[B-Greek] Pronunciation of Kappa, Pi and Tau
Arthur King
amgking at sbcglobal.net
Thu Sep 28 15:30:01 EDT 2006
--- "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu> wrote:
>
> On Sep 27, 2006, at 2:12 PM, Arthur King wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Eric Weiss <papaweiss1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Current pronunciations for these Greek letters are given as
> follows:
> > [SNIP]>
> >> I understand that before Koine times, the letters were
> pronounced
> >> as follows:
> > [SNIP]
> >
> > I have read with interest the many messages on this list concerning
>
> > the
> > various pronunciations of Greek letters, and wondered - does
> > pronunciation have any effect on understanding a Greek text?
>
> There is certainly some advantage to aural reinforcement of what
> would otherwise be visual recognition alone;
AK: I did not mean to suggest that mere visual recognition would be
sufficient. I find "sounding" to be essential. But what sound?
Erasmian, the living language, a reconstructed Koine dialect? I have
not seen any demonstration that the use of one type of pronunciation
is superior in enabling the reader to access the meaning of a Greek
text.
>SNIP
> I must say that I rather dread the onslaught of a new thread . . .
I do not think that there will be much of a thread if respondents stick
to the point - Proof that one type of pronunciation is substantially
superior to others with respect to getting at the meanng of a Greek
text; or to put it another way, superior in making the learning of
Greek easier for the student, particularl, one studying on their own.
> I think it is useful to be aware of what were homophones in Koine and
therefore aware that scribal errors are particularly common when they
are involved; one of the most common is the shared enunciation of
hUMIN and hHMIN, both being pronounced something like an English EE
MEEN.
This example would suggest that the student adopt a different
pronunciation scheme. I pronounce the upsilon and eta in the manner
indicated by Mounce (umlauted "u" and "e" [as in obey], respectively},
which avoids this confusion.
Arthur King
Clinton, CT
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