pronunciation difference between η and ει

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?
Barry Hofstetter
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Joined: May 6th, 2011, 1:48 pm

Re: pronunciation difference between η and ει

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Jason Hare wrote: November 23rd, 2020, 11:07 pm Well, that's all good information. Seem bad for communication, though. Can you imagine speaking a language in which you cannot distinguish orally/aurally between "you" and "we"?

"I pray that God gives us [ἡμῖν] reprieve from our [ἡμῶν] troubles." > Which someone takes a nice blessing from you, as he hears it as if you had said, "I pray that God gives you [ὑμῖν] reprieve from your [ὑμῶν] troubles." What foolishness this could lead to!
And yet, for the most part, it really doesn't lead to any foolishness, only the occasional text critical issue where either pronoun could be substituted and still make sense. Greek speakers for the most part could get the difference in context. We have lots of homographs and homophones in English, and they rarely cause too much trouble, except for puns and spelling tests. We have hare and hair...

"What do you call 10 rabbits who all take a step backward at the same time? A receding hare-line..." (ba-da-boom).

No intentional reference to your name, except that it put me in mind of the example.
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.
nathaniel j. erickson
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Joined: May 16th, 2016, 9:27 am
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Re: pronunciation difference between η and ει

Post by nathaniel j. erickson »

Well, that's all good information. Seem bad for communication, though. Can you imagine speaking a language in which you cannot distinguish orally/aurally between "you" and "we"?
Yeah. It sort of reminds me of a language I know where you can't distinguish between 2nd person singulars and plurals. Pretty ridiculous language, that. Me to kids: "Come here!" Each devious child in their mind: "'you' is you, not me." Result. No one comes.
Nathaniel J. Erickson
NT PhD candidate, ABD
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
ntgreeketal.com
ὅπου πλείων κόπος, πολὺ κέρδος
ΠΡΟΣ ΠΟΛΥΚΑΡΠΟΝ ΙΓΝΑΤΙΟΣ
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