THE
SOUNDS OF GREEK
How
Greek Was and Is Pronounced
Part
One Covers the letters from Alpha to Zeta
As
the Greek ABC has 24 letters and some of my readers may be viewing it
via a mobile I
will be posting this article as a series of 4 blogs over one week. Some
long sentences have been split for people with smaller older mobile
screens
A
Note to Classical scholars planning to visit Greece. Learn the
Demotic pronunciation!
Modern
Greeks may study some Homer and Classical writers in Secondary School
or University but using katherousa even accidentally may be offensive
or more importantly just not understood!
I
have tried to explain this in a way that will make sense to people
who have not studied linguistics in College or University. If you do
want a more formal explanation check out the excellent Wikipedia
sites on Greek Phonology and language.
A
α Alpha The vowel in Archon or cAlm or cUp or Italian Amare.
B
β Beta The B in Biology or Bed.
However
in Modern Greek this is a V as in Voice!
English
V in OVER would be written as οβερ.
Classical
Greek wrote W and V sounds as OU
so
when citing Latin or other non Greek names like Valerius start with
ου.
The
b sound in Modern Greek is written as μπ
but
note that this is “mb” in the middle of a word.
The
Greek Diphthongs αυ ευ are pronounced av and ev or af and ef
depending on the following consonant.So Αυγά is avga in Demotic
and αυτός is aftos.
Γ
γ Gamma The G in Graph or Gang or Got. It's a HARD G in Classical
Greek!
Modern
Greek has a j / y or a sound like the G in German sagen or jager or
the g in Spanish fuego or English Yield or Gem or suGar.
The
G sound in English Get is written as γκ.
A
double gamma is used to represent the “ng” sound in Angle and
Angel in Classical Greek hence New Testament and Classical aggelos.
It's
Angelus in Latin and Angel in English.
Gamma
before κ χ and γ is nk or ng.
Δ
δ Delta D in Democracy or Deed or Dot
Modern
Greek Delta has become “dh” the soft sound in
English
This or breadTH or faTHer.
D
as a sound is now written as ντ which also represents “nd” in
the middle of a Greek word.
Dachshunds
are Dogs becomes something like νταχσουντ αρ ντογξ!
Ε
ε Epsilon E in Epigram or the vowel in pEt or French é
Ζ
ζ Zeta was a zd or sometimes dz sound as in Zeus
or
English aDZe, glaZeD or wiSDom
Modern
Greek Zeta is Z as in English laZy!
Τζ
in Modern Greek is a ts dz type sound.
Other
letters used to represent double consonants also known as digraphs
are
Ξ
ξ and Ψ ψ. This is a sensible innovation as Greek verbs add s to
their stems in the Future and Aorist.
Digraphs have been described in a previous post.
Watch for Part Two later this week!
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