Trivium Pursuit » Greek

Comparison of Greek Pronunciation Systems

LaurieBluedorn — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:04:51 +0000

Over the years, several persons have written to us regarding the many different systems of pronunciation which can be found in various Greek grammars. On our web page, we have recently placed an article which is designed to answer such questions.

Some things included in this article:

–A list of resources on ancient Greek pronunciation.
–Some explanation as to why and how A Greek Alphabetarion was constructed.
–A brief historical summary of Greek dialects.
–A brief and selected history of the reconstruction of ancient Greek pronunciation systems
–Interesting quotes concerning ancient Greek pronunciation systems.
–A comparison of ancient Greek pronunciation systems from twenty grammars: Balme & Lawall, Betts, Betts & Henry, Black, Bluedorn, Hadley & Allen, Hansen & Quinn, Hadjiantoniou, Hewett, Jay, Kaegi & Kleist, Luschnig, Machen, Morwood, Mounce, Pappageotes & Emmanuel, Schoder & Horrigan, Smyth, Summers, Wenham.
–A brief comparison of four systems of diphthong pronunciation.

Here is an interesting quote:

The value assigned … to each letter does not always reflect what is known of the ancient pronunciation, which in any case developed over time and varied from one locality to another. … [T]he need for absolute accuracy in pronunciation does not arise. … The pronunciation given … is convenient for us today, even though it is not historical. The New Testament was written in a conventional spelling which reflected the pronounciation [sic] of Greek several centuries earlier and not that current at the time of its authors. — Gavin Betts. Teach Yourself New Testament Greek. Chicago: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2004, pages 1, 3.

Harvey Bluedorn

New Greek Tools

LaurieBluedorn — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:36:25 +0000

Harvey’s new Greek reference materials

To the saints in New Boston and faithful brethren in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Perla Adams

Rejoice Always

LaurieBluedorn — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:38:30 +0000

Perla dedicates a cookie to Harvey.

Greek in My Christmas Stocking

LaurieBluedorn — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:56:52 +0000

Here we see Big Fat Daddy enjoying his favorite Christmas present! Perhaps Mr. Ryan plans to translate his Astronomy Curriculum into Greek.

The Greek Pronunciation System

LaurieBluedorn — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:08:39 +0000

Mr. Bluedorn,

What pronunciation style do you follow in your materials? I’ve decided to add Greek to my children’s homeschooling curriculum, but would like to use materials which follow the same pronunciation style as other materials my wife and I use (one being Essentials of New Testament Greek by Summers). I’m not sure what to call the exact pronunciation style I’m use to, but all of my materials pronounce the letter pi as pea instead of pie, and have the letter omicron pronounced as the o in omelet rather than the o in obey.

Thanks. Derek Greer

The Greek language was pronounced in different ways at different places and different times. From among all historical pronunciations, I have constructed a consistent system which is thoroughly phonetical.

I have examined well over a hundred Greek grammars, and the only thing I found consistent about their pronunciation systems is that there is no consistency in their pronunciation systems. I do not know if new editions of Summers has revised their pronunciation system, but my system would disagree with the original Summers on the pronunciation of short alpha (long alpha as in father, short alpha as in yacht), omicron (as in oh, omega as in owe), short upsilon (long upsilon as in unity, short upsilon as in put — Summers doesn’t phonetically acknowledge short upsilon), and chi (as in loch).

Pi is pronounced as pea.

The difference between the short and the long of the vowels is properly one of length, not of articulation. The omega (owe, own, groan) should be double the length of omicron (oh, oat, goat). In later Greek, the vowel began to move –the o in omelet is the same as the sound of short alpha in yacht, which is confusing.

Harvey

Greek

LaurieBluedorn — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:31:22 +0000

Homeschool Greek is an excellent Greek language system. I am 50+ yrs. old and didn’t finish high school, but a couple of years ago I decided I would like to learn Biblical Greek. I have tried a couple of other Greek lesson systems, Mounce and Voeltz, plus some freebies that can be found online, and found them quite difficult. Mr. Bluedorn has developed a lesson plan that provides an easy to follow, step by step system that is divided into easily digestible lessons.

Homeschool Greek begins with the basics of English grammar, then transitions into Greek grammar with an intuitive and easy to remember plan. The accompanying tapes reinforce the lessons aurally and provide a pronunciation guide. Each lesson is quite brief, with plenty of review to fix the previous lessons in your mind. The lessons finish with a reading of a couple of verses from the book of Mathew interlined with a very literal translation so you can see exactly what each Greek word means and how the grammar differs from English. Every few lessons there are review quizzes. This is an integrated system that works very well for me — a little vocabulary, a little grammar, some hearing, and some reading — never so much that it overwhelms, just enough to keep things interesting.

I would recommend Homeschool Greek to any person who is thinking of learning Greek. I think it is an excellent tool, and because it is designed for homeschoolers who may not be proficient in the Greek they want to teach their children, Mr. Bluedorn has devised a system that essentially teaches itself. I have learned more Greek in the last two months than I did in the previous two years, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

Via, veritas, vita

Dave Gosse
Grace Lutheran Church
Camrose, Alberta

Homeschool Greek Volume I

LaurieBluedorn — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:05:52 +0000

Homeschool Greek I is a fun and exciting door into the Greek language. It’s a thorough course, starting with the very basics of the definition of language and a little English grammar before introducing the Greek grammar, but then covering solidly the Greek grammar. This first volume focuses mainly on the function or syntax of nouns, prepositions, and adjectives. The text is written in a friendly manner, like a teacher talking directly to you, not lecturing at you. Mr. Bluedorn even throws in the odd joke here and there. There are questions throughout each lesson to solidify the concepts in the student’s head, and vocabulary is introduced and practiced as the lessons progress. To help with the vocabulary, Mr. Bluedorn has included tapes in which he pronounces each word, and each form of the word, and gives the definition, all of which is also on cards that will accumulate until there is quite a large stack of wonderful words known by the student. At the end of each lesson is a daily assignment of reading from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew (in Greek, but accompanied by a more direct English translation than is in your Bible), which helps show the words in their proper context and also give some insight into the actual meanings of the passages. Also, there are diagnostic tests to help the student make sure the subject matter is understood before moving on. All in all, Homeschool Greek is a very useful tool that I believe God has used in my life to prepare me for His calling, and I recommend it to anyone who has the desire to study the Scriptures in their original language. – Kaelan, Broomfield Colorado, August 25, 2008

If you are looking for a program to learn biblical Greek, I highly recommend Homeschool Greek I by Harvey Bluedorn. This program is very thorough, but doesn’t bog down in the mire of repetition and monotony. Mr. Bluedorn’s technique of reviewing everything is very effective–I can actually remember what I have learned after each module! For those who struggle with grammar, Mr. Bluedorn has such a clear way of explaining even the hard points. A Greek Alphabetarion and A Greek Hupogrammon are also very helpful tools which I would recommend going through prior to Homeschool Greek I. – Ronny Lynn Wahlquist

Sample page from Homeschool Greek I textbook

The Greek Escape, AKA Harvey’s Heroes

LaurieBluedorn — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:45:00 +0000

The Greek Escape, AKA Harvey’s Heroes
by the Austins of Nobletin Productions

Octavio Learns Greek

LaurieBluedorn — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:18:54 +0000

Octavio Adams learns Greek with the Greek Hupogrammon.

Learning Greek?

LaurieBluedorn — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:55:21 +0000

Recently we were talking to our new pastor, and I asked him what he thought about the benefits of our children learning Greek and Hebrew. … his response was that – yes, he learned these languages in his educational pursuits, but he does not rely on that knowledge nearly as much as he does his online software …. In other words, he looks up original word meanings as he studies a passage, using his available resources. Since we are learning these languages along with our 9 yo, we do not have the foresight/hindsight to know whether this is a legitimate reason NOT to continue learning these languages (e.g., the existence of so many language resources).

What are your thoughts? T.D.

If I were a German visiting the United States — having long forgotten most of the English which I had learned decades earlier in high school because I had not regularly kept up with it and improved upon it — then I suppose I would rely upon the English phrase book or one of those little pocket language translators. That would get me by for the short time that I would be visiting.

If I moved to the United States, intending to stay there for the remainder of my life, then I would keep up and improve my English for a host of obvious reasons.

So, do we intend to just visit the Bible, or do we intend to live there?

A century ago, seminaries in the United States did not offer courses in Greek — everyone was expected to have thoroughly mastered Greek before he ever applied for seminary. These actions suggest that they intended to take up permanent residence in the Bible. Today, there are many evangelical Bible-believing seminaries which don’t even require a basic knowledge of Greek for graduation. Their actions suggest that they only intend to visit the Bible.

Christians profess to believe in the priesthood of the believer. But today, Christians gladly allow others to act as intermediaries between them and God.

For example, Christians have become used to English translations which are less concerned to tell us what the Bible says. Instead, equivalency translators first determine what they think the Bible says, then what they think that means to them, then they tell us what they think we need to hear of that, choosing carefully the way they think we need to hear it. In other words, in days past translators used to try to keep themselves as much out of the translation as they reasonably could, but today translators have placed themselves in the center to mediate, instead of to the side to assist. They assume the position of priests, not attendants.

I am not saying that everyone needs to study Greek. I am only saying that there needs to be more Greek study. The general knowledge of Greek should be wider, but also deeper. The more there is of the study of the Greek New Testament, the more the general knowledge of Greek will rise in the culture surrounding that study, everyone will benefit from the light, and fewer pulpits and pamphlets will be filled with the knowledge of Greek falsely-so-called.

Some say that a little Greek can be dangerous. True, but in more than one way. A little knowledge of anything can be dangerous if we fail to humbly admit to ourselves that our knowledge is little. But a little knowledge on our part can also be dangerous to those who try to peddle what little they know off as more than they know.

Greek study aids are great. [I have a room full of them.] Translations which expand to show you more of what the Greek actually says are good. [I'm writing one of those myself.] But more Christians should be taking up permanent residence, not just dropping by as visitors or vacationers.

The more we set up others as our priests (however that happens), the less we ourselves can act as priests. Christians should be vigilant for personal accountability to their own consciences before God. They should also be vigilant for the accountability of their teachers before God. How can we keep a teacher accountable if he’s the only one with access to the book? Just trust him? He suffers just as much if not more than we do from our failing to keep him accountable to God for what he teaches.

I would guess that your pastor’s reliance on certain language study aids depends on his previous study of the languages more than he consciously realizes. He may feel a dependence upon these aids for details, but he could never rightly understand those details with any confidence without a background in the languages. Not everyone is going to reach the higher levels of proficiency in the languages. We all make choices as to the best use of our time, and we have no business judging others for their choices. But I lobby for choices in the direction of more knowledge of the languages, not less. The darkening trend of the last century has had very observable effects. Less light, and more de facto sacerdotalism, is not going to help the situation.

Harvey Bluedorn