ASPIS= SHIELD. OPLO= WEAPON. OPLITIS= MAN AT ARMS etc... clearing up....

[hellenes]

My official position on 'Erasmian Pronunciantion' is that it is a self-delusional claim by modern Greeks who want to believe that their language is the exact same as a twenty-five hundred year old dialect (attic).

Hoplites and Hoplon are very much an issue of contention in the classics profession. The issue will not be settled by debating it here.

I denounce any Hellene that ever said that our language remained the same for 25 centuries.
I would be stupid to claim something like that....
However since NONE has recorded speech of Ancient Hellenic pronounciation, and NONE can claim beyond any reasonable doubt the posession of the thruth, its left to the strongest argument and closest related dialects that have frozen in time to be taken as more close to the facts.
There are two LIVING hellenic dialects TODAY that are the closest we have to the antiquity:
Pondian Dialect:
Aoύτος- Αυτός - These
Τ' εμ' έταιρον - Δικός μας - Our kin, one of us.
more detailed http://www.rooseveltacademy.org/Main...se/JGL2002.pdf
Cypriot Dialect Espessially the pronounciation:
θωρώ βλέπω Im seeing
λαλώ λέω Im saying
απόπατος αποχωρητήριο toilet

And 70% of modern Hellenic language is formulated and mostly ancient...
Άναυδος---->Voicless from Homeric Αυδή=Voice
Οπλίτης----->Private (Soldier) from Hoplite
Εφεύρεση--->Discovery from Εύρηκα=I found it
And many more that would take the whole forum to fit in...

I know it sounds strange to people that dont have their native writing (sometimes it never existed like english, french etc) and have most of their vocabulary formed in mixing of many other languages, but for a average Modern Hellene isnt that hard to read ancient writings and grasp the general meaning at best and understand more that any not specialised foreigner at worst.

Hellenes