Punctuation and Pronunciation

Is vocalizing the Greek words and sentences important? If so, how should Greek be pronounced (what arguments can be made for one pronunciation over another or others?) How can I write Greek characters clearly and legibly?
Post Reply
Rita Ho
Posts: 9
Joined: September 27th, 2011, 9:29 am

Punctuation and Pronunciation

Post by Rita Ho »

I attended the first lesson of Greek and have read Chapter 1-4 of "Basics of Biblical Greek" written by William D. Mounce. Two questions appeared in my mind:
1. Sign: What is the meaning of the sign “~”? How does it use?
2. Pronunciation: How to pronounce Ίσραήλ? “Is ra el” or “Yos ra el”? I am not sure towards the proper sound of ι as the word’s first letter.

Thank you and look forward to having the reply.

La Cha Sha
Stephen Carlson
Posts: 3350
Joined: May 11th, 2011, 10:51 am
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: Punctuation and Pronunciation

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Rita Ho wrote:I attended the first lesson of Greek and have read Chapter 1-4 of "Basics of Biblical Greek" written by William D. Mounce. Two questions appeared in my mind:
Welcome to learning Greek. I taught from that book last year, so I've got a copy I can check.
Rita Ho wrote:I1. Sign: What is the meaning of the sign “~”? How does it use?
I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to (a page number would help), but ~ is one of the two common forms for writing a circumflex accent. Mounce's textbook uses the other form (p. 13), so it may be unfamiliar to you. The difference is merely one of appearance. I prefer to the simple curve, not the squiggle ~.
Rita Ho wrote:I2. Pronunciation: How to pronounce Ίσραήλ? “Is ra el” or “Yos ra el”? I am not sure towards the proper sound of ι as the word’s first letter.
The first option is preferable.

Stephen
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Rita Ho
Posts: 9
Joined: September 27th, 2011, 9:29 am

Re: Punctuation and Pronunciation

Post by Rita Ho »

"Thank you, Stephen."

Yes, your reply is true. From today's lession, I learned that my current teacher incline to use the "~" as the circumflex that its form is not the same as the Mounce's book.


Thanks.


Rita
Post Reply

Return to “Alphabet and Pronunciation”