I reformatted the fonts page today, adding a column on the left with examples of thirteen different font faces.
Fonts Page Is Back
Okay. I get the message loud and clear. Removing the Fonts page was a bad idea. I have updated it and re-uploaded it.
Greek-Language.com Version 3 (or is it 4?)
Today I uploaded a completely redesigned site at Greek-Language.com. Every page except the grammar has been redesigned. You will see much that looks familiar, but plenty that is new as well. The greatest changes are behind the scenes, with a thorough rewriting of the code that makes the site run. I have written many hundreds of lines of HTML and totally replaced all of the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) that control the look of the pages.
Here are some of the more obvious changes:
- The alphabet page now contains pronunciation recommendations for the Hellenistic period. (It always had them for Classical and Modern Greek.) I have inserted audio recordings with the Hellenistic Koine pronunciation suggestions. This slows down page load time, but has a big enough payoff to warrant it. The recordings are not stellar, but they provide an approximation of one of the many varieties of pronunciation that were current during the period.
- ALL informational pages now have a Google search bar at the bottom of the page.
- The bibliographies page has been cleaned up and now has a clearer, easier to follow organization. Several former pages have been combined into a single elegant page.
- The blogs page had become obsolete since the same information it contained is included here on this blog in the blogroll on the right. This page was simply replaced by a link that brings you here.
- The dictionaries page includes a number of additions, including a new section with basic information on Ancient Greek lexicographers—writers in the ancient world who wrote discussions of Greek vocabulary or early lexicons.
- In addition to cleaning up the epigraphy page I have added information on resources that have come online since the last major renovation of this site (2009).
- I added Textkit’s Greek and Latin Forum to the forums page and streamlined the look of all the resources presented there.
- Little has changes on the history page other than visual presentation and small improvements in wording.
- On the learn Greek page, I deleted references to sites that have not been updated in the last couple of years and added a link to William Mounce’s online resources for his Basics of Biblical Greek.
- The manuscripts page brings a range of improvements from updated information on the resources that were already listed there to adding resources that were not available in 2009.
- The software page has also seen updates with the deletion of links to organizations that have provided nothing new for the study of Greek in several years to the addition of one company that has recently begun a move into Ancient Greek software.
Since the overwhelming majority of computers now on the market can use Unicode fonts, and there are many of them available on the internet, I have eliminated the fonts page here at Greek-Language.com.
I hope you enjoy the updated site and find it useful.
Like everything new in the world of computing, I’m sure there will be some mistakes in what I have created. I encourage you to point them out to me. You can do that either by emailing me, if you already have my address (I’m sorry I can’t post it here because of SPAM bots that read websites to find them!), or by using the contact option in the menu bar just under the picture at the top of this page.
Green Certified? Really?
It’s something of an odd distinction for a site dedicated to linguistics and Ancient Greek to have received, but Greek-Language.com is now Green Certified. That’s because the hosting company that provides the space on the web and the fancy functionality to make this site work is now 100% wind powered. You can read about it on our certification page or by clicking on the wind-power icon in the sidebar to the right.
Server Problem
Because of a server configuration problem, this blog was down much of the day today. I apologize to any of you this may have inconvenienced. The hosting provider I work with is amazingly good. This is the first such outage in over ten years, and it is my mistake that created the problem, not theirs!
Repairs to Lexicography Page
I repaired some broken links on the lexicography page today. Everything is working as expected now.
If you have any resources you would like to suggest for that page, just let me know.
Scope of a Hellenistic Greek Grammar (again)
Between January of 2010 and January of 2011, I posted five separate discussions and invited comments on the topic of what belongs in an advanced grammar of Hellenistic Greek. Some of those posts generated quite thoughtful responses, but they have until now been scattered at several different locations on the blog. Here is an index listing all five so that they can be read together (if you have some time to kill, or if you’re just enthusiastic enough about Ancient Greek to care).
Scope of a Hellenistic Greek Grammar
Scope of a Hellenistic Greek Grammar II: Jewish and Early Christian Literature
Scope of a Hellenistic Greek Grammar III: Papyri
Scope of a Hellenistic Greek Grammar IV: the now-defunct BDF project
Scope of a Hellenistic Greek Grammar V: The “Problem” of Dialect
If you would like to add to any of these discussions, it’s not too late.
Biblical Language Center Blog
For those of you interested in following Randall Buth’s work, I have added the Biblical Language Center Blog to the blog roll in the right-hand column here. You can also access it through this link:
New look for the blog
I changed the theme of the blog today to match more closely with the look of my online grammar. While a few things are in a different place on the screen now, I hope you will enjoy the new look and not find the changes frustrating.
Reading Greek Language and Linguistics on your Mobile Device
Reading the Greek Language and Linguistics Blog on you mobile device (phone, iPad, etc.) just got a lot easier. I have installed the Carrington Mobile theme for the growing number of you who are reading this blog on such devices. It works well for virtually all phones with a data plan. It has been tested with the following mobile browsers:
It also works on the following touch screen devices: