[B-Greek] Online teaching tools

Eric Inman eric.inman at wescorpflex.com
Sat Dec 8 10:57:26 EST 2007


Thank you for your response. In addition, I would be interested in the
thoughts of you and others on the main point I was trying to make. My main
concern is not whether a certain pronounciation sounds nicer or makes
learning Greek easier. Rather I'm concerned about the fact that a more
authentic pronounciation might tend to produce a more accurate understanding
of a text. This is based on the assumption that some choices that were made
in writing and editing the text would likely have been based on how certain
words and phrases sounded. This might especially be true in cases where
there are plays on words, but I think it might be generally true as well.
I'm wondering how big a factor people might think this is.

If it is true that a more authentic pronounciation in the ear of the reader
tends to produce a more accurate understanding of a text, then I would think
that this would be the overriding factor in choosing a pronounciation
system. If it does make learning more difficult, we would have to remember
why most of us want to learn NTG in the first place. It's to improve our
understanding of the Greek text.

Eric Inman

-----Original Message-----
From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Sarah Madden
Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2007 8:28 AM
To: Carl Conrad
Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Online teaching tools


to Eric Inman--
Re. your comment about the "sounds" of modern (or Koine) Greek. You are
absolutely right that they sound wonderful and fluid (I have heard NT
texts read using the modern pronunciation)! One person I know has learned
how to read NT Greek texts with both types of pronunciations (the Erasmian
so he can be understand by professors and fellow students, and the modern --
possibly authentic -- so he can enjoy a very "Greeky" sound). Another
student, whom I tutor and mentor in NT Greek, has a strong background in
modern Greek because of her family background and having lived in Greece,
yet is struggling with how to spell the words or with a word's grammatical
function -- precisely because the non-Erasmian pronunciation she is used to
hearing and saying does not help her with grammar or word spelling -- and
the modern pronunciation certainly isn't helping her with learning the
vocabulary.

--Sarah Madden

Responding to your initial question, I learned NTG with the Erasmian
pronounciation, which I imagine made the process much easier, but I am now
concerned by the fact that when I read a text my sense of the text might not
be as accurate as it would be if I had been taught a more authentic
pronounciation. I believe that the sound of a language plays a role to some
degree in the choices of words, phrases, structures, patterns, etc. in a
text, and I am concerned that I might be missing or misinterpreting cues in
the text that have some connection with how the text sounded originally.

Eric Inman

On Dec 8, 2007 8:09 AM, Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com> wrote:

> On Dec 8, 2007, at 5:57 AM, Sarah Madden wrote:
>
> > Unless one is speaking with or listening to modern Greek speakers, 
> > or listening to Greek Orthodox sermons, I'm interested in knowing 
> > what the advantage (if any) is to most students of NT Greek to learn 
> > the modern pronunciation? I personally like the fact that Erasmus 
> > came up with a method that helps identify words by their sounds -- 
> > every letter is pronounced, and the vowels each have their own 
> > sounds. My experience with mentoring students is that the ones who 
> > know modern Greek (either because of living in Greece or by getting 
> > an audio tape and learning it) might be able to read the text, but 
> > their spelling and recognition/understanding of the nuances between 
> > particular words (e.g., hWS versus hOS) is weak. Any thoughts?





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