[B-Greek] Fwd: Ἴλιον ἥλιον & ἀγλύλιον

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Oct 16 14:52:26 EDT 2008


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Nikolaos Adamou <nikolaos.adamou at hotmail.com>
> Date: October 16, 2008 1:25:07 PM EDT
> To: Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
> Cc: nikolaos.adamou at gmail.com
> Subject: Ἴλιον ἥλιον & ἀγλύλιον
> Ἴλιον ἥλιον & ἀγλύλιον
>
> Carl, you may place this for the list b-Greek list.
>
> Due to a death in family I was not able to participate in the  
> discussion about the Greek Phonetics.
>
> Konstantinos Siamakis published a book in Greece about the Greek  
> alphabet.  Among other points that he makes, is that the way lower  
> case Greek is written decodes the phonetics of the language.
>
> Thus, for a Greek, the Ἴλιον ἥλιον & ἀγλύλιον  
> not only have different spelling but different sound.  The sound of  
> the vowel letter is also altered due to its accent and breathing  
> sign combinations.
>
>  ι has an –i– sound that from high goes down and ends smoothly.
>
> η has sound that from up moves down comes up very fast and then down  
> again.
>
> υ has sound that from up moves down and from staying down comes up.
>
> The sound distinctions of the –i– sounded letters and letter  
> combinations (ει & οι) in Greek ARE NOT in other languages –  
> German, French or English.  If one wants to listen to the sound  
> difference, liking it or not, have to listen to Greeks.
>
> Been a Greek, and taught that all these are all the same, I was not  
> able to recognize there difference even when I was listening these  
> letters.
>
> When I start learning Byzantine music & chanting in Church, I was  
> able to distinguish these differences.  It is more how rhythm and  
> time is involved in the sound.
>
> Another point I would like to make is that there is a continuation  
> of the “Greek” sound.  We never stop reading loud the Bible in  
> Church from the time it is written to now.  In Thessaloniki and  
> Corinth, in Athens, and everywhere that St. Paul visited, preached,  
> established Churches, wrote, we keep the language of our Bible in a  
> very sacred way in our Church life.
>
> Phonetical differences among dialects and regions exist.  But the  
> phonetics of our church life, decode in Byzantine musical notation  
> kept it standardized from Cyprus to Pontus, and from Crete to Corfu,  
> where even today the vernacular sound is very different.  But Church  
> chanting and reading – including
> the Bible – is not.
>
> The sound of Greek language can be learned by listening to Greek  
> people and not by trying to explore similarities with other  
> languages.  The difference of the sound between Greek and other  
> languages is much more distant than any diachronic you may claim  
> that exists.  Exploring the sound of my language, I find much more  
> difference among regions and dialects, even today, than Bible &  
> Church sound in time.
>
>
>
> Nikolaos Adamou, Ph.D.   ἀναπλ. καθ. Νικόλαος  
> 'ΑδάμουAssociate
> Professor of Business Management                Διοίκηση   
> Ἐπιχειρήσεων
> BMCC / CUNY
> Πανεπιστήμιο Πόλεως Νέας Ὑόρκης,  
> Κολλέγιο Μανχάτταν

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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