Review

Reviewed Work(s): 201 Modern Greek Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All Tenses by Vassilios
Christides
Review by: John E. Rexine
Source: The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 65, No. 2 (Summer, 1981), p. 228
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers
Associations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/325629
Accessed: 15-12-2017 11:51 UTC

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228 Reviews:
Reviews:MLJ,
MLJ,6565
(Summer
(Summer
1981)
1981)

Moreover, certain musical devices (keys, Modern

ModernGreek
Greekatat
Columbia
Columbia
University
University
and is
and is
registers, etc.), which are not always present currently Associate Professor of Byzantine
in spoken language, add to the overall semi- History at the University of Thessaloniki in
otic structure of operatic language. Greece. His native language is Greek and he
The message of this extremely perceptive has had the benefit of consultation with Dr.
study is simple and clear: Opera contains Demetrios J. Georgacas, the leading modern
"many elements of human communication" Greek lexicographer of our day, together with
(p. 13). In addition, it "reminds us that the supervisory assistance of his wife Evridiki.
human existence is episodic in nature. It con- The Greek type used, though not the most
firms our feelings that the speech acts in which elegant available, is neat and clear. The verbs
we engage are not disjointed, but parts of an themselves are very useful ones. As far as I
ongoing life plot" (p. 13). The Semiotics of could determine, there are, remarkably, no
Musical Theatre should be read by every typographical errors. The arrangement is
linguist for one obvious reason: it remindsclear and consistent throughout.
many of us who often become entangled in Any student who masters these verbs in
intricate and esoteric problems of theoreticaltheir entirety will have a solid command of the
methodology that language has a reality and modern Greek verb in all its demotic beauty
purpose beyond the labyrinth of analyticaland symmetry and the makings of a funda-
mental vocabulary. In only two cases would I
technology. Di Pietro succeeds once again in
reminding us that language is a unique point out improvements in translation: 1)
human product that relates "individual eventsTsimbj, which is translated as "pince," would
to what follows and precedes them in an over-be more meaningful to an American student
all life plot" (p. 13). as "pinch"; 2) no American student is going to
know what "to grow tufty" means, in the case
MARCEL DANESI of foundono: "to grow larger" is better but its
University of Toronto common meaning "to catch fire" might also
have been noted. These are, however, quite
minor observations.
CHRISTIDES, VASSILIOS. 201 Modern Greek 201 Modern Greek Verbs makes an excellent
Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All Tenses. Wood- companion to Constantine N. Tsirpanlis's al-
bury, NY: Barron, 1980. Pp. 243. $8.95, ready published and highly successful Modern
paper. Greek Idiom and Phrase Book. The publishers of
these two books have contributed immensely
to the availability of authoritative basic mate-
Very few
few students
students or
or teachers
teachersof
ofmodern
modern rials for the teaching of modern Greek in the
Greek will
will ever
ever know
know the
the time,
time,energy,
energy,and
andUnited States.
money
money that
that went
went into
into the
thepreparation
preparationof
of201
201
Modern Greek Verbs which now joins com- JOHN E. REXINE

parable volumes for French, German, He- Colgate University

brew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese,
Russian, and Spanish in the Barron's Educa-
tional Series as a valuable basic tool for the
beginning learner. The format follows the suc- SUETONIUS. The Twelve Caesars. Illustrated
cessful pattern of its companions and includes Edition. Trans. Robert Graves. Rev. Michael
a brief introduction to the modern Greek verb Grant. Harmondsworth (Middlesex): Pen-
system, modern Greek verb tenses and theirguin; New York: Penguin, 1980. Pp. 288.
English equivalents, a sample English verb $14.95, paper.
conjugation, 201 modern Greek verbs fully
conjugated in all tenses alphabetically ar-
ranged, and an English-Greek verb index. In 1957 Penguin published Robert Graves'
The author of this volume, who holds a translation of Suetonius' Twelve Caesars. Most
Ph.D. from Princeton University, was for- of his reviewers, while echoing Graves' own
merly Assistant Professor of Byzantine andcaveat that the version was not a "school crib"

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