[B-Greek] Online teaching tools

frjsilver at optonline.net frjsilver at optonline.net
Tue Dec 11 11:26:31 EST 2007


Dear Friends --

I learned MG pronunciation as a boy, but Erasmian values were unknown to me until I studied Ancient and Classical Greek in college, so -- especially since I majored in Greek and minored in linguistics -- I think it's fair to say that I'm 'conversant' [[;-)33  with both systems.

In college, it took me a long time to stop sounding like I 'just got off the boat', but I learned the artificial Erasmian well enough to be completely understood in a university context -- but ONLY there;  I remain attached to the MG pronunciation I learned first, and which I use in church and in conversation for both idioms.

In any event, bearing all that in mind, I was very interested to hear Dr Louis Tyler reading the Greek NT, so I clicked on the link and found a sample of his reading from JN 1.  I regret to inform you that I cannot share the enthusiasm others feel for Dr Tyler's efforts.

In particular, his vowels are inconsistent, especially as he tries (unsuccessfully) to distinguish the sounds of O and W;  it's especially disappointing to hear the glides with which he finishes E, H, and I -- i (hypographic) notwithstanding, especially since these recordings are billed as a superior example of Erasmian pronunciation with all the supposed advantages of Dr Tyler's having learned MG.

But I digress.  Then there's his choppy, disjointed reading of individual words which leaves the listener with the impression that the reader sees only one word at a time, or at least doesn't realize that the words function in relationships of meaning which depend on a certain rhythm for aural comprehension, and that was where the rubber met the road before the invention of printing.  Dr Tyler would never make it as a liturgical reader or teacher in the Greek-speaking churches of the first Christian centuries.

Based on these observations, I was not motivated to listen to Dr Tyler's rendition of the Hebrew and Aramaic samples.  Perhaps reb Randall Buth could comment on that.

Peace and blessings to all.

Father James

Monk James Silver
Orthodox Church in America

----- Original Message -----
From: Sarah Madden 
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 8:49 am
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Online teaching tools
To: "Suttles, Andrew" 
Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org

> Andres --
> I googled Dr. Louis Tyler, and found a sample of his TERRIFIC 
> recordingon this site: http://hebrewgreekaudiobible.com/Hebrew.html
> What a treasure. And the CDs are reasonable ($30 for the entire Greek
> NT). I'll share this with students I tutor/mentor.
> 
> Sarah
> On Dec 11, 2007 7:41 AM, Suttles, Andrew 
> wrote:
> 
> > If a precise Erasmian pronunciation, but with authentic 
> accenting is the
> > goal, perhaps the recordings by Dr. Louis Tyler would be 
> helpful. I
> > ordered a set of MP3s from him a while back and have enjoyed 
> them. If I
> > remember right, he used the modern greek pronunciation for 
> many years
> > before returning an "Erasmian type" pronunciation for the 
> pronunciation> precision several have mentioned here. The 
> recordings are
> > understandable to someone with an "Erasmian ear", however, 
> there is a
> > distinctly "greekish" accent to them that is missing from 
> several sort
> > of "Americanized" bgreek recording I've heard.
> >
> > I'd be curious if any one else has given him a listen and 
> could post
> > your impression.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Andrew Suttles
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
> > --
> >
> > 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
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Sarah
> sarah.r.madden at gmail.com
> work: 301.429.8189
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