[B-Greek] Modern Greek and NT Greek

nikolaos adamou adamou_nikolaos at yahoo.com
Sun Apr 10 21:31:04 EDT 2005


The pronunciation of NT Greek in Greece generated an interesting discussion.  Just after the Popes funeral, it is also an interesting observation that “modern Greek” or plainly Greek pronunciation was also used by the so called eastern Catholics, the known Union churches in the east that are not at all Greek.

I was moved by the observation of one of the participants in the discussion that after learning Modern Greek, the sound of the Erasmian method sounds at least not-natural.

As a Greek I also was concerned why there is the distinction between short and long vowels, or what is the practical difference between the accent system, and in particular between «ïîåßá» and «âáñåßá».  Been lucky leaning Byzantine music, and relating the mathematical – Pythagorean aspects of the language, I get to the point of understanding that there are deeper relations in the language.  After all, the manes mean something; å and õ are not called short but E-spilon (øéëüí) and Y-spilon (øéëüí), while the ï is ï-micron (ìéêñüí) as a distinction to ù, ù mega (ìÝãá).

Music, poetry – language, mathematics, and movements-dance were united knowledge during the classical times, we know it, but we do not know how.  The language during Homeric period was even more complicated than the classical and NT periods, but the structure and the form is essentially the same to our current period.

Talking to some professors in Greek Universities that are interested in recording and analyzing the spoken language in villages of different areas, one can start distinguishing the slightly different forms in pronouncing vowels that in the towns they pronunciation is almost the same.  This is very identifiable particular in areas where people speak as if they sing – Corfu, Dodecanese, Thrace, Cyprus, etc.  

In Byzantine Chant, where the notation does not indicate the musical note but the movement in a scale, the characteristic of it as it varies from the a tone to a tone, this become obvious, and it is more clear in chromatic than diatonic scales.

To me, a Greek born in Greece and having lived for long time there, it is not questionable if the spoken in Greece Greek are having the “correct” pronunciation as an alternative to the Erasmian approach, but why and how the language is as it is and what is its relationship with music – Byzantine and traditional demotic – mathematics and dancing movements.

The different than seven vowels theory is not something that one can accept easily.  The number seven is not only the identification of the vowels as categories, but plays very important role in the mystical system, and not only the Greek one.

 

Nikolaos Adamou, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Business Management
BMCC/CUNY


		
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