Re: NATLANG: Greek: Translation R equest: τέ λο ς δεδωκ ώς, Χθύλου, σοί χά ριν φ έρω. --- Θεό δωρος Φι λ ήτας

Eric Christopherson wrote:
> On Oct 27, 2007, at 4:46 PM, Haggen Kennedy wrote:
>
>>     It's not "τελός", but "τεός". ;-)
Indeed, it's obviously not *τελός because there's no such word (at least
with that accentuation. There is a neuter noun τέλος which means
'consummation, fulfilment, aim, purpose' etc.).

But τεός is Doric for 'your(s)" - the classical Greek & Koine form was
σός. Why is an early Byzantine writer such as Theodoros Philetas (5th
cent. CE) using a dialect form which had been obsolete for several
centuries?


> That's what I thought from reading < http://www.translatum.gr/forum/
> index.php?topic=353.msg1236 >, but then I found this page < http://
> www.rpggr.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=48 >, which is actually  written
> in Greek, in which appears the phrase "Τέλος  δεδωκώς, Χθύλου, σοι
> χάρειν έχω". I wonder  what that one means? (I'm under the assumption
> that it isn't an  error, since these people seem to know Greek,
Do they? While I understand σοί χάριν φέρω (literally: I bear gratitude
to you),  σοι χάρειν έχω seems meaningless to me. Certainly  σοι is
incorrect as without an accent the word is an enclitic - you cannot have
an enclitic in that position. It should surely be σοὶ.

χάρειν is presumably an infinitive. At this period έχω (I have) was used
with an infinitive as a periphrasis for the future tense. But of what
verb is it an infinitive?

but you
> never know."
>
>>
>>     It means "Cthulhu, being one of your dedicated creatures, I offer
>> my gratitude for you".
>>
>> Peace,
>> Ken
δεδωκώς strictly means "having been given" not "having been dedicated" -
it is the nominative masculine singular of the perfect active participle
of the verb δίδωμι (I give).

The quote as given by Eldin does make sense in Greek. τέλος can be used,
as neuters often were, adverbially, meaning "in the end, at last". It
would mean:
"Having at last been given [to you], Chthylus, I offer you [my] gratitude."

>>
>> Eldin Raigmore wrote:
>>
>>> Can anyone translate
>>> τέλος δεδωκώς, Χθύλου, σοί χάριν φέρω. ---
>>> Θεόδωρος Φιλήτας
>>> for me?
>>> Thank you.
BTW, Χθύλου is clearly a vocative and, presumably, the nominative in
Greek would be Χθύλους which would normally be transcribes as Chthylus.
Presumably there is some non-Greek reason for rendering the name as Cthulhu.

--
Ray
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