[B-Greek] Pronunciation rules
bitan buth
ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
Tue Oct 4 08:55:57 EDT 2005
Carlson EGRAPSEN
>It was an intentional mistake, and the topic of a big thread on B-Greek
in August 2004.>
EUXARISTW SOI STEFANW
Having checked the thread it appears that this means that Mounce pronounced
it that way because that is the way his teacher pronounced it.
Which shows some of the power of recording sound in the brain, even when
speech is being marginalized or 'officially ignored'.
What would happen if spoken methodologies were used for instilling the
language?
Scary? Why? (It's just more efficient learning. It cannot be called less
authentic than filtering everything thru outlines of English rules, good and
necessary as those imperfect outlines are and always will be.)
The nice thing about technology is that the next generation will not be so
limited as Mounce and most of us were. It is a time when Greek teachers can
rethink how they might want their students to sound in twenty years.
This can be recorded and students can learn to sound either historically
correct, or something else, as they wish. It should be a reasoned,
conscious choice. If they want something where every symbol is
differentiated, then at least it can be cleaned up since Erasmian does not
do this.
For example, if students hear hundreds of recordings with ü [high front
rounded vowel] they will not have a problem distinguishing LOUW 'I wash'
[luo] from LUW 'I loose' [lüo]. (The umlaut-ü should be visible here, even
in ASCII).
They will also be able to distinguish *LAGAS from LOGOS. (OK, that is a US-
caricature of Erasmian. But it is widespread and being recorded!)
Those with a eye on Homer can use recordings with true pH [aspirated p].
Those with an eye on the Imperial period [=NT] should move in a different
direction. At least adopt VETA and GHAMMA, and preferably go all the way (as
already in Erasmian) to FI and XI for consistency within the period and
harmony with the rest of the language. Shifting the consonants would not
lose any emic character. It would get very close to historical period (which
was in flux) and it would allow the language to approximate a 'Greek' sound
to modern speakers. Is that bad?
Alternatively, they could learn to read Codex Vaticanus PEILATOS as the
ancient scribes read it and wrote it [~IPA pi - la - tos (~Spanish
vowels)], already before the Imperial period. Then they would sometimes be
so close to modern that they may be mistaken for it by outsiders.
In any case, of all the systems out there, current Erasmian scores lowest
and does not need to be perpetuated for coming generations. Rethinking
pronunciation can then be a springboard for rethinking pedagogy in general.
Acts 21:37 ELLHNISTI GINWSKEIS? [TI ARA TOUTO QELEI EINAI?]
ERRWSQE
IWANNHS
Randall Buth, PhD
Biblical Language Center
www.biblicalulpan.org
c/o margbuth at gmail.com
also, Director, Biblical Studies in Israel
under Rothberg International School,
Hebrew University
ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
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