! I would definitely like to visit  one day given how much I enjoy Brazilian food and music. Did you know that the stars on Brazil's flag represent the sky over Rio on November 15, 1889, when the Republic was proclaimed?. You do now! And that fact takes us straight to today’s episode.
(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! 
Κοσμείν (kosmin) is an Ancient Greek infinitive meaning ‘to adorn’ but also ‘to place things in order/ to arrange/ to tidy up’. Greeks still use all meanings although they barely use infinitives anymore in every day speech. The Ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras was in awe of how complex but structured nature is. He saw a connection between numbers and order.  Measurable structure. Looking up in the sky he saw an ‘adorned structure’ and was convinced it could be studied and measured too despite its vastness. He was the first to use that double meaning noun to describe the universe. In English the word came around 1200 but it didn’t become popular until 1848 when Alexander Von Humboldt’s book about the universe was translated from German. The book was entitled ΚΟΣΜΟΣ/COSMOS

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I’d like to thank the global audience this podcast has developed throughout the years . You have been incredibly loyal and supportive .127 countries have been constantly listening and as impossible as it would be to mention every single city, town, and village, I will be giving a shout out to a new place every week. You can also email me at [email protected] to let me know where you’re listening from. I always love hearing from you! Today a shout out to a new addition to our audience; Akron in Ohio, which was named by general Simon Perkins in 1825  after the Greek word for  ‘edge’ because of its strategic elevated position. Thank you for listening Akron and welcome to the family!
(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! 
This Ancient Greek goddess has two names (in this version of her myth anyway) . She was a Titan, the Sun was her brother or her husband depending which Ancient Greek historian you ask and her first name is Σελήνη (Selene) which means ‘the one that shines bright light’ . Her second name, Μήνη (minie) was given to her because people counted time according to her movement. Circling the sky every day on her chariot, led by her half black and half white, winged horses. So you could only see her at night and from different angles. But there was one time when you could see her whole before she started her circles again. For 28 to 30 days. Ancient Greeks named that period Mήνα (mena). Now, this word has an even more ancient root ‘min’, which means that languages like Sanskrit , Persian, Armenian and Greek all share a variation of it. And it meant ‘to count’  In English, the word came from proto Germanic ‘menon’ and Latin ‘mensis’ who borrowed the sound from Ancient Greek. ΜΗΝΗ/MOON and MONTH

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