Pronunciation of the Article "Ho"?

Is vocalizing the Greek words and sentences important? If so, how should Greek be pronounced (what arguments can be made for one pronunciation over another or others?) How can I write Greek characters clearly and legibly?
R. Perkins
Posts: 91
Joined: January 18th, 2013, 9:55 pm

Re: Pronunciation of the Article "Ho"?

Post by R. Perkins »

Stephen Carlson wrote:
R. Perkins wrote:*Sort of like when folks say "Lωgωs" in English (which drives me insane). To me, this is a clue the speaker has not had formal Greek training (& immediately causes me to be suspect of anything they claim "in the Greek"). Same thing in this situation - or no?
Well, it looks like then that every person using the Restored Koine pronunciation will drive you insane.
*As already stated, I am here to learn. I realize that ancient Koine' pronunciation is a hotly debated topic, & I'm really not educated enough in this facet of Koine' to argue ether way.

*So I understand - are y'all saying that it's perfectly fine to pronounce Logos w. the long o(mega) sound? I thought the noun would have to be spelled w. the omega vowel for this pronunciation, but, since I've only had Greek I & some subsequent exegesis I could be mistaken.

*Again, not arguing either way - just trying to understand better.
Barry Hofstetter
Posts: 2159
Joined: May 6th, 2011, 1:48 pm

Re: Pronunciation of the Article "Ho"?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Stephen Carlson wrote:
R. Perkins wrote:*Sort of like when folks say "Lωgωs" in English (which drives me insane). To me, this is a clue the speaker has not had formal Greek training (& immediately causes me to be suspect of anything they claim "in the Greek"). Same thing in this situation - or no?
Well, it looks like then that every person using the Restored Koine pronunciation will drive you insane.
In ancient times, there was no universally correct pronunciation of ancient Greek - there were regional differences, and purists who thought that if it was good enough for Plato, it's good enough for me. Let's get over it. Treat differences in pronunciation between modern users of the language like differences between regions and dialects in ancient times, and judge the individual on content, not on the perfection of his speech. Americans aren't stupid because they don't sound like the queen, and Brit's aren't stupid even though they spell "color" wrong, and we won't even mention the Aussies.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Eeli Kaikkonen
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Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 7:49 am
Location: Finland
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Re: Pronunciation of the Article "Ho"?

Post by Eeli Kaikkonen »

R. Perkins wrote: *So I understand - are y'all saying that it's perfectly fine to pronounce Logos w. the long o(mega) sound? I thought the noun would have to be spelled w. the omega vowel for this pronunciation, but, since I've only had Greek I & some subsequent exegesis I could be mistaken.
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Technically speaking there's no "long o(mega) sound" in Restored Koine or Modern Greek. There are two written letters, ο and ω, and there's one phonetic vowel which is used for both of them in speech. Listen to Modern Greek speech (maybe find some online course) to find out probably the closest approximation for the original 2000 years old pronunciation. There exist also audio files where the New Testament is read aloud with different kinds of pronunciations.

https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/ ... 3-samples/ (restored)
http://www.greeknewtestamentaudio.com/ (mix between restored and modern)
http://www.letsreadgreek.com/resources/greekntaudio.htm (links to much more; if I understand correctly, The Patriarchal (Antoniades) text is recorded by several native Modern Greek speakers with Modern pronunciation)

I have taken a basic beginner course in Modern Greek (pronunciation was a main motivation) and I noticed that the length of the vowel varies according to situation. A native speaker could use length which sounds long or short for either ο or ω. With the caveat that in my native language, Finnish, long and short vowels are strictly different, so English speaker may perceive it differently. Anyways using α-sound as in some parts of America or that Santa Clause "ho" vowel for ο or ω should be forbidden by international laws.
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