[B-Greek] Online teaching tools
Sarah Madden
sarah.r.madden at gmail.com
Sat Dec 8 11:15:13 EST 2007
Eric --
I'm glad you reminded us of the reason we are studying NT Greek in the first
place: to better understand the Greek text. With that said, whenever I read
aloud, I attempt to be aware of the meaning of the sentence, and the phrases
that hang together, and the lilt of the voice at the end of a question --
just as one does with English. When reading Greek aloud, I believe it also
helps to be consistent in stressing the accented syllables -- in fact, a
Greek immigrant recently told me that speaking Greek well is "all in the
accents." I don't intentionally set out to memorize the accents on most
words (except, of course, accents, relative pronouns, easily confused small
words, and such), but I make it a habit to stress the accented syllable
whenever I read it. Then it really does come alive like a living language to
me.
Sarah
On Dec 8, 2007 10:57 AM, Eric Inman <eric.inman at wescorpflex.com> wrote:
> 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?
>
>
>
--
Sarah
sarah.r.madden at gmail.com
work: 301.429.8189
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