Restored Koine in nontechnical terms

Jesse Goulet
Posts: 87
Joined: October 15th, 2011, 12:48 pm

Re: Restored Koine in nontechnical terms

Post by Jesse Goulet »

RandallButh wrote:As for u-psilon, we teach it two ways.
English students can hold the vowel from 'tee' with the tongue while rounding the lips for 'ou'
So something like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CptsmJ5PDos
RandallButh
Posts: 1105
Joined: May 13th, 2011, 4:01 am

Re: Restored Koine in nontechnical terms

Post by RandallButh »

αληθῶς

Now that wasn't so δύσκολον, βαρύ, was it?

Now you are able λῦσαι τὰ ὑποδήματα (to untie shoes) with your hands
instead of λοῦσαι αυτά (to wash them) in the bathtub.

Whoever has an ους (ear), let them hear.
Whoever has an υς (pig), may have a non-kasher barbeque.

{for further fun, playing on Koine οι=υ}
Whoever has an οις (sheep), wants the national meat of Greece in my opinion: παϊδάκια αρνίσια. kostoletta, lamb chops.
Better to clarify as πρόβατον, αρνίον, the word οις dropped out of later Koine usage.
Eeli Kaikkonen
Posts: 611
Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 7:49 am
Location: Finland
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Re: Restored Koine in nontechnical terms

Post by Eeli Kaikkonen »

Jesse Goulet wrote: So something like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CptsmJ5PDos
I'm a native Finnish speaker, and as mentioned in the video, we also have u-psilon ('y' in Finnish, not u or u-umlaut). However, the sound may be a bit different from the French one, although it's surely quite close to the German one as far as I can hear. This variability may make it easier to pronounce for different people, because we don't need to have one correct nuance in restored Koine.

I found this possible variation: instead of starting with English 'ee' (like in 'see'), try starting with 'e' (like in 'set', 'dead' etc. but long) or even with 'a' as in the article 'a' or 'an'. Instead of rising the front/middle part of tongue up, as it happens in 'ee', try letting the tongue be relaxed, resting it in the bottom of the mouth. Then round your lips as instructed in the video. These all result in a recognizable 'y' sound in Finnish, although not all of them may sound equally natural if used in speech.

The point is to round your lips and not raise the back part of tongue. In 'for' or 'far' you raise the back of the tongue; in 'see', 'set' and 'an' you don't.
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