Surely you know that Spanish has its origin in Latin, the language of the ancients
Romans But, did you know that there is a language that influenced a lot, VERY MUCH in Latin
and that has left us such interesting words as a planet, amazon or cosmonaut? Yes I'm
speaking of Greek, a super interesting language that if you think about it, it sure has
influence on many words that you use in your own language. In this video we are going to have
very special collaborations, of people who speak Greek and an expert linguist with whom
I've learned a lot, so keep watching this video until the end because his
explanation is great. All this, and a little more, is coming up.
Hello! I'm Sergi Martín, your Spanish teacher on YouTube. I was on vacation recently
in Cyprus. What? You don't know where Is Cyprus? Well, do not worry because
you're not the only one, but I'll tell you it's a very interesting country, located in the Mediterranean Sea,
between Turkey and Egypt and not far from Syria and Lebanon, an area that has been in the
History a crossroads of many cultures. Greek culture has always had a lot
influence on this island and among other things he left their language. So in my vacations
it occurred to me that I could ask the Cypriots by the meaning of some words
that we use in Spanish, how they say in Greek and what they mean. It was not easy to find
people who would like to participate, because in general people do not like to appear in
a YouTube video, but in the end I got convince some people for this video.
First of all, I want to tell you that with all the people that you are going to see I communicated in English,
a very spoken language in Cyprus. But some speak it better and others worse, since not all
of them are native in this language. I beg you to keep it in mind not to write comments
offensive if you see that someone does not have a very fluent pronunciation, since learning
a language is a very big effort and appear in a video so that you learn something is
something that we have to thank.
I propose a task: I am going to say what means and how we use each word. After
you can pause the video, think how it's said that word in your language and then you can go back
to play the video to see if in your language it also means the same as the original
Greek. Keep in mind that in Greek we are talking about the original meaning, the origin
of the word. Prepared? Let's go there.
The first word of Greek origin that we're going to see is ANODINO. We use this word in
Spanish to say that something is insignificant, that does not cause us any sensation. But
look what they told me in Cyprus.
ANODYNOS means that pain hurts less.
Originally it means that the pain you feel hurts less. That is, it seems that between the
Greek meaning and Spanish there is quite difference, right? Well, the dictionary of
the Spanish Royal Academy of Language also says that one meaning of that word is
that a medication or substance calms the pain, although it is used very little and also in medicine.
Another word, ANTIPATÍA. It's when we feel an aversion towards someone or something.
ANTIPATÍA, I do not like something about a person.
Yes, this word in Greek means the same. And in your language?
Now we are going with ASMA, a disease of the bronchi that makes breathing difficult.
ASTHMA means difficulty in breathing, but we use it for the disease.
It seems that in Greek they use it just as in Spanish, but the original meaning is
panting, breathing, that is, difficulty in breathing.
The next one is CACOFONÍA, which is when a word or a group of words do not sound
Well, for example: The Count ate coconut with me.
The word CACOFONÍA comes from two words, the first word is kako, which means
bad and the second word is phoni, which means voice.
Then from the original "bad voice", it has evolved to words that sound bad when we pronounce them.
Interesting.
Other: CLON. We all know Dolly the sheep, the famous cloned mammal. Well that is a
example of clone, an organism identical to another created artificially.
KLONOS is a word in Greek that has double meaning. One meaning is the branch
of one tree and the other is a human or an animal or a plant that can be repeated.
This word is curious, because the origin CLON is a branch of a tree or a shoot,
which is an outbreak of a plant. And well, of somehow an outbreak of a plant is a
clone of the whole plant, right?
DINAMITA is that explosive material that sure that you know and that interestingly invented
Alfred Nobel, the same one who created the famous Nobel Prizes.
DYNAMITE comes from dynamis that is strength or power.
The etymological journey of this word is curious. From the Greek dynamis passed to the Swedish dynamit,
since Alfred Nobel, his inventor, was Swedish and he gave it that name. From there it has been done
international, arriving in Spanish as DINAMITA.
The next word is DILEMA, which is a situation in which it is necessary to choose between
two options, and these options are equally as good or bad.
DILEMA comes from di which is double, two, lemma is proposition, proposal, so
it's two different opinions in a sense contradictory.
According to the dictionary of the RAE, di- means two and lemma means premise, which is the basis
that we have at the beginning to talk or discuss about something.
A DROMEDARIO is that animal from North Africa or of Arabia that looks like the camel. With
these two animals we always have the same doubt: which of the two has a hump
and which one has two? What do you think? The camel has one or two? And the dromedary?
Please share it in the comments and help me, because I never know.
DROMEAS means runner.
Yes, that's it, broker. I do not know if in the ancient Greece there were already camel races,
dromedaries or whatever these animals are.
Another word: MARTYR. It is used mainly related to religion, and is a person
who suffers or dies defending their beliefs.
MARTYRAS means witness and martyr. Which means someone who sacrifices himself for an
ideal or religion.
In Greek this word means WITNESS. From there it passed to the current meaning,
because a martyr gave testimony of the strength of faith.
NEURON. This word is used to define those nerve cells that we all have
and that normally are formed by ... Well, I'm not an expert on this, maybe
It is better that you look for it in a good encyclopedia.
NEURON means nerve or fiber.
NEURONA in Greek means nerve, but I searched it in an encyclopedia and I can confirm
a thing one hundred percent sure, that I am not any expert in medicine or less in neuroscience.
If you are interested in this topic, look for this name: Santiago Ramón y Cajal. He is a Spanish doctor
who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine together to the Italian Camillo Golgi for studies exactly
over neurons.
An OXIMORON is a combination of two words or expressions with an opposite meaning but
that used together create a new sense.
OXYMORON comes from ... is a term or phrase that comes from the Greek words OXYS that
means sharp or sharp and MOROS which means fool or crazy
In other words, an OXIMORON is something crazy, silly but at the same time sharp, acute or even acidic.
What a combination! Some examples of oxymoron can be blind sight, dead life, or
honest politician.
Another word, PELMA, which is a person who insists a lot but annoyingly.
PELMA in Greek means the sole of the foot.
The sole of the foot related to someone who insists so much that bothers? Well, I have
to say that the Spanish word PELMA is an abbreviation of PELMAZO. Originally
this word was used to define something too tight or crushed. Its origin is not sure,
but maybe it comes from the Greek pegmatos that it is a frozen or coagulated matter. But
I found it funny to see that the word pelma, also exists in Greek, although
coming from different origins have meanings totally different. That is, they are not
related although they are pronounced the same.
And now do not go, because the guest star is coming, but first I'll tell you how
I met him. To make this video, I started to look for information on the etymology,
the origin of the words. Well, if you're looking so technical and complicated things you can find
information as wide ... as boring. But I found something that I liked: a post
from a blog called Blog de Lengua that wrote about the Greek origin of many words we use
in Spanish. I thought about contacting its creator, Alberto Bustos to ask him to explain us
to you and me what he said on his blog, and he said yes. I discovered that besides being
a person who knows a lot of what he talks, he's nice and he has a YouTube channel
which is also called Blog de Lengua and that I recommend you visit, because you are going to learn
A lot about the Spanish language in a fun way. I leave a link to your channel below, in
the description. Alberto, are you there?
Yes yes I'm here. Hello, dear speakers, I'm Alberto Bustos.
Sergi has asked me to talk about the influence from the Greek in our language. It's a subject that
I'm passionate because the language of the ancients Greek is everywhere in Spanish.
There are many words that we use daily that they come from the language that Socrates spoke
and Alexander the Great. To understand this, we have to know that Greek was a very important language
in Antiquity. Latin is the language from which the Spanish has come, the Portuguese,
French, Italian ... was one of the great languages of the classical era, but
the most prestigious by far was the Greek. In times of the Roman Empire,
one couldn't be a cult person without knowing Greek. It's a bit like what happens to us today with
English. Without English we do not go to any side in the current world. Well, in the
Antiquity that role had the Greek. That is why it is sometimes said that Rome conquered
Greece, but in the end it was Greece that he conquered Rome, because he imposed his culture
and his ideas to the Romans.
That immense prestige that Greece had makes two thousand years is still noticeable in our
days. That's why many scientific terms they are still formed with Greek roots,
for example: "geography" is formed with two Greek words: "geo", which is 'earth'
and "graphía", which is "writing". Geography is writing about the Earth,
is the description of the Earth, of our planet. A cosmonaut is a navigator ("nautés")
of space ("kosmos"). And a lycan is a werewolf. "Lykos" in Greek was
'wolf' and 'anthropos' meant person.
You will notice that "lycanthrope" it sounds a lot more important than "man
Wolf". And that is another characteristic of the words of Greek origin. Like this
language had such prestige in antiquity, still in our days it gives an air of
distinction to everything it touches. Simply name one
thing in Greek to make it look like something from another dimension. I'll give you some examples.
Going to mass is not bad (especially if one is Catholic), but it is more impressive to say
that one attends the Eucharist (which is the same, but in the language of Plato). If I tell
you that I have asked for an appointment for the oculist, you will tell me that I do well; but if I go to a
ophthalmologist, you will think that I have looked for a eminence of medicine. And if I tell you that
I have piles, you will answer me that I am an ordinary, but if what I have left
are hemorrhoids, that's already very fine and very presentable. In all these cases we are
talking about the same thing, the only difference is in naming her with words to walk by
house or with the terms of Greek origin.
Brands are always looking for the way to sell and as they are very clever they have
realized that Greek always comes well to get us the dimes. Some
commercial names of Greek origin, come! There is a brand of sportswear that in English
it's called [náiki] and that many in Spanish they say [náik]. Well, very well, but this comes
from the Greek and, if we'd like to sound refined, we would have to
say all [níke]. "Nike" in greek it is 'victory'. Sure, for an athlete
beating can be very important, especially if he is a professional athlete, so the name is
very well placed. I had a car that was called "Clio (Renault Clio)". Clío is one of
the Greek muses, more specifically, the that takes care of everything that has to
see with History. Amazon has become in one of the most powerful companies in the world.
He started selling books and now he sells you the same a mobile phone as a roll of
toilet paper. Well, the Amazons were in the Greek mythology a town of warrior women.
They say that they cut their right breast to that did not disturb them when they shot with bow.
There are also many names of people that come from Greek. Some are of use
current and we can sound quite good. For example, "Andrés" comes from "anér,
andros ", who was 'man' in Greek. "Andrés" means "masculine, virile."
"Irene" meant 'peace'. And "Sofia" it was 'wisdom'. Other names, however,
they have been a little outdated and we are they sound even weird, for example: "Agapito",
that comes from "agape", which meant 'love'. Agapito is the beloved or the person
which is kind And let's not forget Eufrasia. "Euphrasia" in Greek was 'joy'.
And let's not say "Pancracio", "bread" is "everything" and
"Krátos" is 'force'. Pancracio means 'strong' or 'powerful'. Anyway, already
you see that these names are not very elegant, but that they contain a meaning of the most
beautiful, so if you call yourself Agapito, Eufrasia
Pancracio, at least you have that consolation.
Some common names of Greek origin also are interesting because they are from the few words
of our language that end in -a, but are male, for example, "the
problem, the planet, the enigma, the climate " or "the diploma". A grammatical weirdness
that the classic languages clarify to us.
Well, you see that the Greek goes a long way.
I'll give you a few more examples of words that have come to us from Greece
so you can see that they are everywhere our vocabulary We have body parts,
as "hip, skeleton" or "artery". Also animals: that's where the chameleon comes from,
the cuttlefish and the dromedary. They could not miss the plants, like the geranium, the banana
or the narcissus. There is a lot of religious vocabulary, of Christianity, as "monk, bishop"
and "Christ." And many other words, words of the most varied as "winery, apothecary,
chair, sandal "and" tisane ".
Well, Sergi, thank you very much for inviting me to be here today with you today. It has been a pleasure.
See you later, speakers!
If you want to learn these things and much more about Spanish, I recommend you visit
his YouTube channel: Blog de Lengua. And now it's your turn. Surely many Spanish words
of Greek origin are very similar in your language, because surely they also come from that language
so old. Come on! Share them below, in the comments. Of course, remember
subscribe, click on Like, share the video and click on the bell to
Be the first to receive a notification when I publish a new video
See you in next video. ¡Hasta luego!
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