2.7 Putting it all together

This final session has discussed six areas of language study:

• the alphabet
• sounds
• word shape
• syntax
• meaning
• context.

For convenience, they have been treated separately, but in reality they all work together to create a piece of meaningful Greek. Two letters could form a word ending; the ending could indicate the case of a noun; the case affects the way in which the word fits into a sentence; that in turn affects the meaning of the sentence as a whole. All these aspects of language need to be brought together when reading.

Session 6 contained walkthroughs of short texts, demonstrating one approach and suggesting some questions that might help a reader to work their way through a text. Ultimately, the aim is simply to read, but a slower, more deliberative approach may be helpful in the early stages of learning.