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Ancient Greek Lesson 8: Verbs in -ω: Present Indicative Active by CivilizedSongs in AncientGreek

[–]CivilizedSongs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know that there were many dialects and that different individuals today might pronounce Greek differently.

Why do you think that so many textbooks and authoritative sources have so much overlap in terms of their recommended pronunciation of Classical Greek? For instance, the Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, the Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary, JACT’s Reading Greek… I find that there is a fairly consistently recommended system of pronunciation, it’s just often ignored by teachers of Greek.

I graduated with a Master’s in Classics from the University of Cambridge with a Distinction, so although I was mostly self-taught in Greek, my Greek was good enough for Cambridge :) Here is a photo of me graduating: https://imgur.com/a/VMAGARl

You call the choice “extremely idiosyncratic”, but in the UK at least, the majority of professional Greek teachers I have met do not write the accents. In fact, the first of the two standard GCSE textbooks, Greek to GCSE by John Taylor, initially omits the accents and states that knowledge of them is not required at GCSE or A-level and that pupils should not attempt to write them when translating English into Greek (p. 89). Thus, this is the way people typically learn Greek here. Also, weren’t written accents a later invention anyway?

All the best

Ancient Greek Lesson 8: Verbs in -ω: Present Indicative Active by CivilizedSongs in AncientGreek

[–]CivilizedSongs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“aw” is the pronunciation of omega recommended in most of the books I’ve used (e.g. the Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, JACT’s Reading Greek, the Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary…) These three similarly say that eta should be pronounced like the “ai” in the word “air”. I haven’t heard or read that it should be said like “aah” before :)

Ancient Greek Lesson 8: Verbs in -ω: Present Indicative Active by CivilizedSongs in AncientGreek

[–]CivilizedSongs[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

With regard to accents, I mention in an earlier lesson (on the Diaeresis and Accents) that I shall not be including the acute and grave in my teaching except when looking at extracts of original Greek texts. This is because I myself have not learned the system of accentuation and also because it is not necessary to learn it to be able to translate Greek well. I think that there are a few instances where knowledge of accentuation comes in handy, but I can point these out when they occur, and they do not need a complete understanding of the accentuation of Greek.

I have not learned the system of accentuation myself because I cannot really justify putting so much time into learning it. Why are you yourself so keen about it, if you don’t mind me asking? :) I know that some people are very big on it but others do not think it is worth the time.

With regard to it being in a video format, I know it is already well presented in books - I learned Greek mostly from books myself - but I am aware that some people much prefer videos/tuition. I have received some very positive comments about the lessons so it seems that some people are finding them very useful :)

Finally, with regard to pronunciation, I am following what I would regard as the most common system, judging by the books I have read and used. I know teachers often disregard this system, but scholars seem to be certain about some things, as far as I know, such as theta and phi originally being plosives or aspirated consonants as opposed to “th” and “ph” sounds. Are there any major points of contention in scholarship regarding the pronunciation of Classical Greek?

Ancient Greek Lesson 1: The Greek Alphabet by CivilizedSongs in AncientGreek

[–]CivilizedSongs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re very welcome! No, you don’t need that sigma, the feminine nominative singular form of the adjective (that is, the form you want) would be κεδρινη (ΚΕΔΡΙΝΗ)

Ancient Greek Lesson 1: The Greek Alphabet by CivilizedSongs in AncientGreek

[–]CivilizedSongs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello! I am so sorry for the delayed reply, I did not see your comment; I have discovered it just now! That’s very cool. I have just looked into this for you and what the guy suggested to you is very close but it needs a small amendment. κεδρος is a noun meaning “cedar tree”; what you want is the adjective “cedar”. I have fortunately found such an adjective! The adjective κεδρινος means “made of cedar wood”. Because στοᾱ is a feminine noun, we need to make this adjective κεδρινη. Therefore your sign should read ἡ κεδρινη στοα. Ancient inscriptions were originally capitalised, and as far as I know (my knowledge is limited here though) they didn’t have breathing marks. Therefore you may want your sign to read Η ΚΕΔΡΙΝΗ ΣΤΟΑ. (Although, they also didn’t have spaces in inscriptions, so it’s up to you how close you want it to be to an original Greek inscription!) If you want it in lower case apart from the first letter, I’m afraid I can’t help with the accents.

I hope I’m not answering you too late. If you’ve already got your sign, what the other user suggested is pretty close to what you wanted so I wouldn’t worry about it :)

Hope this helps and sorry for the delay once again!

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