pronunciation question
Trevor Peterson
06PETERSON at cua.edu
Fri Jan 3 10:41:46 EST 2003
>===== Original Message From SPegler919 at aol.com =====
>My own reaction is that the final s was probably pronounced, given the
>-os ending of the MNS 2d declension and -as -hs endings of the first
>endings, to say nothing of various verb endings! If the endings had not
>been pronounced, then the varios endings would have changed over time,
>which would have been reflected in spelling.
To this I would add that unpronounced letters are generally there for a
reason, even if it's as historical vestiges. Why would a Greek speaker add an
unpronounced letter to a transliteration? It seems like there would need to be
something that the letter did to the pronunciation of the word. And if the
point of the inquiry is to account for these letters that don't seem to belong
in transliterated foreign names, I don't know what the letter would be
contributing. I believe the usual explanation is that the Greek names were
just expected to have these final sigmas to give the right sound.
Another issue that might be pursuing is the reverse phenomenon. How are Greek
names and words with final s rendered in other languages? One that comes to
mind is pitros in Rabbinic Hebrew, which I know preserves the s sound. If
these letters were unpronounced, it seems we should expect transliterations to
drop them.
Well, I've never really given the question much thought, but those are some
ideas that come to mind.
Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics
>
>I have a question regarding ancient Greek pronunciation, which I am
>sure you can answer. Is it possible that final sigma went unpronounced
>in many cases (like final "s" in many French words)? This would make
>good sense to me in regard to biblical names, where Greek records
>"Judas" or "Joses" instead of "Juda' and "Jose." I know that in Hebrew
>there is no "s" sound after these (and many other) proper names, and I
>can't imagine that people speaking Greek just started (mis)pronouncing
>everyone's name for stylistic or other reasons. There is usually an
>effort made, in transliterating proper names, to lean towards accuracy,
>even when some sounds aren't represented phonemically by the
>corresponding languages alphabet (no "sh" letter or "tz" letter in
>Greek as in Hebrew, etc.)
>
>Dr. Stephen Pegler
>Ph.D. New Testament
>Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
>Bannockburn, IL
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