[B-Greek] Accents in Ancient Greek
P R
prittman at gmail.com
Mon Sep 13 20:13:13 EDT 2010
Two observations:
1. It seems like the strongest responses in favor of retaining the Greek
accents come from the aspect of pronunciation--in other words, there seems
to be little need for using them for the purposes of writing out a single
word or phrase, for the purposes of simply identifying a particular word or
its usage in the NT, especially because, for biblical studies, typically the
book, chapter, and verse accompanies the Greek.
2. Actually, (2) is a question. The link to Dionysius Thrax notwithstanding,
I've heard that the current system of accents was only put in place only
after the first few centuries AD. How sure are we that the current system of
accents that we see now, is in fact the way that classical and koine Greek
was pronounced? A more concise way of putting this--has someone done a
history of Greek accents, or even of pronunciation? I will accept as a
given, Harris' argument, that classical Greek was a very poetic and musical
language, but unless we are sure we've got the tune right--well, I think you
follow me.
I didn't go through Dionysius' book--but for anyone who has, was he
describing the way we now see Greek accents written out?
Paul Rittman
On Sun, Sep 12, 2010 at 4:38 PM, Nikolaos Adamou <
lets.read.the.bible.in.greek at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear friends, it is nice to rejoin this blessed community that I
> missed all summer.
>
> William Harris, Prof. Em. Middlebury College, wrote an interesting essay:
> THE MUSICAL PITCH ACCENTS IN GREEK, in
> http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/Classics/Greekaccents.html
> related to the point discussed here.
>
> Accents do indicate stress but a musical pitch.
>
> Dionysius Thrax (Διονύσιος ὁ Θρᾷξ) (170 BC‑90 BC), indicates that
> “Tone (accent) is the resonance of a voice endowed with harmony.
> It is heightened in the acute,
> balanced (decreased) in the grave,
> and broken (not broken but waived, heightened and then decreased) in
> the circumflex.”
>
> http://www.archive.org/stream/grammarofdionysi00dionuoft#page/4/mode/2up
> For an English text,
>
> http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/graeca/Chronologia/S_ante02/DionysiosThrax/dio_tech.html
> for a Greek text
>
> The fact that at that time manuscripts used uncials (capital letters)
> without scripting the tone symbols, does not mean that we did not have
> them, or
> In oral communication were not used, by the Greeks.
>
> Now days that ignorance let the Modern Greek state to use only the acute,
> or 40 years ago when I was pupil, we were not writing grave,
> but we substituted it with the acute,
> does not mean that when one speaks or reads aloud Greek,
> does not have the musicality of the Language.
>
> Furthermore, accents make difference in distinguishing words that
> otherwise have the same spelling.
> For example, in LOGOS multimedia KALOS, καλὸς (good) is pronounced as
> κάλος (calus).
>
> Caragounis, in his 12 lessons audio CD about “How to pronounce Greek as a
> Greek”
> gives the following list.
>
> AMNHNOS ἄκμνηνος fasting from food ἀκμηνὸς
> full-grown
> AKRATOS ἀκράτος without being mixed ἀκτατῶς
> in uncontrolled manner
> BATOS βάτος blamble-bush
> βατὸς verb adj: that can be passed
> DEREIS δέρεις pres. Inf.
> δερεῖν fut. inf.
> DEMOS δήμος people
> δημὸς fat
> DIAIRW διαίρω lift up
> διαιρῶ divide
> DOKOS δόκος opinion
> δοκὸς beam
> EDRANON ἔδρανον seat
> ἀδρανὸν neut. Adj: steady
> EIMI εἶμι go
> εἶμὶ I am
> ELEUSIS ἔλευσις coming
> Ἐλευσὶς Eleusis
> ZHTW ζήτω long live (from ζάω)
> ζητῶ I seek
> UEA θέα view
> θεὰ goddess
> UERMH θέρμη warmth, heat
> θερμὴ adj.: warm
> IEREIA ἱέρεια priestess
> ἱερεία festival, sacrifice
> IW ἴω I come (pr.sub. (εἶμι)
> ἰὼ exclamation: alas!
> KONIS κόνις dust
> κονὶς nit
> NOMOS νόμος law
> νομὸς pasture, district
> OINOS οἶνος wine
> οἰνὸς the ace of the dice
> POTE πότε when?
> ποτὲ ever
> TIS τίς, τίνος, τίνι, τίνα (inter. pronouns)
> τις, τινός, τινί, τινὰ indef. pronouns
> AISXYNW αἰσχύνω I shame out (pes. ind.)
> αἰσχυνῶ (fut. ind.)
> KRINW κρίνω I judge (pres. ind.)
> κρινῶ (fut. ind.)
> MENW μένω I abide (pres. ind.)
> μενῶ (fut. ind.)
> NEMW νέμω I divide (pres. ind.)
> νεμῶ (fut. ind.)
>
> I think this is an important reason to keep the accents in USE.
>
> When I was ignorant, I also wrote without out accents or breathings
> marks, up to the time
> my non linear programming professor in mathematics, Carl Lemke,
> introduced me to the mystic of Pythagoreans.
> Others, who teach Greek, also do not use tones the way they exist in Greek.
> This does not mean anything.
> Tones (accents) are part of the Greek voice even if there are not
> written in the text.
>
> According to Dionysus,
> “Reading is the rendering of poetic or prose productions without
> stumbling or hesitancy. It must be done with due regard to
> expression, prosody, and pauses.
> Through the expression we learn the merit (ἀρετὴ arete) of the piece ;
> from the prosody, the art of the reader
> and from the pauses (διαστολῆς diastoles), the meaning intended to be
> conveyed.”
> He goes on giving the specific characteristics of what reading should
> be and then he concludes,
> “Any reading done without due observance of these rules
> degrades the merits of the poets
> and makes the habits of readers ridiculous.”
>
> Randal, thank for introducing me to Dionysius.
>
> Nikolaos Adamou, the reader
>
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