Friday, September 28, 2012

Expressing "Yes" and "No" in Greek

The basic "yes" and "no" words in Greek are pretty simple to pronounce
"yes" is "ne" while "no" is "ohi".
Exactly as the nice lady is explaining in the videos bellow.
 

What no language course prepares you for is how Greeks really use them because here body language is most of the times more important then verbal expression. According to statistics only 35% of the communication is verbal, the rest consists in gestures, face expressions, body language in general. In general, Greeks tend to be expansive when they talk, their hands are restless while their faces very expressive.

Now, getting back to our sheep...Expressing "yes" and "no" in Greece is a bit more complicated then just saying it. This might sound a bit like "Twister" to you because I didn't find any videos to go with my explanation but I hope I'll manage to make myself understood. 

Yes - is pronounced "Ne"- but in a conversation agreeing will probably be expressed by a slow downwards movement of the head on one side while closing his or her eyes. The person might also say "ne" but it's not necessary, the meaning is implicit. 

No - is pronounced "Ohi" - In a conversation though the gesture accompanies or even replaces it. Saying "no" implies a short and quick upward movement of the chin, leaving your head to lean a bit on the back. The movement is sometimes accompanied by the rising of the eyebrows and a short "tz" or "tzouk". This movement may be so quick that you won't even notice it so pay close attention.



P.S Don't forget about the on going contest on the blog
Contest - Choose a T-shirt for "It's all Greek to Me"

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