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© A MANUAL Ow.

ROMAIC OR “MODERN” GREEK PRONUNCIATION

AND ITS APPLICATION TO ANGIENT GREEK.

P Alyy
tt

BY HA, SCOMP,

Professor of Greek in Emory College, Oxford, Ga.

 

Biv ob pi edd Tv dbvayev. rie gwvic, éoouar TH Aadowvre

Be a aE ns

 

SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE,
NASHVILLE, TENN.

Bas
PREFACE.

 

THE pretensions of so small a treatise as the present should be as

modest as its own limits. The author has been induced to pre-
pare it in answer to very many applications from both teachers and
students. The Romaic pronunciation of Greek has now been used
in Emory College for eight years. Both the author and the teachers
of the Sub-Freshman Department have been, and are, compelled to
write out the system of pronunciation for each class of new students,
and very great extra labor has thus been entailed upon both teachers
and taught. A little hand-book which should present the subject
in the smallest adequate compass seemed not only desirable but
indispensably necessary. Many students also, who themselves be-
come teachers;-and- many. other-teachers-in various-parts of the-coun-
try who prepare youths for college, have expressed an urgent desire
for such a vade-mecum. Many persons too would be pleased, from mo-
tives of a general. interest.in, the rubject, to, haye, such,a: hand-book.
These considerations have caused the appearance of the present little
work,

‘Jt seems almost superfluous to speak of the value of a correct pro-
nunciation. So far as Greek is concerned, certain sounds and com-
binations of sounds must forever remain a mystery to him who knows
nothing of the sounds as used by Greeks themselves at home. The
interchange of some letters, the relation of accent and quantity, etc.,
to say nothing of the ability io hold.intercourse with the Greek peo-
plein their own vernacular, can only be properly appreciated by him
who is thoroughly conversant with the pronunciation of the living
tongue.

The commercial, political, and literary development of Greece is
now advancing with rapid strides. Her university at Athens already
ranks among the great schools of Europe. Its faculty numbers near
one hundred professors—many of whom are well known all over the
continent—and about fifteen hundred students-attend their lectures.
Gymnasia, grammar and elementary schools, are established every-
where, and an almost unexampled eagerness in behalf of learning is
manifested by the people. Native philologists are making their in-
fluence to be felt and acknowledged everywhere in the world of let-

(3)
4 PREFACE.

 

ters. The university, as a kind of Sorbonne, is purifying the Jan-
guage from foreign dross and restoring archaic forms. The news-
papers, school-books, and other popular publications are now almost
entirely fréed from semi-barbarous words and idioms, and in its pres-
ent form no other instrumentality so thorough and efficient can be
found for acquiring the parley, _-language as the study of the living
tongue.

ALL teachers of, Greek and Latin composition have found .them-
selves hampered i in the matter of, a vocabulary. Usually, the:text-
books t upon the subject are, made up of original or slightly modified
sentences taken from one or two ancient authors. Tn Greek, Xeno.
phon and Demosthenes aré most frequently drawn 1 upon for dia pi pur-
pose, and both teacher and pupil ‘are painfully conscious of being
held. by iron bands. Who would undertake to convert a modern news+
paper into Demosthenean Greek?, His vocabulary would soon: run
short, and. be found totally inadequate, for the,,required purpose.
Just at this ‘point the living language furnishes, necessary: help—a
help which can be nowhere else obtained—and | a knowledge of it is
of prime importance. The Greek nation has’ still survived, and mod-
ern ideas and modern’ progress have’ affected its language also, and
have found through its subtle and elastic medium an ample expression
for the ever-increasing demands, made upon it; and thus Greek is
now found sufficient for all the growing necessities ;pf,a modern
tongue, ‘and it fills a “long felt want” of eyery thoughtful student...

More than a mere presentation ‘of principles of Romaic pronunci-
ation cannot, of course, find’ place in this little “Manual.” A dis-
cussion: of those principles, and theevidence upon which it'is based;
cannot: here be given; but this: little hand-book is ‘sent forth with
the hope that .it may’ somewhat. aid some students who are seeking
to master the noblest language ever spoken by man.

Emory College, September, 1884, : ,

ty
GREEK. PRONUNCIATION.

WG ° ted ara wb yo

HISTOR

px a mere outline of the os of Greek pronuncia-
tion can be given here. About ‘the time of the capture
of Constantinople by the Turks, in 1453, many Greéks’ fled .
from their native land and settled j in vTtaly. Shortly before
this time Greek Jearning had | begun. to revive in the: West.
This, was due almost entirely to the efforts of native Greeks
who, dike: Chrysoloras, had come to Italy durin the first
half of the fifteenth’ century Such teachers were : Theodore
Gaza, Pletho, Argyropulas, the two Lascari (one of whom
was the author of the first, Greek. book ever, printed), Bes-
sgrion—though the last was more an author and.a politi-
cian.than a,teacher—and:a multitude of others.

These Greeks were the only recognized teachers of Greek
in a atid the io used’ by them Was ‘that a

>}
srOUTay

The famous exiy of the Medici had Seat eet con-
spicuous.for their: zealous patronage of learned men, and for
collecting libraries, manuscripts; etc., and in ‘founding chairs
of instruction, especially in classical philology: Frenchmen,
Germans, and other foreigners, attended the lectures of the
learned Greeks who taught in Italy, and the torches lighted
here carried the flame of revived Greek learning across the
Alps. Among the many eminent scholars thus taught by
native Greeks, or the pupils of such teachers, were the cele-
brated Erasmus of Rotterd2m, and Johann Reuchlin, the
teacher of Melanchthon.

During all this period no other pronunciation of Greek
than that of the spoken language was used or ever dreamed

(5)
6 GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

of. It remained for the learned but erratic Erasmus in
that age of revolution to concoct a new theory of Greek
pronunciation which, at all events; would agree more nearly
with the German pronunciation of the letters of the alpha-
bet. This theory Erasmus published’in his well-known di-
alogue between the Lion and the Bear. “Erastius himself
did tot use his’ own’ system, i, and he was: believed by many
ti have written the treatise tather as a’ display of his own
learning than for any serious ‘purpose. Nevertheless, such
was the authority of Erasmus’s namié that many German
scholars adopted the new ‘system and established it over most
of Europe north of the Alps. A circumstance well’ calcu-
Jated to favor the growth of the new system among the Ger-
mantis was the fact that it agreed much more nearly: with the
sounds of their own tongue—indeed, some ‘soutids of' the
spoken Gieek were very difficult for the German ‘artic-
ulation. A Vigorous defender of thé native Greek ‘protun-
ciation was Reuchlin; ‘and 80 vehement was the contest’ be-
tween the followers ef Erasmus and those of Reuchliti that
‘the two systems of pronunciation were known as the [ras-
mian and the Reuchlinian. Another name given to the
Erasmians was Etacists, while the Reuchlinians were called
Ttacists, or Iotacists, from their different tiethods of: pro-
‘ouncing the letter H (q); the former foutiding it ‘as € yi in
they, the latter as ee in beet. i

The Erasmian system prevailed in Germany; and, ah
some modifications adapted to the French tongue, it sprékd
over ‘Franee,’ ‘Two Cambridge professors, ' nck s and Smith
(Thomas), appeared as its thiateptodla' in: England; but they
found an opponent, strong both with pen and sword, in the
person of Stephan, Chancalle: of the University and Bish-
op of Winchester.’ This prelate, in 1541, issued: a decree
‘in which the Erasmian pronunciation was interdicted. A
professor who should teach the ‘system was to lose -his:place;
GREEK PRONUNCIATION. 7

 

a candidate who, favored it was to be excluded 1 from all ac-
ademic degrees; and, a, pupil. who ysed. it, was to: be banished
from, aschool. ,. But, in spite of this emphatic condemnation,
Etagism finally established itself over Britain, ;- dn ithe seven-
teenth century Itacism.again began to rear its head and find
‘many, warm supporters,; The Erasmians, treated their, oppo
nents with, contempt; but the latter, galled by the taunts, of
their enemies, searched afresh, the, whole ground of the con-
troversy, and collected, i in, support, of their, systema mass.of
matesial,-hoth ancient, and moder was, truly, frais
able.,,Roithis work scholars like Evasmys Schmidt,.of Wit-
tenberg,,and,a host of others, devoted themselves with unre-
Anitting zeal, and with unwavering faith in the strength of their
position..,.Lhe mass of historical, proofs gathered ,by these
workers: ‘began everywhere, to. shake the confidence. of the
_Erasmians, in the correctness. of their pronunciation. , ‘How-
ever, the. position ; rvas, tacitly assumed, that ‘pronunciation
was a;matter of, no very great importance, at least not.suf-
ficient; to justify an innovation, into the, established system ;
andj so, ‘the, matter; was, for, the mast, part, ignored. , Most
o@regk grammars of this period did, nothing more; in the de-
-partment of pronunciation than to give the commonly ac-
cepted Erasmian sounds of the letters | and diphthongs, and
discussion of the, Subject,.seemed. anished, from, the, realm of
letters. In 1824, 1825, and 1826, respectively, “appeared
three; works , which awakened, new interest, in che matter.
isDhese works, were from the pens of, three, great philologists
wanviz.,, Seyfarth, Liskovius, andi, Bloch, »(p lhe, first.two of
‘these, writers. published, ag a, result of their. Igbors, each his
own system of pronynciatiop.. , Lhese, systems agreed neither
_ With the Erasmian nor, the Reu 1ehlinian, nor with each o other.
Professor. Bloch’ S.W ork, however, which 3 was yery exhaust-
ive, and at the same, time contained, a, critical review of the
_ recent, .graraInArAns,, Such. as Rost, ‘Thiersch, Matthiae,
8 GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

Buttmann, Hermann, and others, stirred up no small com-
motion in Germany. | Many champions appeared on either
side, and the controv: ersy was a ver heated one. Matthiae
replied to Bloch, but with a | passionate zeal har dly to be ex-
pected from so distinguished : a philologist. The reply of Mat-
thiae left untouched : almost all the pr oofs which Bloch had
collected in favor of the Reuchlinian pronunciation, “and
Bloch was so far. -confir med in. the genuineness, of Itacism
that, he collected in a large work the history of the who e
controv ersy since the days of rasmus, and the results of ‘his
own investigation as well. Bloch’s conclusions have ‘been
subjected _ to many reviews and criticisms ; Some of ‘them
have been, bitterly attacked and as vigorously defended.
‘Etacism, however, received a blow. from, which it will har rdly
ever recover. It nevertheless maintains itself over the Con-
tinent, in part because of the very common belief that pro-
nunciation is, not a matter, of vital importance, and in pait
because the Reuehlinian j is believed to be unable to explain
or fi ully account’ ‘for certain sounds and repetitions of sounds
found.in the ancient language. Thus Erasmianism, in spite
of its ert Ae defects, has been able, with various mod-

This s sy stem lays no claim to be the actual, lieing pronun-
ciation of a nation of six or eight millions of people, arid
cannot consequently pretend to any of the practical utility
of the Reuchlinian, or native, pronunciation. It is rather
an attempt ‘of a cheats: to maintain itself in defiance of the
actual usage in daily life of a pronunciation by’ a great ‘péo-
ple who, after’ centuries of thralldom, have liberated theni-
selves and are manifesting 1 more advancement in letters and
in politics than any other nation of Southern Europe. With
a general identity between the language of | ancient and that
of modern Greece which is apparent to every eye, it seems
impossible that the Erasmian system can yet ‘manently 1 main-
GREEK PRoNnUNCIATION. 9

 

tain itself against the living, pronunciation of a ‘nation which
is yearly gr owing in commercial and political importance,
and whose literature, constantly. increasing, already com-
mands t the respect of Europe. —o English system of pro-
a ouncing French | would be about as likely to overthrow the
‘native system, as used ' in ‘Paris, as the Erasmian would be
likely. to substitute itself for the native speech of the Greek
people. . Ti is impossible that a purely’ theoretic pronuncia-
tion’ cap 's and against thé daily usage of a people whose in-
‘fluence i in literature i is felt tore and more every yéar. The
Er asmian system, even if it could' be proved beyond dispute
to ‘be, identical with ‘that of the days of Pericles, ‘must, event-
tia

ually, yield to ‘the evéty-day language, the Vernacular df a

etpel ait’ a yet yar crs ast Heb gy

Reet pnd prosperous ‘people. ; .

ted) efuretas Votre, 4 hee hy
mt dpe you agape ers o> aia sad Pore:
Bo “SYSTEMS 0 OF ‘PRONUNCIATION. steers

iti PAP oe ¢ tidus “TEBE

Three systems of pronunciation. of Greek. may be x pied

eerie: _ English ;, Erasmian,, or the Continental. “and

a

 

epithe its

Reuchli inian, or “Modern” Greek. . The st of these need

not be considered, at, al oe nobody, Aree it, to, agr ee
with the. ancient speech. __ OF the: Brasmian/system Ww we, have
Tey spoken, hough, tl the. evidence relied. ou, by, i its adyo-
cates to, establish, its claims i is too ‘yoluminous to be br ought
Ww within ithe compass ¢ f, ‘this little hand-book. “The, chief
points of v variation, between the Er asmian and, Reuchlinian,
so far as, the sounds of, ; the elements are concer ned, are with
bi erence. t to the, soun nds, of Bry 8y7, & 1h, Oty vB PR, vd, and : vy.
‘Of course the s sounds of “the | letters may, be almost, independ-

DEPP salt

ent of the. ‘wor-accent. Whether the Erasmian or r Reuch-

Tinian, sounds be given to to, ‘the elements, still the accentuation
may remain unaltered. “In ‘point | of fact, the accents have
remain f as they, were anciently, : and correct, native speak-

EDEL . :
ers rigi ly adhere to them.
10 Grrtk Proxtxcratron.

 

|THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE. OF GREECE, VERSUS
THE ANCIENT. ~ pe

Greek hasnever ceased. to he both a vernacular and a; lit-
erary tongue. Itiwould ,be.too much, to, assert. that,.the
spoken; language, varies, in nowise from the ancient, but, we
do.not hesitate to say thatthe language. off.the, best. authors
of the, present century, as Coray, differs far. less, from, the
Greek, of the New Testament*,, period, than; the. latter differs
from the language of Homer and Hesiod; yet, who pretends
to affirm that,the language of; Plutarch, Diodorys, and Lu-
cian, isnot :as truly Greek as the language of the early
writers? No one asserts, that, Greek ig not the speech of, the
former as well as of the latter. ,,The progressive character
of language is fully admitted... ; Investigation and discoveny
must continually add new words to a vo abulary, or make
new applications of words alzeady established in signifiea-
tion. Greek, in common with otber languages, has , been
affected from this source... ‘The. present meaning of such
words: as -ratiroad, steam-boat, and,a thousand other terms
applied to the results: of modern progress, would have, been
totally unintelligible to our ancestors of the last centyry,
even though they perfectly understood the meaning of the
individual words in the compounds: so a@rpézocov-—a stenm-
boat—from. dzyés, steam, or:vapor, and! clo, a boats
otdnpcdponas—a railway—from otéypos, iron, and dpdyuos; a
way, or road; tazvdpopetoy—the post—from tazu-, swift, tind
dpopsioy, a running, etc., are only new applications of words
already long in use, but which in thei r modern meanings would

 

*The Modern Greek version of the New Testament made by the
Bible, Socigty has found, but: little acceptance among the _ pegple,
chiefly because the ancient text is easily understood ‘by ‘intelligent
Greeks. Speaking of this, Dr. Chalmers oncé exélaimed: “Whit!
‘glorious thought—a whole nation who'will need no translation of the
New Testament!”: ee : reeves
GREEK PRONUNCIATION. 11

 

have been totally incomprehensible to an ancient Greck.
Certainly a language is enriched, not destroyed, by such ad-
ditions.

Those analytic processes which affect other languages
have, to a slighter degree, modified'Greek.' Thus the prep-
osition is much more freely used now than formerly to ex-
press relations which, in the days of Plato, were expressed
by case-endings. Many of those relations which were an-
ciently put inthe genitive and dative are now found with
prepositions and the accusative. A good idea of the rela-
tion between the ancient and “modern” Greek may be af:
forded’by a comparison of the text of the Lord’s Prayer as
it stands in the ancient form and in its modern dress. The
latter is from the version published by the Bible paeey for
the use of the modern Greeks: -

; ANCIENT.
“Térep quav 6 &y roic olpavoic* | |
a) yracbijrea TO bvoud cov

_, MODERN.
Ilérep iui 6 drrotoc elods eg ‘rehe
obpavote, de elvan ytacpévov 76 bvona
cou dose ‘

Hide va EA0y7) Baocdeia aov' elfe vi
éxreaéoOy 7d OéAnud oon, Kai cig Tiv

' BWérw fy Bacidetacou' yerfijrw 7d
O£Anud cov, oc év obpavd, Kai ént

THC YC ;
Todv Gorov yuav rév eroboiov dog yin, Katheag Kai, ee Oy oupayey?
itty oipepor’. Xdpica ic pac siuegoy 70 Pout-

ov 70 dparrov elg 7 Tip ovaiav pas
‘Kal avyyxdpnoov cic quae ta xpén
pac, Kabing Kat aueic coy Ywpovpev

Kal-ddeg qyuiv ra dperAhuata amv, |:
“sg Kal husic abiepev. toig Opecdérace |

ae

" Kai py eloevéyrye aude etc mretp-
aguev' ada p doa Teac ard ToD Tov
mpor ore, oat gore 7 Pasiteia, Kat
Sivaute, kad y déca ele Tove aiaras

Au

(ara) el¢ rode Ypedorac rcv"
Kat pu) pac adgong va méowpey vic
mepaoudy GAY éAsvOspwcor yuac ard
man Kandy: dudze god, gore 1 BaoAsa,
kal dovapuec, Ka: H dbfa lg Tobe
aiavag’

 

PAuyV

Here we have seven instances of the change of the gen-
itive. and dative into the accusative; the adjective | for i,
roy érnwdatuv, is substituted, by the adjectives and. adjunet
equivalent, td dpzztoy efs tiy udalar; the precative impera-
12 GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

tives, é4dérw and yev707rw, are changed into: the subjunc-
tive forms, ¢70e vid ZA0n and ef0s va exteAda0y; while dytacdyzw
= dz elvat Gytacpévoy, ¢. €., the imperative d-—shortened from
dyes, let—with the infinitive and participle; the syllable va
—shortened from #a—is used with:the general subjunctive,
as.it is with the old subjunctive of purpose, etc.; as is
shortened. from the usual 7ds, and. is also used with a-prep-’
osition for judy, fied e 3 ee A

The variations of the'modern: from the: ancient: version, :
as seen above, belong. properly to grammar; the identity of:
the vocabularies is. such that:all: the words of the later. text
were in common use at the time of the ancient version.
Where are two languages in which ‘such identity can be
found?.. While the: grammatical forms of the nouns, pro-
nouns, adjectives, and verbs: of the modern belong: also to |
the, ancient text, the meaning of the words has:salso been
retained. |». | Bint re

Greek: has not been subjected_toidisintegrating, destroy:
ing influences to any such .extent as'Latin. Barbarians,
with: hostile dialects, invaded the domain of either language’.
but those tongues which affected Latin were, for the most
part, fromthe same parent stock and :family of languages,
and amalgamation was a natural consequence. French,
Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese arethe illegitimate offspring"
from this commingling of tongues. With Greek, the case’
has been widely different, ‘Barbarians of Turanian or Semit-
ic stocks: were those chiefly who came into:direct and: per-
manent contact with the Greek tongue, and'a fusion between
their dialects and Greek to the extent of producing a new +
language was impossible.’ No language nor family of lan-
guages has‘sprung from Greek bearing the hybrid charac-
ter of the Latin tongues of Southern Europe.. »

Ancient Greek was so rich in grammatical forms that
there was little danger of inerease in this departmerit' of
GREEK PRONUNCIATION. 13°

 

grammar; rather,:as the event:has demonstrated; there was
danger. of. losing from the abundance of forms which the
language already contained. giivi

From Turkish, Arabic, and other neighboring: languages,
Greek has. received next to nothing, except:in'some addi-
tions tovits voeabulary. A very large part of the changes
affecting the language occurred before the Christian era, and
they are to be met with in the writers of that-period and
have:remained: until the present. ..Words which were the
naimes of: permanent and enduring: objects, or ‘of acts, con-
ditions, ior:states whose character is unchangeable, were ot”
course-these which were least liable to be affected by time;''
6. gs, “AvWpwros, yuri, nals, Odlasca, twnug, aya0dc, dprtys
otéthey, Aépw, cbpicxw, xpdrrw, etc., have: retained: their an-
cient mbanings;'’and. as:such words make up the staple: of
every: language, Greek has continued, 'invall essential feat-
ures, the same tongue as that spoken by the old Hellenes.

If additional proof of. the general identity ofthe ancient
and modern dialects were needed, it may: be found in the
fact). that) :the- lexicographers igave lexicons to’ the Greek
world, which, are in no sense like lexicons forsa-foreign lan-
guage.. These dictionaries are rather, like: our Websters:
and|-Worcesters, used.ito explain to native Greeks, in their
mother-tongue, the derivation.and meaning of:words, phrases; |
praverbs,iete:, and also furnish:notes: on biographical, -hhistor-
ical, and:geographical names, etc.. The words used in expla-
nation of other words are often themselves explained in regu-
lar alphabetical order, as is. done. in our standard dictionaries.
This, of course, indicates, the essential oneness of the old and.
' the,new, tongues of the, Greekj population... These remarks
apply. especially, to the great, lexicons of Hesychius, Suidas,
and to the Etymologicum Magnum.;, The first Greek-Latin, .
lexicon was not given to the world untiL1480, whichwas the
beginning of what we,usually call Greek. Jexicography.
id GREEK PRONUNCIATION,

 

VALUE OF MODERN” GREEK TO THE STUDY:-OF.
duomutos yi97 soo THE ANCIENT 8 igen at douod:

» Tr is a the limits of this'tractate to discuss ‘the’
advantages: offered to wee ‘student of Ancient Greek: ‘by’a
Knowlédge of the langilage ‘ds spoken to-day?’ We'may, how:
ever, add a few lines out of David's “Einleitung in die 'Ver+
gleichung der Alt-und Neu-griechischen Sprachen :”

“The great advantage, however, off this study—Modern
Greek-——is that it giyes to ». the Poona ne ty: in in the lan-
guage, and trains his Hn renderi ing familial is ala natural to

Tita - t
him all its, ma terial —-V iz. its forms, syntax, ‘yorabular Yo, and

4 UTP OST
prosody, « This valuable experien nce is acquired "y (Speaking
the: mod m tongue, and by writing exercises in it it; a a
¢
ever acquires it reads readily also the books of the aha
and is able to express his thoughts i in Greek, -
Whoever has acquired a “speaking ethic with
Modern Greek finds that the wort S of ancient Auth thors, 0
elligt Bl MOUs spt
which the meanings may be uninte igible, re the exceptions ‘
while, on the other hand, the ordinary athe of one or two
years’ experience finds thatthe words with’ which, heis familiar
are the exceptions. re course this expertness mus t be acquired
with the “Moder mG ree ie ronu ca Te Greek
who has neve MD re he “the Baits in. aS ay pplied to
X a E o£ Ey ge ib tP
his native lang age, regar mi sed resenc e,
G pie 4 te gen
as hardly less fue a direct” per nsult aimed at him
a a BU gna Jor, frie
through this uninte igs le jarg oon
ot The uniformity of the accentiaivit byitem ‘used anciently
‘and at present, and its general accord with the pronuncia-
‘tion of the language as spoken, | affords a very. strong proof
of the general correctness of the living tongue as a true
representative of the ancient: The accents were. invented
by Aristophanes of Byzantium, to aid ‘foreigners to’ learn
to pronounce Greek, near three centuries before the Chris-
tian era, as we are informed hy Arcadius. The pronuncia-
GREK! PRONUNCIATION. 15

 

tidn accordixig to the accents is adhered to on;the Continent,
though in England and America, it has been very commonly
disregarded.,,, The, supposed, confl flict . between. accent: and
quantity. the natiye, Greek solves, very, rationally, inas-
much ag,he reads an ‘ancient Post, both, metrically. and by:
accent, ee. GRP ag, Py oe ”

oe

st RR ay seg gg

THE BREATHINGS! 9d
Neither the aspirate 1 nor t the Tenis at pre resent has any’ force

i whi

in p prontincis tion. ‘Now, as “anciently, thie ‘ough! br eathing:
MB aOR» ‘
has the power to change : a preceding smiooth iute into ite
own rough; but what ‘the ancient force of the aspirate was
is by. no means ¢ certain. cies is ‘sally regarded equivalent
to the Latin L “This letier was of 2 a, vety’ evanescent char-
a acter, as is evident fr om ‘the “fact that the | Latin tongues—
iach 8 spanish, ‘Ttalian, and Port gutse—ignore h 86 far
as _ pronunciation is concerned. Before certain’ words cont
mencing with’ h the French article ‘etains its Vowel; it is
possible that the Greek aspirate, may hayé had ‘some stich
character™ The Greek | aspirate is frequently’ represented
by! the Latin h, but often’ by. other letters, 8,28 ‘vs Hs ‘ thus » foxepus
‘Yesperus, ot ete. Certainly gout s 3 totally’ tinlike 4 as ‘the
English hand’ v ‘would not be re; presented by the samé ‘char-
act rE sounded at all, the’ aspirate: ivas ‘probably : a very

Tig sht breath thing, nothing like § 80 pane as. our A,

 

 

 

wal rian
: NotE,—The accents being. the s same in, form, nge,,and position as
in n Ancient Greek, require 0 special. ce heré other than, that, t to
an 1 English lear t there i is no p rceptible dedarence helween the sounds
of the adite and circumflex, "The grave, indicating merely the wbgétite
of the‘acite, has, of ootirse,’ no’ such ‘péwef'as the achité: "Its fobéelis
thrown (into the following word, viz., 7d Tefyoc..’ The accent:of-the ar-
ticle here is nearly swallowed up in that,of the noun, just as in Err
glish in the corresponding words, “the, wall,” the loses its Aecent, in

its. substantive wall, cas ;
TAT LEOVC : OR a i hb eE yy BE

 
16

GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTERS AND DIPH-
THONGS.

THE ALPHABET (

ce ie
70 a

Apa Bator ys

+ 3 , ai
Modern, as Ancient, Greek has twenty-four letters (aze-

¢ - ¥ hie ol
yzta}—seven vowels and seventeen consonants—in the fol-
lowing order:

 

 

 

 

 

frakeranermcoN iyi at on NAW aye ES mete sole ed Ta. Rrabmiain
dss eG aa cab tARpe ~ 9 writs, Pol Qayren =. Ana io BB
e re. =
prvi | y YY IGhamma! Téade- Gh (nearly) ts oa Putt
Ag qld Pelt iy Milica’ Th in Sivtco, * J oe .
: « ‘) ide. dapal
_ ow i god Bye w in fate, or e in met ? a
den sane? De: i or eh it) aL FREE ESS hd
ES my “i ala wey “thon fa tn es * ain mate
Oil @ e-iail|Theetaco Ora © ..\'Th in think (hard) Th a
X pe! Geil Lota ‘Tora »  |Eein meet, or iin Pine. eee aay
wie Eppa. Kdénza {1K kK.
Lamdha, or ax
a a you « |Lamtha_ , Adu8da L L
a Mee Mi M M
y & Nee ht Nooo N N
& Kzee BE xX xX:
Jy ale qq  jOmicron — {Opeexpdu., te i eh ey ae Beaewh
Midst pt. |Pee . /T aor |P oye sae | dsp tepid
: ; oe R slightly trilled, , cea
Pra p pe nl, ‘Pe ares ee) ve aus
Zily o,¢final jSigma 7) Taya 2i\8 Ss:
T = Tov 6 few IT pn
Y v Eepsilon — YyAov |e i in mee et
Diag g Phee, fee 97 3 |Ph, or f ‘oaesrowerpy, or ee
Xx y OdCheps) ssaXi 7s ch’ nearly;, no exact Ch st.
: equivalent. ~ of
iri » ot) Psee n> mais : Ps 4, ee
Bin @ - 29 A OMEBM vf en Quye  loinno op welor Ute... iter

 

 
GREEK PRONUNCIATION. 17

 

REMARKS. UPON THE SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

= as final letter in a syllable is sounded as a in ma, pa,
; followed by a consonant in the same syllable, it is pro-
cea like & in fat, mat, ete.

Bi is sounded as vin vain; after y it sounds as b in bat.

Tis pronounced before e, 7, ¢, v, and the diphthongs az, «:,
os, ut, as the English y in year, yet; thus, 77 = yee; yégupa
= yephera. Before y, «, y, = it sounds like n in long, angel;
as dyyehus = angyelos, dvdyzy —anangkee: Before a, v, and
» ithas no equivalent in English. It has been compared,
but wrongly, to the German ch. It does not help the En-
glish student to be told that ; = the Hebrew y (ayin),
though such is the fact. The sound somewhat resembles
‘that of ge in gewgaw; thus éyé = ag*yo, nearly. This let-
ter and z are the most difficult for our English-speaking
people to ‘acquire, ‘since they have no exact. equivalents in
our language.

4 — th in these, this, ete., a sound which 0 never has.
After », however, 0 has the sound of our d pe Gs ae pro-
nounced andra. -

£ is sounded like our short e in met, set, ete., or the in-
terjection eh !—senx0s = semnos. At the end of a syllable,
however, commonly « = a in fate; thus rtétuppévos, pro-
nounced tateemméanos. “This j is the usual force of e when
it stands as final letter in an accented syllable.

Z is, pronounced like z in zone, zeal, ete., not as dz, accord-
ing to the Erasmians, e. 9., SaxriSw — vapteezo.

H = ee in meet; e. g., zAjots — pleeseos. The pronunci-
ation of no other letter of the alphabet has been so much
disputed as that of 7. The Erasmians pronounce it like @

in fate or ey in they.
0 = th hard, as in think, throw; thesoft th is represented

by 6; cdg pronounced thayos.
Tis pron -unced as ee in see, and is often interchanged with
18 GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

the other long e sounds. However, when it is short and fol-
lowed by a consonant in the same syllable, it -has,aboutthe
sound of % in pin. Shit aye

K — English & Often in pronouncing this letter there
is a soft sound of.a ¢ heard; ‘thus, xsizas = tkeemay. This
breathing of ¢ is too; slight to be: represented by the full
English £ to si de vl tevod pyloiosnggs Dobauss ote gs

A = English /; #7fidw, pronounced stéllo.

M is pronounced like m. When followed by =, the latter
is- pronounced like b; e Gs uropos — GEOR,

#2 N= Englishn. Followed’ by tr, however, thé latter! ‘dom-
monly is sounded like d; ¢. g., ¢vtog == etidos; xéyr= = pende.

_& sounds always as #; this, af:0- i aveos, “YS

0 = din not, sot. If, however, it closes the syllable, it has
the long sound of o'in no; e. g., Eos’ Sls,

HT = English p. After y, however, it has the force of the
English }; thus, 27; ‘pag = = embros} réuravey = - teembanian ;
6 and z in this position | ‘both ‘Aotind “as b; ‘thus, aufbei io bins
énratvw both == embaino. ° - —. "en Bout

f = 1, only a little more trilled. 2999 How) Of 9 SS

+ is cuenta as sin song; ‘aku! = ‘gemno.
“ile always sounds a8, never as 2’; e. 9: vy TUG = Ditios, TAs
before said, after v it sounds like d.

Y is sounded like ee in meet; tézn == teechee,") 170! NN

& — ph, approximately. or .

‘ ¥ has no equivalent in English." It ‘approaches the sound
of ch in German,and in the Scotch apr Tt is, however,
affected by the f5llewing, not by the preceding, woudl) The
sound of 7 may be’ ipproximated "bY kluty emitting the
breath after forming ¢ or &, not permitting the tongue ‘to
approach the roof of the mouth, . thy the, words Jock,
block, stick, would t be pronounced ek ny stich. , The
sudden outburst with which final unc als are dismissed j in
English cann hot ‘Appl to this letter, X is “only final in the

Se oe eS Yohad ong et tepeerrre ) pagr

Oe og 998,

 
GREEK: PRONUNCIATION. 19

 

adverb odz;. before the rough breathing, ¢. 9., yéhws, z@pos,
yelp, are pronounced nearly kheeleds, bares, kheer.:

Y — ps in lips.

w = always the long o sound, as in no..

“TZ and Yo —-dz and tz, are’ only found’ in the: vulgae
eau as spoken by the common people. pce

+7 are sounded pepe never like sh in English.

 

af
 DIPHTHONGS (Bigourz0).

.All diphthongs end in «or, v, The proper diphthongs
(xipeat deg dey pic) are: hg

at = ay in hay or may; uipw, pasnouieed ayro.

EGF RiC€ In meet; thus, els pronounced ¢es.

ot = e€¢ in meet; ‘thus, mot ug vane peeds.

98, =. in rls ae robton 1» — tootoo. ae
bis 7 after a, e, or 7, sounds as the English vin very, vain, “ete:
ee av — av in average—e. 9., ables, pronounced avlos; ev
= ev in every, even: thus eddyyelos == evangyalos; yu =
eve—e. g., GBAvvy, pr onounced eveloon. ,

: To the above use of v this. exception. | is to be. oS be-
fore % 4,7, 9, =, g, 9, &, and, ¢', the, sound of v is sharpened
into that of the English f, as.ao7¢s = Se ebdbs = efthees;
qo2y40a = evexeesah, ete.

- , The improper diphthongs (a! supupdycean ‘a ee 4,
#, are, pronounced.as the simple 4, y,,.. With words in
capitals, the : may either be written subscript or to the right
of the letter to which it belongs; thus, 7@/ AOTQJ/, or 12
AGI2. ,

i

 

POSITION OF BREATHINGS AND. ACCENTS,
When the Accents Belong, to ‘the First syllable 0 ot a 2 Word.

sistsg hehe

nor r breathing j is used ; but if only the initial Ace isa \ cap-
20 GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

ital and a vowel, both accent and breathing are written be-
fore it. Mo oS

(6) With a word whose initial letter is a small ial
both, accent and breathing. stand over the vowel; if the
word.commences with a proper diphthong, both , stand, over
the second vowel; with an improper diphthong, both stand
over the first vowel. : a

(c) When accent and breathing stand over the same vow-
el or diphthong, the breathing precedes the acute accent,
but is written beneath the circumflex. n

The limits of this little manual will not permit a digeie:
sion of the relation between accent and quantity. Erasmus
and his followers in Germany always observed the accent
in pronunciation, and yet they adhered to quantity ; an
Erasmus declares that the very donkeys could ‘teach ws that
accent, and quantity are different; for when they bray they
make sharp sounds short and deep. ones long. The et
onous pronunciation ‘of Latin by quantity, which seems su
stantiated by the authority of Quintilian, cannot but have
a vicious effect upon Greek; and to attempt to weigh the
latter tongue down with the pronouncing, system of the for-
mer cannot but be productive of untold confusion, Cer-
tainly even accent, though ; affected by quantity, is not sub-
servient to it.’ Greeks pronounce, ‘their ‘Tanguage by accent,
although they stress the quantity now as anciently.

It seems evident that the accents were invented to teach
foreigners to pronounce ‘Greek. Certainly any, hypothesis
fails ignominiously which endeayors t to account. for the ac-
cents on any other grounds than that ‘they were helps to
pronunciation ; and the general adherence of the ‘people who
speak Greek, ‘both learned and unlearned, to the pronunci-
ation by accents is one of the, most. incontrovertible proofs
of the essential correctness of the pronunciation, as judged
by the standard of the ancients, . ees es oe

a4
GREEK PRonyNciATion. 21

 

» » EXERCISES IN GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

N. adzés, aftés; avty, aftee; abto, afto.
G. abdruod, aftoo; | anys, aftees ; attod, aftoo.
D. abr, ‘afte ; arty, aftee; ata, afte:
A. abzdy, aftin ; "  abryy, afteen ie adré, ‘afto.:
N. and - ‘A. diet, afto; - abra é, aftah ;' até, afto.

G. and D. adzoiv, afteen ; adrair, aftain i adtury, afteen.
N. adzoi, aftee;. abtai, aftay ; ” abrd, aftah.

G. «abcd», aftone; Sn cis Dr va,
D: adrois, aftees ;. adtais, adtais ;.  adtots, aftees,
A. abtods, aftoos; abtde, aftas;:, . adrd, aftah.

THE ARTICLE (73 spbpov).
De8, 0; ty ee; TH, t0; ae ol, i ai, , aye; 7 td, tah.
G. . rob ,t00; zFs, tees; 708, too; roy, tone;
D, =, t0; th, tee; 7 11; rots, tees Tals, tals; co7s, tees,
Bes tov, ton; ty, ‘teen; 74, to; 708s, t008 tds, tas; 7d, tah.

N, and.A. rw, ae: tO3) tuys ree!
G. and D, rot, teen; zaty, tain; roi, teen.

 

 

 

‘FROM THE “DEATH OF LORD BYRON.'”” (ANGELICA PALLE,)
Teds Raps
Toos ] la

4

   

maovs Spyoug is YeAns agivwy
proos eemnoos tees neekees apheendn_ 7
(or imnoos),’
Kav pa» Azet Apdov 6 atpards" ;
Klovthmén eechee eerd6n 3 stratos; |”
Thup&sz honoivr af groyat toy ‘ELyvwr,
Peekrés leepoont’ aye pseechay tone Elleenén,
 Péxober paxpobey’ zat yatpec 6 sees:
Takooee makrothen kay chayree’ 6 ‘echthrés.

iy

 

Maat aE SE

"8 Bod FlOe mhqy pods toy eldoy

O rheel& eelthéh; pleen mélis ton eethén

, * Skdarouy zhatovtes TOY tdpov adtob,

Skaptoon klayéntés tn taphon aftoo, |
22 GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

[50d td téhog evddEwy @Aridwy,
Ithoo té taylés enthdxon elpeethon, ee
(or elpeedhén),
Kal 7) tpdxatoy Oavdrov oxdnpod- i
Kay t6 tropayén thinahtoo ‘skleeroo.
FROM ANACREON.

Aégyoverw af yovarzss,

Laygoosin aye yeenaykes,

? Avaxpéwy, yépwy et

Anakrayon, yayron ee;

AaBdy Zooxtpoy, GOpet

Lay-on aysdptrén, athree

Képas pay obs et obeaé,

Komas men ookét oosas,

Pidov O¢ cev pétwroy.

Pseelén theh sev métopon.

"Ey od 08 tds xéuas per,

Ay-gy6 theh tas komas men,
(or ay- gho),

Et? eioty, ef? axiAOor,
Fet’ eesin, cet’ %peelthin,

Obx vlda‘ tvdTto © vida,

Ook eethah; tootd theethah,
°Qe tH yépovte padhoy oF A
Os t6 yayréute mahlon
Ilpéxet ta tepavd xatherv,
Praypee tah terpnah payzeen,
"Oaw xélas ta Moipys.

yal

Oso paylas. tah Meerees.
FROM ASOP.
Kébwy — Onpsotizds, Agovta™ t0dv, — todTOv: ar oe

Keeén therevtekos, layontah ethon, toottn aytheedken

tig 08 éxtotpagsrs: exstvog © eBpuyqoato, 5 xbwy * * gopy-
6s theh &pistraphees “keends évreecheesahté 6 keedn phovee-
GREEK EEONUS CIATION: 23

aig elo Ta ates Zpuyey uy "Addaye - 03 Goi Osaca-
thees ees tah Gpeesd &pheeyén.j, Allopeex théh thayahsah-
pevy abzdy £97, @ ,xaxy wegady ob Aéovta 20¢-
maynee aftén éphee 6 kakee kephahlee, ‘aeolayontacaythee-

oop 6Pt Kahkee), .. eaGatt G1 ye.

weg, obtivos, od03 Toy Bpuzn lucy ‘Smiveyzas ;

okes, ooteenos oothay ton vreecheethmon eepeenengkas?
ea
ae LORD’ $, PRAYER. Ay

Hdzep. qpiy 6 ey “Tots obpavr = dytaa0y rw TO dvopd
Pahter eem6n 6 en. tees ‘oorahness ahyeegstheetd td 6ndmah
cou EMétw Bastheta.. cou" = sg Oricen, 179  O8Anua = Gov,
800. Elthayto ee vasileeah S005, yeneeth heete t6 thayleemah soo,
@5 &y odpard, xai ‘ex Lethe Vis Oye Toy Hay tov eze-
os en gordings kay, epee tees s jess, on, arton eemon ton epee-
obatoy Odg’ Fury ohpepar" oe Kai dges. quty: td dpet-
oosedn thos eemin seemerdn., Kay aphes-eemin tah ophee-
S agisper  .tetg dgethkétats

 

 

 

Ajpata Aud, ws xat We
leematah cemon, os kay gemees apheeamen: n tees opheelaytays
por . / Kat i elasvéyzns mas eld.) )yretpacpor ahha’
eemén. Kay me cesenengkees.eemas ees‘peerasmon; allah
pocat -ppas axo tod-povnpod' Gre cod gore 'y  Baotlela, xat
reesay eemas apo too poneroo; -ote,sou estintee vasileeah, kay
jh Obvaus, zai, 4, 0080,.,,. gle tod aldvaz ?Apyy.

ee theenamis, kay ee thoxah,ees, tgos aydnas. -Ahmeen.

‘FROM THE ILfaD. “20
Mijviv dee, Ozds “Mipidoee A yedjos
Meenin ale ssp thayah, , Becledthes, Achileeos
Oddopeyy, pope “Azasuts diye! eip2), ;
Oolomayneen ee meeree’' Ahchayees Ae etheeken,
Todas Pigdivovs duzag ° Arde xpotager
‘ax-Pollas thiphtheemoos pseechas Aythee proeeapsen »' A
1 Hoda, abrobs 08 Eddipra tedze xvyecatiay7s191* ndgu zt.
a Eerdén, aftoos theh eléreea tevchéh keenessin bh ous

‘
ae vinta, Hada o Hinge ooo. 9 atts ey AB oF ME ae vais wi ant} uw
24 GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

 

Otwvot at te xaot, Atws Téredeteroa Bovdf

Eedneesee tth pahsee, Theos th’etayleeatd voolee,
"ES 0b 09 ta xpdra OtactytHy éploayte

Ex oo thee tah protah theasteeteen éreesantth
"AtpetOnz te dvae awp@y xar dtos *Agradeds.
Atreethees téh ahnax anthrén kay theeos Achillefs.

The following extract trom Coray may be used as an ad-
ditional exercise in pronunciation. It is taken from the
Prolegomena to his “Hapatvésece Modetixal xpdg tods ° Edy-
vas:””

TS obyypapnpua todto toy Hodetin@y eovytdyOn axd Bkny zepe
wzopésny els @dko paxpo'tepoy cbyypappa extypago'pevoy Mo,
Aitstat, dganopdvoy xara dvetuytay, eig td bxutoy 6 ’Aptatotédyns
fatopodee 255; xzaz’ ddkovg 168, zéhewy “EdAnuixzdy, xa Pap-
Sdowy tvdy vopobzotas 7 nokirizas xatactdcets, cuvadpurioas
abtas ws Bdny, x tis Snoias eusdhe vd auytd'n ta Moderna,
xai tadta, zadds elza, xoloBwpdva thy oxpepor. ‘H peta mpo-
oox7s avdyywots abvtoy Gpxzst vad delSn xa thy xeptvotay tod gt-
hoadgov, zai tag GdyOetz aitiag, did ti ol “EdAgves ps téony yvO-
ow mohkerixqy, dev edvuiOncay Sums vd guddSwor pezpt téhovg THY
pet Gdijhov épdvotav, xal Ota th td onpepwd tis Edpodays
&Ouy pe nhstotipay tov “Eddqvwy exiotypny tis RodttinaS xol-

vuvias, dev Aundpeoay axdun var eipyvebawat xpos addyjdous,

Additional exercises may be taken from any Greek au-
thor; and the pupil may be practiced in this way until he
shall become master of the pronunciation and able to apply
it with readiness. Having once acquired the Romaic pro-
nunciation, he will never give it up for any other. By ap-
plying it both to Ancient and Modern Greek, the language
will begin to have for him a living character which soon
separates it from the tongues which are classed as “dead.”
Poteet IEY

i
TES RY

sae

se

sae
Wey ie
Raa)
ey
IN
ee
ae

Peony
f
Ba ses
i
is sae
i
s

OK

Bets ane
Cee
i