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In Greek Class Today (SIS01)

Sep. 26, 2007

Something I said in Greek class today.

I was explaining the adjective "heis mia hen" (I really need to learn how to produce Unicode Greek) to my students. I asked them if they could think of any English cognates, and when they hesitated, I quickly interjected:

These adjectives mean "one," as in quantity. This is not to be confused with "mon-" meaning one or only. Notice the neuter nominative singular "hen"? You may remember from your Bible class the term "henotheism:" the worship of one god, while not necessarily denying the existence of other gods. As in: most Americans are henotheists; they worship money, while not excluding the possibility of Jesus.

This caused quite a laugh.