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

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Jul 10 15:28:46 EDT 2006


On Jul 10, 2006, at 3:15 PM, Eric Weiss wrote:

> Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>
>> I'm reluctant to get involved in this, but I must say that I believe
>> it will be as difficult to move NT Greek pedagogy off the dime of  
>> Erasmian
>> pronunciation as it is to move it away from many of the other outworn
>> elements. The teaching and learning of ancient Greek is subject to as
>> powerful conservative forces as exist anywhere in humankind. <snip>
>
>   Well, maybe those of us who want to instigate a change could make  
> and pass out to seminarians and students buttons that read:
>
>   It's PEE, not PIE
>   Only hOI BARBAROI KAI OI ANOHTOI speak Erasmian
>
>   or
>
>   It's PEE, not PIE
>   Erasmian: A phonology in search of a language

Well, I would agree that treating it as a laughing-stock may well be  
a more effective weapon than rational persuasion; on the other hand,  
people don't take too kindly to humorous attacks upon their sacred  
cows. Perhaps it should be focused on the letter Mu:

It's not MOO, it's MEE

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/





More information about the B-Greek mailing list