7 Counting
Another type of Greek word that occurs frequently in English are numbers. You may recognise them from English words like ‘pentagon’ (‘five corners’), ‘heptathlon’ (‘seven contests’) or ‘octopus’ (‘eight feet’).
Read through the numbers from 1 to 10. Some numbers, like the definite article, have more than one form.
- Some Greek numbers:
- one εἷς, μία, ἕν
- two δύο
- three τρεῖς, τρία
- four τέσσαρες, τέσσερα
- five πέντε
- six ἕξ
- seven ἑπτά
- eight ὀκτώ
- nine ἐννέα
- ten δέκα
- one hundred ἑκατόν
- one thousand χίλιοι
- ten thousand μυρίοι
In English, words related to ‘one’ are usually derived from μόνος (‘only’) and πρῶτος (‘first’) rather than from εἷς. For example:
- monarchy – rule by a single individual
- monogamy – marriage to one person
- proton – literally, ‘first thing’; a primary substance
- prototype – a first sketch or model
Activity 10 Test your learning – numbers
Part 1
Use the list of numbers to answer the following questions:
a.
4
b.
5
c.
6
The correct answer is b.
a.
7
b.
8
c.
9
The correct answer is a.
a.
3
b.
4
c.
5
The correct answer is b.
a.
3
b.
6
c.
9
The correct answer is b.
a.
6
b.
8
c.
9
The correct answer is c.
Part 2
If καί means ‘and’, what are the following numbers?
a.
13
b.
15
c.
17
The correct answer is b.
a.
17
b.
18
c.
19
The correct answer is b.
a.
14
b.
17
c.
18
The correct answer is b.
Part 3
Some final number-based questions:
What is triskaidekaphobia?
From which Greek number does the English word ‘myriad’ (‘innumerable’) derive?
Using the English word ‘hemisphere’, can you work out what ἥμισυς means? (σφαῖρα is a ‘ball’ or ‘globe’)
Answer
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.
Myriad derives from μυρίοι, meaning 10,000 or, simply, ‘countless’.
ἥμισυς means half (a Greek hero or demi-god is a ἡμίθεος).