[B-Greek] PEI, FEI, XEI, KSI, PSI (was pee or pie)

Curtis Hinson curtis at curtishinson.com
Sun Jul 9 13:13:37 EDT 2006


Jim West wrote the following on 7/9/2006 11:19 AM:
> And so which "Greek" pronunciation would you have folk learn?  And 
> what assures you that the writers of the New Testament used your 
> pronunciation template? 
GEIA SOU Jim,

I oppose learning any Greek pronunciation at all in the sense of some 
artificial system.  And a language is not a "template".  Learn the Greek 
language, not how to talk ABOUT Greek.  If you're wondering, my own 
accent has a tinge of Corfu and tends to Yevanic.  In any case it's an 
intelligible product of the natural language.

For some historical reasons, Greek students and teachers have built a 
unique prison for their mind for which I can't see any parallel in the 
study of any other language, ancient or modern.  I have gotten so 
frustrated with seeing so many trapped in a system that essentially 
prevents people from understanding I've been tempted to leave the list 
from time to time.

As to the second part of your  question, I refer you to Dr Buth's posts 
on this thread that explains (in part) how we know how ancient Greek 
sounded far better than I could explain it.  You could also take a look 
at Caragounis' work on the pronunciation of the Greek language.  I am 
engaged in some rather exciting research of my own I will eventually be 
ready to share.

At the end of the day, go find some Greek people.  :-)

Bless the Name
Curtis Hinson
http://curtishinson.com


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