Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

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Matthew Longhorn
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Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

Post by Matthew Longhorn »

I am not sure that we necessarily need to go through the discussions on Greek pronunciation again here, but there is a new book addressing the issue for those who care (Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek - Historical Pronunciation versus Erasmian). It has endorsements from Campbell and Dubis among others
https://wipfandstock.com/reading-and-pr ... greek.html

publisher's blurb -
This book invites you to see not only how Hellenistic Koine ought to be pronounced but also why. Rigorously investigating the history of Greek orthography and sounds from classical times to the present, the author places linguistic findings on one side of the scale and related events on the other. The result is a balance between the evidence of the historical Greek sounds in Koine and pre-Koine times, and the political events that derailed those sounds as they were being transported through Europe’s Renaissance academia and replaced them with Erasmian.

This book argues for a return to the historical Greek sounds now preserved in Neohellenic (Modern Greek) as a step toward mending the Erasmian dichotomy that rendered post-Koine Greek irrelevant to New Testament Greek studies. The goal is a holistic and diachronic application of the Hellenic language and literature to illume exegetically the Greek text, as the New Testament contains numerous features that have close affinity with Neohellenic and should not be left unexplored.
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Not to defend Erasmian (I don’t), but a modern Greek arguing that Koine sounds like modern Greek isn’t exactly news.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Matthew Longhorn
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Joined: November 10th, 2017, 2:48 pm
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Re: Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

Post by Matthew Longhorn »

I generally try to restrict myself to posting books that seem to be geared toward intermediate or higher competency levels rather than spamming the board with introductory stuff. This one seemed worth it in case their are people who aren’t aware of the debate or don’t have a resource to go to for some discussion, even if it doesn’t break new ground or necessarily come to the same position I hold.
Who knows, maybe there is a book addict out their weird enough to enjoy it :-)
Stephen Carlson
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Joined: May 11th, 2011, 10:51 am
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Re: Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Part of me is curious about what he argues, but Caragounis already did a thorough (and heavily critiqued) case. There's a lot of scholarship (for example, on Greek aspect) that just rearranges the same deck chairs.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Matthew Longhorn
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Joined: November 10th, 2017, 2:48 pm
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Re: Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

Post by Matthew Longhorn »

Linguistic feng shui is a noble and ancient art!
Matthew Longhorn
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Joined: November 10th, 2017, 2:48 pm
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Re: Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

Post by Matthew Longhorn »

Strange coincidence. I stumbled across BibleMesh and have taken up their biblical languages certificate. Applied, accepted, tutor given is Dr Zachariou. I didn’t even realise he taught there when I posted this or applied.

It will be nice to finally learn Greek and get a certificate that hopefully says I am not incompetent in it. Hebrew is going to be my nemesis though; I have started relearning that now so hopefully I don’t fail those courses in 8 months time
Barry Hofstetter
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Joined: May 6th, 2011, 1:48 pm

Re: Zachariou - Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Matthew Longhorn wrote: June 19th, 2020, 3:56 pm Strange coincidence. I stumbled across BibleMesh and have taken up their biblical languages certificate. Applied, accepted, tutor given is Dr Zachariou. I didn’t even realise he taught there when I posted this or applied.

It will be nice to finally learn Greek and get a certificate that hopefully says I am not incompetent in it. Hebrew is going to be my nemesis though; I have started relearning that now so hopefully I don’t fail those courses in 8 months time
Mazel Tov! Εὐδαίμων εἴης... And let us know how it goes.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
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