[B-Greek] Pronouncing PILATOS

Philip Silouan Thompson himself at philthompson.net
Thu Aug 12 20:35:44 EDT 2004


> There are variations of the Erasmian pronunciation system
> (Machen, Smyth) that choose the historical pronunciation for
> omicron (closer to a long o as in "open" rather than ah as
> in "toss").  Allen and Mounce recommend the "ah" sound.

To complicate things, when a British person writes "The 'AW' sound" he's
probably thinking of what an American from the western US hears as an 'O'
sound.

My bishop, on flying into our farming town, looked out at an especially
green field below, and in his Greek accent asked the person next to him,
"What is that crop?" Unfortunately he forgot that we distinguish AH from OH,
and his fellow passenger was a little startled by the question he heard as
"What is that crap?"

Having had a very confusing written conversation among Aussies, Brits, and
eastern and western Americans over which of the words Taunt, Ant, Aunt,
Aren't, and Ontario have the same vowel sound, I've given up on trying to
convey sounds in print.

If your Greek is used liturgically you'll probably be pronouncing it the
same as modern Demotiki. If it's used academically, imitate your teacher's
pronunciation and refuse to argue when contradicted :) If it's used in
preparation for the pulpit, you probably won't be speaking Greek out loud so
any pronunciation that works for you is fine.

That'd be my US$0.02

Philip Silouan Thompson
Walla Walla, Washington











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