Nikolaos H. Trunte. Minima Graeca: eine Einf�hrung in das Griechische f�r Slavisten in 15 Lektionen, Slavistische Beitr�ge, 456. (Studienhilfen, Band 16.) Munich: Verlag Otto Sagner, 2007. xviii, 366 pp. Tables. Illustrations. Greek-German glossary. euro24.00, paper.
This book comprises fifteen lessons-equally usable by Slavists and non-Slavists-that treat the phonology and grammar (inflectional morphology, derivational morphology, and syntax) of Greek in synchronic as well as diachronic perspective. The presentation is detailed and comprehensive and thus more valuable than that found in conventional manuals and textbooks on the subject. The book treats not only Ancient and Koine, or Hellenistic, Greek (i.e., the Greek of the early centuries AD, including the language designated as New Testament Greek), but also (albeit to a lesser extent) Medieval and Modern Greek. Each lesson is accompanied by at least one substantial text that has been carefully annotated and glossed. The author notes (p. xiii) that he presents the grammar of Greek with the needs of those who wish to read Church Slavonic (i.e., Old Church Slavonic and/or its Bulgarian recension) in mind (e.g., early presentation of the aorist). Following the lessons, he includes German translations of the texts (pp. 316-336) together with a Greek-German glossary (pp. 317-366).
As an introduction to Greek, this book has much to recommend it. Although it is formatted as a textbook, its attention to detail, to various stages of Greek, and to Indo-European, means that scholars will find it of value as a reference. As an introduction to Greek specifically for Slavists, however, it is of less value. There can be no doubt that the author saw Slavists as his primary audience, as he makes this clear not only in the book's subtitle, but also in the first paragraph of the Introduction (p. xi), stating that "... die Besch�ftigung mit der �lteren slavischen Literatur ohne Kennmis des Griechischen [ist] ein Ding der Unm�glichkeit." Be that as it may, with respect to the book's actual content, the major reflection of this claim is restricted to the textual component of the lessons, which include selections that exist in Church Slavonic translation or which "zumindest von Relevanz f�r die Slavia sind" (p. xiii). Such texts are of obvious importance in a book prioritizing Slavists as its audience, but the author would have achieved this goal with greater success by including-in some, if not all, instances-at least part of the relevant Church Slavonic texts with appropriate grammatical commentary relating them to their Greek sources. Yet no Church Slavonic texts are included, nor is there any general discussion or characterization either of them (e.g., their external history) or of Church Slavonic as such (i.e., its earliest structure, which is in part reconstructed), not to mention the changes it underwent in the transition to its Bulgarian recension. The author may have assumed that this is knowledge already possessed by Slavists who come to Greek, but many Slavists, especially in today's academic world, do not have such knowledge, least of all in the important area of syntax, which typically takes second place to morphology and translation in university courses in Church Slavonic and/or medieval texts. Alternatively, the author may have intended that his book be used in conjunction with his own textbook of Church Slavonic (vol. 264 in the Slavistische Beitr�ge series [5th, rev. ed. Studienhilfen, Band 1. Munich: Verlag Otto Sagner, 2001]), but that cannot be presumed. Finally, in summarizing the grammatical structure of Church Slavonic as background, the author might profitably have provided a comparison of it with Greek-in particular New Testament Greek-and treated, even if only in an introductory fashion, problems of translation from the latter relating to structural differences, including areas of Church Slavonic and Greek grammar which are to some extent similar (e.g., the category of aspect, which is common to Church Slavonic and New Testament [and other forms of] Greek). It is true that there are references to Slavic grammar in the commentaries that accompany the texts and in the brief sections on syntax, but there is nothing sustained or detailed enough to provide significant insight into the grammatical system of Church Slavonic relative to its role in the translation of Greek constructions.
In concluding, I wish to emphasize my view that this book, as it stands, is of high quality. The author's description of his work as a textbook notwithstanding, it offers a scholarly treatment of the structure and history of Greek which will be of use not only to those with an interest in the texts, but also to those with an interest in the system itself and its internal history. The brevity of the author's treatment of Slavic-related texts and grammatical phenomena in no way detracts from the excellence, depth, and sophistication of his presentation of the Greek data. A more substantial and comprehensive treatment of the Slavic material, however, might have made the work a definitive and much needed self-contained reference work and manual for Slavists who come to it with a knowledge of only the fundamentals of Church Slavonic.
[Author Affiliation]
Mark J. Elson, University of Virginia
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