Page 1 of 1

Pronunciation of initial I in Semitic names

Posted: May 28th, 2018, 3:01 am
by Ruth Mathys
What is the value of ι at the beginning of Semitic names like Ἰησοῦς, Ἰερουσαλήμ, Ἰουδαία, etc.? I always took it to be a semivowel [j], but...?

Ruth Mathys

Re: Pronunciation of initial I in Semitic names

Posted: May 28th, 2018, 5:34 am
by S Walch
Not quite sure what you mean by 'value' of the letter Iota, but in this case Greek ι = Hebrew י, which is a vowel-consonant (used to represent both a vowel and a consonant), and as such is very much a consonant at the beginning of Semitic names.

For the pronunciation of ι, then see https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/ ... unciation/

FWIW, I would pronounce the Ἰ at the beginning of names as 'ee' rather than 'iy'.