[b-greek] Re: Pronunciation and subjunctives

From: Manolis Nikolaou (aei_didaskomenos@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Apr 03 2002 - 06:19:07 EST


> Dear B-Greekers,
>
> I am taking a Greek class from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox school in Boston.
> Their primary goal in the class is to learn to read the language as reading
> and chanting have so much to do with their services. Anyway, to get to the
> point, they use the modern greek pronunciation which is far different from
> what I learned. The teacher really pushes this a lot, though, claiming that
> we KNOW that Jesus pronounced these words in the modern way. Leaving aside
> the question that we really don't know what Jesus spoke, is it true that the
> pronunciation had already evolved to what we have today in the time of Jesus
> and the biblical writers? The fact that my teacher is so forceful about it
> and the fact that pronunciation plays such a big part in their services
> makes me suspicious.

> Vince Endris

According to the specialists, modern Greek pronunciation is almost
identical to the pronunciation of Greek spoken in late antiquity and very
similar to the pronunciation of the Hellenistic KOINH. In case
phonological accuracy (as to NT Greek) is the matter in question, the way
modern Greeks pronounce their language is certainly considered more
"reliable" than the erasmian one.

You must also take into consideration the fact that the original text of
NT has been read and some masterpieces of the Byzantine hymnography have
been chanted in the "modern" way for centuries. You can't really except
your Greek teacher to allow you any "erasmian" experimentations on the
body of an age-old tradition, can you?

Regards,
Manolis Nikolaou
Greece


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