Pronunciation of Greek
Σαῦλος
We don’t actually know how Ancient Greek was pronounced. Today, there are four main schemes followed in pronouncing Ancient Greek.
- Modern Greek pronunciation is not recommended because it many vowels
have become “ioticized.” The vowels η, υ, οι, ι are all pronounced like “ee” as in the
English word “bee.”
- Restored
Attic pronunciation follows most of the Erasmian pronunciation conventions, but
attempts to includes the tonal quality of the accents. This results in an
artificial and affected sounding pronunciation that I cannot recommend.
- Erasmian
pronunciation was originally promoted by the scholar Erasmus, born in the year
1466. It was an attempt to assign a
single sound to each Greek letter. It
did not rely on the example of the Byzantine Greek pronunciation, still used in
his lifetime. Nor did come from a study
of historical orthography. It resulted
in a pronunciation scheme that is unnatural and difficult to pronounce. Nevertheless, this Erasmian pronunciation is
used in most schools today. There are
some small variations between countries.
The main varieties are German, American, and British.
- Restored Koine was created in the 2000’s by Dr. Randall Buth. He studied the history of the way Greek was
pronounced, Modern Greek pronunciation, and especially spellings. One example of the value of spellings is
that we know και was pronounced κε beccause it was often spelled that way.
The Restored Koine pronunciation scheme results in a natural sounding language that is based on historical evidence. This is the scheme I recommend. Some resources for the other schemes are also given.
Restored Koine
Extensive chart showing the Restored Koine pronunciation variation. Corresponding examples are given in English and Chichewa. Author P.D. Nitz
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-AM-KaZGzv2R7n6sZqZRFt0HFc9I1--G/view?usp=sharing
Here is an excellent tutorial video created by Tim McNinch on YouTube. He reads through the alphabet letter by letter, giving several words as examples. The dipthongs are treated separately in the second link. Double consonants are not treated, but can be seen in many examples.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94B26pJM2fg&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyQk8Nz2qwE
A slow reading of the Greek alphabet in Restored Koine by Michael Halcomb. 3 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6BFHGMHADs
A series of four videos on writing some Ancient Greek names. Pronunciation is also given as the names are written. PD Nitz. Each video is about 5 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIIPuuL57Zw&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zbR5SrrmSI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gqY4KqwCSU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXl5v-rYZYI
Ομιλειν [Omilein] is a course in Ancient (Koine) Greek newly developed (2018) by Jordash Kiffiak. Kiffiak uses the Restored Koine pronunciation. The first lesson is free after a sign-up. He has good, consistent pronunciation. Taking his first lesson will give a good taste of the Restored Koine scheme.
https://omilein.teachable.com/
Here is a very well read, but fast reading, of St. Mark, Chapter 1, done by Jordan Day. Reading the text as you hear this reading could be a way to learn to pronounce and read Koine fluently. 5 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-s4tJGq5Ds&list=PLpxcmJ23ymcUNh5sJBQqbGp-41KeFPgGF
Modern Greek pronunciation
In this video, Greek American Philemon Zachariou applies the Modern Greek to Ancient Koine Greek examples. 24 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQkHQIjntik
Lyric Translate website. The website gives simple directions on how to pronounce Modern Greek. This could be applied to Ancient Greek.
The Greek orthodox church has many Greek liturgies online, showing both text and audio. The pronunciation used is very close to Modern Greek, but technically is called Katheravousa.
Audio of the Greek New Testament available from ἡ Βίβλος [The Bible] Greek website. Directions are in Modern Greek, but not too hard to follow.
http://www.vivlos.net/kaini.html
Erasmian
The AtticGreek.org website has written pronunciation guides and audio exercises for learning the Erasmian pronunciation. The variety of Erasmian used on this website is superior to most.
The Institute of Biblical Greek, created by the well-known author of a Greek primer, Bill Mounce, gives some resources for pronunciation of Erasmian, including a 26 minute video by Mounce.
https://biblicalgreek.org/grammar/#alphabet
Restored Attic
Here is the only speaker of Restored Attic I could recommend, but he is very good. The reading is from Aristotle’s Virtues and Vices, recited by Ioannis Stratakis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_jnHuiB_5M&index=4&list=PLpxcmJ23ymcUNh5sJBQqbGp-41KeFPgGF&t=0s
Differentiation
One page file showing the differences between Restored Koine and Erasmian pronunciation schemes. “Imperial Restored Koine & Erasmian Differences.” Author, P.D. Nitz
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-eSB-HZ0_aqzSWUIUaog2T39Nj9Whx6V
Seumas Macdonald
Though, I would push back against " We don’t actually know how Ancient Greek was pronounced." for the same reason I think "We don't know how Latin was pronounced, so who cares" is faulty. It makes it very much sound like this is all guesswork and idle speculation, which I suspect the historical linguists would want to say is rather "informed and reasoned reconstructionism".
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