Nick,
I wish I could help you out man but my Greek is third rate and I don’t do Polytonic. Kinda wish one of the Greek native speakers would notice your post though.

Are you going to Type Tech Weekend in NYC on the 22nd?

ChrisL

Thanks anyway Chris.

Are you going to Type Tech Weekend in NYC on the 22nd?

No, I have some travelling to do this year, so can’t afford to go to NY then.

I assume Boston TypeCon is a go though?

ChrisL

TypeCon, oh yeah.

Hopefully you will get your Greek translation before then!

ChrisL

Hello Nick - You may have sorted this out closer to home by now, but if not I could ask around for you here in Cyprus. Are you looking for a translation into classical Greek or modern polytonic Greek?

Toby

Are you looking for a translation into classical Greek or modern polytonic Greek?

Thanks Toby, modern.

Hi Nick - Here’s the plan. First, someone will translate your paragraph into demotic Greek, then another person - a monk apparently at a big monastery in the mountains - will turn that into a polytonic version! When I’m sure this really can happen, shall I contact you via your website?

Leads me to wonder what motivates font makers - yourself included? - to produce polytonic Greek type. Who uses it? As I understand it’s pretty much limited to classicists, the Church - hence the monk - and I guess academics discussing older texts. Not complaining, mind, just interested.

Are you in fact making a Greek font of your own?

Toby

Who uses it?

I was persuaded by several people.
David Lemon at Adobe saying that classicists need it, and there are a lot of them around the world.
Gerry Leonidas at Reading saying that there are recent pre-monotonic texts (not just Homer etc.) that still are quoted and reprinted in Greece using polytonic, and a subculture of present day writers who use it — much the same way many typographers still use old type designs like Helvetica, etc.

what motivates font makers

Obsessive adolescent behaviour.
And it’s those damn folks at Adobe always raising the bar.
Professional challenge.
And one gets bored with the same old glyphs, so curiosity, bring on the Greek and Cyrillic.
Also, I took Greek at school, so it’s familiar (although I’ve forgotten too much to be able to do the translation).

Are you in fact making a Greek font of your own?

Of course, and I’m not alone. Typophiler Chris Lozos (Dezcom) has one, a family actually, in the works too.

Toby, there are literary publishers in Greece who never stopped using polytonic. As Nick notes, there is also a lot of polytonic text floating around out there that needs to be typeset, and not only classical or religious text. I recently found out that one of my polytonic Greek types might be used for a new edition of the poems of Cavafy, which is a thrill for me because he is one of my favourite modern poets.

I’m not alone.

...and John Hudson, too obvious to mention!

“Typophiler Chris Lozos (Dezcom) has one, a family actually, in the works too.”

Thanks for the plug on my Leporello Nick!

I hope you got your translation?

ChrisL

It’s in the works.

Endaxy!

ChrisL