Pronunciation of Ancient Greek in teaching
Encyclopedia
Ancient Greek
has been pronounced in various ways by those studying Ancient Greek literature
in various times and places. This article covers those pronunciations; the modern scholarly reconstruction of its ancient pronunciation is covered in Ancient Greek phonology
.
, from the Byzantine Empire
to modern Greece
, Cyprus
, and the Greek diaspora
, Greek texts from all periods have always been pronounced using contemporaneous, local Greek pronunciation, which makes it easy to recognize the many words which have remained the same or similar in written form from one period to another. Among Classical scholars, this is often called the Reuchlinian
pronunciation.
Nevertheless, Greek textbooks for secondary education give a summary description of the reconstructed pronunciation of Ancient Greek. This includes differentiation between short and long vowels and between the various accents, pronunciation of the spiritus asper
as /h/, of β, γ and δ as plosives and of diphthongs as such, whereas often no mention is made of the pronunciation of θ, φ, and χ.
, in particular after the fall of Constantinople
in 1453, when many Byzantine Greek scholars came to western Europe. At this time, Greek texts were universally pronounced using the medieval pronunciation which survives intact to the present day.
From about 1486, various scholars (notably Antonio of Lebrixa, Girolamo Aleandro, and Aldus Manutius
) judged that this pronunciation appeared to be inconsistent with the descriptions handed down by ancient grammarians, and suggested alternative pronunciations. This work culminated in Erasmus’ dialogue De recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronuntiatione.
The pronunciation described by Erasmus is very similar to that currently regarded by most authorities as the authentic pronunciation of Classical Greek (notably the Attic dialect of the 5th century BC). However Erasmus did not actually use this pronunciation himself.
and Thomas Smith
became Regius Professors at Cambridge
. They proposed a reconstructed pronunciation of both Greek and Latin, which was similar to Erasmus’ scheme, although derived independently, and this became adopted in schools.
Soon after the Cheke and Smith reforms, English underwent the Great vowel shift
which changed the phonetic values assigned to the English "long vowels" in particular; the same changes affected the English pronunciation of Greek, which thus became further removed from the Ancient Greek original and also from Greek as pronounced in other western countries.
A further peculiarity of the English pronunciation of Ancient Greek occurred as a result of the work of Isaac Vossius
who maintained in an anonymously published treatise that the written accents of Greek did not reflect the original pronunciation. Moreover, Henninus (Heinrich Christian Henning) published Dissertatio Paradoxa which claimed that accentuation in Ancient Greek must follow the same principles in Latin. This view is now universally considered to be erroneous (it is generally accepted that the accented syllable in Ancient Greek (as in Modern Greek) is the one carrying the written accent, although most authorities consider that this was a pitch accent as opposed to the Modern Greek stress accent). However, the Henninian theory has affected the pronunciation taught in schools in the UK and the Netherlands, although it has been resisted in the United States and other countries.
Thus by the mid-19th century the pronunciation of Ancient Greek in British schools was quite different not only from Modern Greek, but also from the reconstructed pronunciation of Ancient Greek (which by this time had been fairly well agreed amongst scholars), and from the pronunciation used in other countries. The Classical Association therefore promulgated a new pronunciation, based on the reconstructed ancient pronunciation, which is now generally in use in British schools.
The reforms in the pronunciation of Ancient Greek in schools have not affected the pronunciation of individual Greek-derived words in English itself, while there is now considerable variation in the English pronunciation (and indeed spelling) of the names of Ancient Greek historical or mythological personages or places; see: English words of Greek origin
.
Thus, German speakers do not use a fricative [θ] for θ, but give it the same pronunciation as τ, namely [t], although φ and χ are realised as the fricatives [f] and [x] ~ [ç]. ζ is usually pronounced as an affricate, but voiceless, like German z [ts]. In return, σ is often voiced, according to the rules for pre-vocalic s in German, [z]. ευ and ηυ are not distinguished from οι, both pronounced [ɔɪ], following German eu, äu. Similarly, ει and αι are often not distinguished, both pronounced [aɪ] just like the similar-looking German ei, ai, while sometimes ει is pronounced [ɛɪ]. No attempt is usually made to reproduce the accentuation contrast between acute and circumflex accents.
While these deviations are often acknowledged as compromises in teaching, awareness of other German-based idiosyncrasies is less widespread. German speakers typically try to reproduce vowel-length distinctions in stressed syllables, but often fail to do so in non-stressed syllables, where they are also prone to use a reduction of e-sounds to [ə]. Distinctive length of double vs. single consonants is usually not observed, and German patterns whereby vowel length interrelates with closedness vs. openness of syllables may affect the realisation of Greek vowels before consonant clusters even in stressed syllables:
ε, η = [ɛ] ~ [eː]; ο, ω = [ɔ] ~ [oː]; ι, ῑ = [ɪ] ~ [iː]; υ, ῡ = [ʏ] ~ [yː]; ου = [ʊ] ~ [uː].
In reading poetry, it is customary to render the scansion patterns by strong dynamic accents on the long syllables, counter to the natural accentuation of the words, and not by actual length.
Vowel length distinction, geminate consonants, and pitch accent are discarded completely, which matches the absence of pitch accent in French and the discarding of geminate consonants and vowel length distinction in standard modern French. This disregard of vowel length is such that the reference Greek-French dictionary, Dictionnaire Grec Français by A. Bailly and al., does not bother to indicate vowel length in long syllables.
Vowel length notwithstanding, the values for simple vowel are generally correct, though many speakers have problems with the openness distinction between and , and , matching similar confusion by many speakers of standard modern French. or followed by a nasal and another consonant are often nasalized as [ɑ̃] or [ɔ̃] (e.g. [ɑ̃ntrɔpos] for ) ; these allophones appear under the influence of the French phonetic system.
The pseudo-diphthong is erroneously pronounced [ɛj] or [ej], both before vowel and before consonant, and whether the derives from a genuine diphthong or a . Pseudo-diphthong has a value of [u], which is historically attested in Ancient Greek.
Short-element diphthongs , and are pronounced rather accurately as [aj], [ɔj], [yj] (though at least some web sites recommend a less accurate pronunciation [ɥi] for ). Short-element diphthongs and are pronounced like similar-looking French pseudo-diphthongs au and eu, i.e. [o]~[ɔ] and [ø]~[œ], respectively.
The is not pronounced in long-element diphthongs. As for long-element diphthongs, common French-language Greek methods or grammars appear to ignore such diphthongs in their descriptions of the pronunciation of ancient Greek in France.
The values for consonants are generally correct. However, due to lack of similar sounds in standard modern French, is not pronounced, and are pronounced [t] and [k], whereas is pronounced [f]. For similar reasons, and are both pronounced [ʀ]French editors generally edit geminate as , anyway., whereas before velar is generally pronounced [n]. Digraph is pronounced [ɡm], and is pronounced [dz] though both pronunciation are questionable in the light of modern scholar research. More generally, no attempt is made to reproduce unwritten allophones that are thought to have existed by modern scholar research.
Specifically:
The following diphthongs are pronounced like the similarly-written Italian diphthongs:
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
has been pronounced in various ways by those studying Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in the Ancient Greek language until the 4th century.- Classical and Pre-Classical Antiquity :...
in various times and places. This article covers those pronunciations; the modern scholarly reconstruction of its ancient pronunciation is covered in Ancient Greek phonology
Ancient Greek phonology
Ancient Greek phonology is the study of the phonology, or pronunciation, of Ancient Greek. Because of the passage of time, the original pronunciation of Ancient Greek, like that of all ancient languages, can never be known with absolute certainty...
.
Greek world
Among speakers of Modern GreekModern Greek
Modern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...
, from the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
to modern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, and the Greek diaspora
Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Hellenic Diaspora or Diaspora of Hellenism, is a term used to refer to the communities of Greek people living outside the traditional Greek homelands, but more commonly in southeast Europe and Asia Minor...
, Greek texts from all periods have always been pronounced using contemporaneous, local Greek pronunciation, which makes it easy to recognize the many words which have remained the same or similar in written form from one period to another. Among Classical scholars, this is often called the Reuchlinian
Johann Reuchlin
Johann Reuchlin was a German humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew. For much of his life, he was the real centre of all Greek and Hebrew teaching in Germany.-Early life:...
pronunciation.
Nevertheless, Greek textbooks for secondary education give a summary description of the reconstructed pronunciation of Ancient Greek. This includes differentiation between short and long vowels and between the various accents, pronunciation of the spiritus asper
Spiritus asper
In the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, the rough breathing , is a diacritical mark used to indicate the presence of an sound before a vowel, diphthong, or rho. It remained in the polytonic orthography even after the Hellenistic period, when the sound disappeared from the Greek language...
as /h/, of β, γ and δ as plosives and of diphthongs as such, whereas often no mention is made of the pronunciation of θ, φ, and χ.
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Theology faculties and schools related to or belonging to the Eastern Orthodox Church use modern Greek pronunciation, following the tradition of the Byzantine Empire.Renaissance scholarship
The study of Greek in the West expanded considerably during the RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, in particular after the fall of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
in 1453, when many Byzantine Greek scholars came to western Europe. At this time, Greek texts were universally pronounced using the medieval pronunciation which survives intact to the present day.
From about 1486, various scholars (notably Antonio of Lebrixa, Girolamo Aleandro, and Aldus Manutius
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius , the Latinised name of Aldo Manuzio —sometimes called Aldus Manutius, the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Aldus Manutius, the Younger—was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press at Venice.His publishing legacy includes...
) judged that this pronunciation appeared to be inconsistent with the descriptions handed down by ancient grammarians, and suggested alternative pronunciations. This work culminated in Erasmus’ dialogue De recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronuntiatione.
The pronunciation described by Erasmus is very similar to that currently regarded by most authorities as the authentic pronunciation of Classical Greek (notably the Attic dialect of the 5th century BC). However Erasmus did not actually use this pronunciation himself.
England
In 1540, John ChekeJohn Cheke
Sir John Cheke was an English classical scholar and statesman, notable as the first Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge University....
and Thomas Smith
Thomas Smith (diplomat)
Sir Thomas Smith was an English scholar and diplomat.He was born at Saffron Walden in Essex. He was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow in 1530, and in 1533 was appointed a public reader or professor. He lectured in the schools on natural philosophy, and on Greek in...
became Regius Professors at Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. They proposed a reconstructed pronunciation of both Greek and Latin, which was similar to Erasmus’ scheme, although derived independently, and this became adopted in schools.
Soon after the Cheke and Smith reforms, English underwent the Great vowel shift
Great Vowel Shift
The Great Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in England between 1350 and 1500.The Great Vowel Shift was first studied by Otto Jespersen , a Danish linguist and Anglicist, who coined the term....
which changed the phonetic values assigned to the English "long vowels" in particular; the same changes affected the English pronunciation of Greek, which thus became further removed from the Ancient Greek original and also from Greek as pronounced in other western countries.
A further peculiarity of the English pronunciation of Ancient Greek occurred as a result of the work of Isaac Vossius
Isaac Vossius
Isaak Vossius, sometimes anglicised Isaac Voss was a Dutch scholar and manuscript collector.-Life:...
who maintained in an anonymously published treatise that the written accents of Greek did not reflect the original pronunciation. Moreover, Henninus (Heinrich Christian Henning) published Dissertatio Paradoxa which claimed that accentuation in Ancient Greek must follow the same principles in Latin. This view is now universally considered to be erroneous (it is generally accepted that the accented syllable in Ancient Greek (as in Modern Greek) is the one carrying the written accent, although most authorities consider that this was a pitch accent as opposed to the Modern Greek stress accent). However, the Henninian theory has affected the pronunciation taught in schools in the UK and the Netherlands, although it has been resisted in the United States and other countries.
Thus by the mid-19th century the pronunciation of Ancient Greek in British schools was quite different not only from Modern Greek, but also from the reconstructed pronunciation of Ancient Greek (which by this time had been fairly well agreed amongst scholars), and from the pronunciation used in other countries. The Classical Association therefore promulgated a new pronunciation, based on the reconstructed ancient pronunciation, which is now generally in use in British schools.
The reforms in the pronunciation of Ancient Greek in schools have not affected the pronunciation of individual Greek-derived words in English itself, while there is now considerable variation in the English pronunciation (and indeed spelling) of the names of Ancient Greek historical or mythological personages or places; see: English words of Greek origin
English words of Greek origin
The Greek language has contributed to the English vocabulary in three ways:#directly as an immediate donor,#indirectly through other intermediate language, as an original donor , and#modern coinages using Greek roots....
.
Germany
The situation in present-day German education may be representative of that in many other European countries. The teaching of Greek is based on a roughly Erasmian model, but in practice it is heavily skewed towards the phonological system of the host language.Thus, German speakers do not use a fricative [θ] for θ, but give it the same pronunciation as τ, namely [t], although φ and χ are realised as the fricatives [f] and [x] ~ [ç]. ζ is usually pronounced as an affricate, but voiceless, like German z [ts]. In return, σ is often voiced, according to the rules for pre-vocalic s in German, [z]. ευ and ηυ are not distinguished from οι, both pronounced [ɔɪ], following German eu, äu. Similarly, ει and αι are often not distinguished, both pronounced [aɪ] just like the similar-looking German ei, ai, while sometimes ει is pronounced [ɛɪ]. No attempt is usually made to reproduce the accentuation contrast between acute and circumflex accents.
While these deviations are often acknowledged as compromises in teaching, awareness of other German-based idiosyncrasies is less widespread. German speakers typically try to reproduce vowel-length distinctions in stressed syllables, but often fail to do so in non-stressed syllables, where they are also prone to use a reduction of e-sounds to [ə]. Distinctive length of double vs. single consonants is usually not observed, and German patterns whereby vowel length interrelates with closedness vs. openness of syllables may affect the realisation of Greek vowels before consonant clusters even in stressed syllables:
ε, η = [ɛ] ~ [eː]; ο, ω = [ɔ] ~ [oː]; ι, ῑ = [ɪ] ~ [iː]; υ, ῡ = [ʏ] ~ [yː]; ου = [ʊ] ~ [uː].
In reading poetry, it is customary to render the scansion patterns by strong dynamic accents on the long syllables, counter to the natural accentuation of the words, and not by actual length.
France
Pronunciation of Ancient Greek in French secondary schools is mostly based on Erasmian pronunciation, but modified to match the phonetic system of French (and even orthographic conventions of French in the case of and ).Vowel length distinction, geminate consonants, and pitch accent are discarded completely, which matches the absence of pitch accent in French and the discarding of geminate consonants and vowel length distinction in standard modern French. This disregard of vowel length is such that the reference Greek-French dictionary, Dictionnaire Grec Français by A. Bailly and al., does not bother to indicate vowel length in long syllables.
Vowel length notwithstanding, the values for simple vowel are generally correct, though many speakers have problems with the openness distinction between and , and , matching similar confusion by many speakers of standard modern French. or followed by a nasal and another consonant are often nasalized as [ɑ̃] or [ɔ̃] (e.g. [ɑ̃ntrɔpos] for ) ; these allophones appear under the influence of the French phonetic system.
The pseudo-diphthong is erroneously pronounced [ɛj] or [ej], both before vowel and before consonant, and whether the derives from a genuine diphthong or a . Pseudo-diphthong has a value of [u], which is historically attested in Ancient Greek.
Short-element diphthongs , and are pronounced rather accurately as [aj], [ɔj], [yj] (though at least some web sites recommend a less accurate pronunciation [ɥi] for ). Short-element diphthongs and are pronounced like similar-looking French pseudo-diphthongs au and eu, i.e. [o]~[ɔ] and [ø]~[œ], respectively.
The is not pronounced in long-element diphthongs. As for long-element diphthongs, common French-language Greek methods or grammars appear to ignore such diphthongs in their descriptions of the pronunciation of ancient Greek in France.
The values for consonants are generally correct. However, due to lack of similar sounds in standard modern French, is not pronounced, and are pronounced [t] and [k], whereas is pronounced [f]. For similar reasons, and are both pronounced [ʀ]French editors generally edit geminate as , anyway., whereas before velar is generally pronounced [n]. Digraph is pronounced [ɡm], and is pronounced [dz] though both pronunciation are questionable in the light of modern scholar research. More generally, no attempt is made to reproduce unwritten allophones that are thought to have existed by modern scholar research.
Italy
Ancient Greek in Italy is taught in the Erasmian pronunciation without exception. However, Italian speakers find it hard to reproduce the pitch-based ancient Greek accent accurately, so circumflex and acute accents are not distinguished. Poetry is read using metric conventions stressing the long syllables. The distinctions between single and doubled consonants that are present in Italian are recognized.Specifically:
- β is a voiced bilabial plosiveVoiced bilabial plosiveThe voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is b. The voiced bilabial plosive occurs in English, and it is the sound denoted by the...
[b] as in Italian biliardo or English Bill - γ is a voiced velar plosiveVoiced velar plosiveThe voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is g. Strictly, the IPA symbol is the so-called "opentail G" , though the "looptail G" is...
[ɡ] as in Italian gatto or English got. When γ precedes κ γ χ ξ is nasalized in [ŋ] - κ is the voiceless velar plosiveVoiceless velar plosiveThe voiceless velar stop or voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k....
[k] - ζ is pronounced as voiced alveolar affricateVoiced alveolar affricateThe voiced alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨⟩ or ⟨⟩ , and the equivalent X-SAMPA representation is ⟨dz⟩.-Features:...
[dz] as in Italian zolla - τ is pronounced as the voiceless dental plosiveVoiceless dental plosiveThe voiceless dental plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is t_d...
[t] - θ is taught as the voiceless dental fricativeVoiceless dental fricativeThe voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to English speakers as the 'th' in thing. Though rather rare as a phoneme in the world's inventory of languages, it is encountered in some of the most widespread and influential...
as in English thing [θ], but since Italian does not have a corresponding sound it is often pronounced using the voiceless alveolar affricateVoiceless alveolar affricateThe voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨⟩ or ⟨⟩ . The voiceless alveolar affricate occurs in such languages as German, Cantonese, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin...
[ts] as in Italian zio, or even like τ (voiceless dental plosiveVoiceless dental plosiveThe voiceless dental plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is t_d...
[t]). - φ is pronounced as a voiceless labiodental fricativeVoiceless labiodental fricativeThe voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is .-Features:Features of the voiceless labiodental fricative:...
[f] (not as an aspirate), like Italian futuro or English fall - χ is taught as a voiceless velar fricativeVoiceless velar fricativeThe voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The sound was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English....
[x] as in German ach, but since Italian does not have a corresponding sound it's often pronounced like κ (voiceless velar plosiveVoiceless velar plosiveThe voiceless velar stop or voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k....
[k]) - υ is pronounced as a close front rounded vowelClose front rounded vowelThe close front rounded vowel, or high front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is y...
like in French u, [y] - the diphthong ου is pronounced as a close back rounded vowelClose back rounded vowelThe close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u....
[u] as in Italian uno
The following diphthongs are pronounced like the similarly-written Italian diphthongs:
- αυ = [au]
- οι = [oi]
- ει = [ei]
- αι = [ai]