- Forum >
- Topic: Greek >
- "Αυτός φτιάχνει μία σούπα."
33 Comments
Yeah, in Latvian "nē" is the only "no" we have, it sounds exactly the same as in Greek - so it was a bit weird in the beginning. But for some reason it turned out to be less of a problem, than the infamous "μία" which I too know from Italian and Spanish...
May be that`s because "nē" and "ναι" are at least written differently, but "mia" looks pretty much the same, when one is used to the Greek script.
The verb φτιάχνω is interesting, because ancient Gk never put together φτ that I am aware of. I think in ancient Gk the verb here might be ποιέω. I looked in Mandeson (1961) Greek dictionary and he has an entry for ποιῶ/ποιέω (970) but it seems to be relegated to making in the sense of creating. Does modern Gk use ποιῶ/ποιέω and could you use it in this context or is φτιάχνω much more common?
Φτιάχνω comes from ευθειάζω=to straighten out/up, which became φθειάνω->φτειάνω->φτιάχνω (φτιάνω is also used but is a bit more slangy). Ποιώ is there, but it is not used in everyday life (but I can see it used in poetry, for example). Φτιάχνω is the common and everyday word. If you were to use ποιώ in everyday life (as a verb, because there are many compound words that use it or its derivatives) you would be understood but you would sound... well, byzantine and you would get strange looks. :P
516
I think I listened to the sound of this verb 100 times but I can't still get it... :(
128
First time in all my years as a language nerd seeing a word beginning with an "ft" sound. And I thought "pf" in German was strange. Fascinating!
The difference is mainly in usage just as in English we have "do" and "make". We say "do" my work "make" a cake, but "do research" "make an effort" why one and not the other...it's a matter of what has become common usage.
Well, φτιάχνω" και κάνω*...are similar in meaning but used in different ways. So, it's all a matter of what's common usage.
This have been asked and answered before try here: