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- "Εγώ αγαπάω το κορίτσι μου."
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So does κορίτσι (besides girl) also mean daughter or girlfriend? If so, is it only distinguishable by context?
Well, literally "το κορίτσι" means "the girl" so contextually, as one may do in English by saying "my girl", the meaning may be "my girlfriend" or "my daughter".
However, there are also other Greek words to represent these meanings. Girlfriend -> η κοπέλα μου (my girl), η φιλενάδα μου (my girlfriend, although not too common in everyday speech), το ταίρι μου(my partner) Daughter ->η κόρη μου (my daughter), το παιδί μου(my child, contextually meaning the daughter)
Hope this helps.
I'm seeing on Wiktionary that there are two ways of saying "I love": αγαπώ and αγαπάω (as seen here.) I wonder what the difference is?
I think maybe one is more modern than the other?
There is no difference and both are used equally in modern Greek. There are some verbs in Greek called "συνηρημένα ρήματα" that have two ways of telling them. Verbs that end in -αω (such as αγαπάω) fall in this category. Εγώ αγαπάω/αγαπώ, εσυ αγαπάς, αυτός αγαπάει/αγαπά, εμείς αγαπάμε/αγαπούμε, εσείς αγαπάτε, αυτοί αγαπάν(ε)/αγαπούν(ε)
Are these two forms used interchangeably as well as equally? For example, could one say: Αγαπώ το κορίτσι μου? Thanks!
Does το κορίτσι μου always mean my girlfriend? Can it also mean "my daughter"?
I heard once upon a time that Greek (or at least older forms of the language) has a lot of words for love. True? Or once true but no longer true?
Yes αγάπη is the love for a friend, family member etc. Έρωτας is the erotic love and sexual passion you feel for somebody. Καψούρα is the burning desire for someone. Φιλία is the love for the friend (friendship actually) and στοργή the affectionate love you feel for someone, especially parents to their children. There is also φιλαυτία (if you want to add this to the list) that is the love for oneself, in a too much/ negative way.
Fascinating, I'd heard of four of those, but καψούρα is completely new to me. And I suppose φιλαυτία would be, most literally, self friendship? Or less literally, would probably be more along the lines of narcissism?
Yes φιλαυτία is synonym to narcissism. Καψούρα is a slang word so that's probably why you haven't heard of it.
And do the verbs εραν and φιλειν (sorry, Android won't allow me to use the proper diacritics) not have descendants in Modern Greek? Or do they still exist with a different spelling?
Φιλώ exists in modern greek but only with the meaning of "to kiss". Ερώ does not exist but there is ερωτεύομαι =fall in love.
