value of accents?
Eric S. Weiss
eweiss at gte.net
Tue Jun 4 12:25:41 EDT 2002
> Hello,
>
> Please note a fundamental difference in mindset between the following
> quotations and the comments by Eric Weiss in the same thread.
<snip>
> At 04:35 AM 4/06/02 -0500, you wrote:
> >Eric Weiss wrote:
> >
> >And if we will only get rid of the accents and breathings, think of the
> >ink that could
> >be saved!
> >
> >David H. Warren
> >Prof. of NT and Greek
> >Freed-Hardeman University
> >Henderson, Tenn.
Permit me to clarify.
The comments James Forsyth included in his response were not MY comments,
but were David Warren's comments to my question. Mr. Warren seems to
express (via some sarcasm?) the opposite of what I -- a NON-scholar -- was
concluding from my look-see at Carson's book in conjunction with Wenham's
explanation for NOT including accents.
As I suggested in my post, I did not find that Carson had made, in his
book, a strong case for the average NT Greek student meticulously learning
the accent rules beyond the typical single page of accent rules found in
many 1st-year Greek grammars. Carson himself says that his pedagogic
methodology with respect to accents is to teach students to use accents as
syllable stress marks. I can concur with that. It allows for
standardization of pronunciation and aids memorization, and gives some
guidance when reading aloud.
I don't deny that there are some important distinctions between some words
based on the type and placement of the accent. But both Carson and Wenham
indicate that accents were not in the oldest uncial mss., and that it's
not certain if in Koine NT times the accents were still tonal, and
Carson's own stated teaching use of accents as stress marks and not tone
indicators means there is little fundamental or practical difference
between acute, grave and circumflex for many readers/students of the Greek
NT, including myself. My perusal of Carson's book did not turn up for me a
strong justification for working through his book.
Unless I am misreading Mr. Warren's response, I think he has missed the
point of my question. I am NOT suggesting getting rid of the accents in NT
texts. I am NOT suggesting that "little Greeks" like myself ignore
learning all accent rules. I am asking whether those of us who will not be
Greek scholars but are only hoping to gain some basic proficiency in
reading the NT Greek text really need to learn books like Carson's. As I
said, Carson couldn't convince me in his own book to buy it. At $9 or $10
it's almost cost-free, so the price is not what's putting me off, it's my
perception of its utility (or lack thereof).
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