Greek 1 module 1 – Introduction
Sean Gabb

Because not everyone was able to be present at the first meeting of this course, and because we are all still feeling our way with on-line learning, here is a summary of what we covered last Monday.

Everyone present had some Latin, either to A-Level or with some learning at school. I will try not to give way to the temptation to teach Greek as if it were an exotic dialect of Latin – something that has been a custom in Western Europe since the Renaissance. This being said, both are conservative Indo-European languages, preserving many features of their common origin. From about 250 BC, moreover, Latin was taken to pieces and reconstructed under Greek influence. The result is close similarities of both grammar and syntax – not an identity, I will admit – that makes a knowledge of either language very useful for learning the other.

Those students, then, who have any Latin at all can move quickly through the early stages of the course. The first real difficulty they should encounter will be the second aorist. My job is to help in this – while making sure that anyone who has no Latin is able to keep up.

The only books you need for this course are the two volumes of Reading Greek. Not everyone has this yet. I will, then, make this summary fuller than I otherwise might. In some degree, my summary even replaces the need for having the books.

I gave you all grammar sheets to cover the use and forms of the declensions. I see no reason to repeat myself here. Instead, I will focus on the alphabet and other signs and on pronunciation.

The Alphabet and Pronunciation

The Greek alphabet used in classical texts and by the Modern Greeks was mainly developed for accurately recording the language as spoken in Athens between about 500 and 300 BC. Here it is:

Letter Name
English Approximate English Equivalent
Α α alpha, άλφα a Short: first a as in await

Long: a as father
Β β beta, βήτα b b as in better
Γ γ gamma, γάμμα g g as in get. ng when used before γ ξ; nk when used before κ, χ
Δ δ delta, δέλτα d d as in delete
Ε ε epsilon, έψιλον e e as in pet
Ζ ζ zeta, ζήτα zd, or dz sd as in English wisdom,

or possibly dz as in English adze
Η η eta, ήτα e e as in English bear
Θ θ theta, θήτα tʰ th as in the middle of pothook. th, as in three, is also acceptable
Ι ι iota, ιώτα i Short: i as in hit

Long: i as in machine
Κ κ kappa, κάππα k k as in cat
Λ λ lambda, λάμβδα l l as in lantern
Μ μ mu, μυ m m as in met
Ν ν nu, νυ n n in net
Ξ ξ xi, ξι ks x as in fox
Ο ο omicron, όμικρον o o as in pot
Π π pi, πι p p as in pot
Ρ ρ rho, ρώ r r as in mirage. Always sounded, even at end of word
Σ σ/ς, sigma, σίγμα

(ς only at end of word)

 s, or z before β, γ, or μ s as in soft

s as in muse when used before β, γ, or μ
Τ τ tau, ταυ t t as in pot
Υ υ upsilon, ύψιλον u Short: u as in German Bundestag

Long: u as in moon
Φ φ phi, φι pʰ ph as in top hat. ph as in fate is also acceptable
Χ χ chi, χι kʰ ch as in loch
Ψ ψ psi, ψι ps ps as in lapse
Ω ω omega, ωμέγα o aw as in saw

Note on the Alphabet

Classical Greek makes clear distinctions between long and short vowels. For e and o, there are different letters. For a and i, it is necessary to know whether the letter is meant to be long or short. Until about 800 AD, Greek was written all in uppercase. Lowercase letters came into use because they were faster to write and because their use helped to save parchment. Modern Greek has much the same rules of capitalisation as English. Classical Greek texts normally use uppercase letters only for proper names. Sentences start with lowercase letters.

Diphthongs

αι as in high
αυ as in hour
ει as in eight
υι as in quit
οι as in boy
ου as in group
ευ, ηυ as in reuse or youth

Subscripts

ι after a long vowel is often written as a subscript – eg, ᾳ ῃ ῳ. Until about 300 BC, these appear to have been pronounced – eg, ῳ = pawing without the final ng. After this, it was no longer pronounced. It remains useful, though, for showing the difference between nominative singular and dative singular – eg, τιμή and τιμᾓ.

Accents and Breathings

These accents are used in Greek: acute (´), circumflex (῀), and grave (`). Before about 200 AD, they did not mark stress, but the musical value of a syllable. An acute accent, for example, marked a syllable that was to be sounded a few intervals above the others. A circumflex marked a syllable that was to rise several intervals, before falling back. How these musical accents sounded is unclear, though they added much to the beauty of the language. Since about 200 AD, the accent has been one of stress, rather like in English.

Breathings

Every word in Greek that starts with a vowel has either a rough or a smooth breathing. Sometimes r has a rough breathing. Rough breathings stand in place of an h. Smooth breathings show that there is no h. See these examples:

  • ὕμνος – hýmnos – (hymn)
  • ῥυθμός – rhythmós – (rhythm)
  • εἰμί – eimi – (I am)
  • ἀπόστολος – apostolos – (apostle)

Punctuation

Greek uses the comma and full stop as in English. It also has a colon, ( · ) a point above the line, which is equivalent to the English colon and semicolon. The question mark is the same as the English semicolon – ;

General Comment on Pronunciation

Greek pronunciation has evolved continuously since the time of Homer. By convention, we try to pronounce all Classical Greek as we believe it sounded in Athens between about 500 and 300 BC. We make certain concessions to our own speech habits. Other Greeks at this time had their own pronunciation. After 300 BC, pronunciation began to change radically. At all periods in their history, native Greeks have read their classics according to their own current rules of pronunciation. We are left with a confusing variety of pronunciations. Which one you adopt is your choice. It you want to try to sound like Plato and Xenophon, there are guides to help you, and good luck with that. If you want to emphasise the continuity of Greek, you may choose to learn the modern pronunciation. It is “wrong,” but usually sounds more natural than anything I have been able to produce. If you want to learn Greek as it was spoken by St Paul and the Evangelists, the modern pronunciation is reasonably close.

A further wrinkle is the accents. The custom in England since the seventeenth century has been to ignore the accents and pronounce Greek as if it were Latin. I do this. Modern Greeks, Germans, Americans and most others stress Greek on the accented syllable. What method you adopt is your concern.

In short, so long as you learn the language, how you pronounce Greek is for you to decide. You can use the rules given above or adopt some others. To hear Greek as it was spoken by the Ancients would be a fine thing. The best we can do is to try to understand it.

 

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