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. Te Alphabet. In the late ninth or early eighth century ... the Greeks borrowed

a group o twenty-two letter symbols rom the Phoenicians. Tey reinterpreted

symbols or sounds not present in Greek to serve as symbols or the vowel sounds.

(Phoenician, like other Semitic languages, represented only consonants in writing.)Te earliest Greek alphabets included the letters vau (or), koppa (or ), andsan (an alternative to sigma that looked much like our capital M and ollowedinsome alphabets). At this stage, the symbol stood or the sound o h, and the lettersxi, phi, chi, psi, and omega had not yet been invented. Te inherited orms were

originally arranged thus:

In the early period there were many local variations in letter orms and even in

correspondence o letter to sound, especially among the symbols added in somedialects to represent double consonants. For instance, represented the sound oks(xi) in western Greece, whence it passed into the Latin and the modern Roman

alphabet as x, whereas in eastern Greece (including the Attic and Koine dialect areas)

represented the sound o kh(chi). Te Attic alphabet beore about ... lackedomega, xi, and psi, and still used or the sound o h. Te Ionians, however, hadgenerally lost that sound and used the symbol instead or a long open-evowel;their alphabet had added omega (to represent a long open-ovowel) and the double-

consonant symbols, xi and psi. From about some o the Ionic letters were used

sporadically in Athens, more ofen by private citizens than by the public secretaries

Te Alphabet; Pronunciation

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who provided texts (o laws and decrees) or stonemasons to carve as inscriptions. In

, the Athenian government officially made the transition to the Ionian alphabet

(although use o the old system continued sporadically until about ). During the

ourth century the twenty-our-letter Ionian or New Attic alphabet won acceptancethroughout most o the Greek world and became the standard in Koine and ever

afer.

Te ancient Greeks used only what we call capital letters (although afer the ourth

century there were more and less ormal or cursive ways o writing them):

he lowercase letter orms o present-day Greek type onts are more or less closely

derived rom cursive letter orms o handwritten Greek used in the Middle Ages and

the Renaissance:

Lowercase handwritten orms o some letters may dier slightly rom those o the

Greek ont o this book. (It is recommended that instructors demonstrate the hand-

written orms or their students.)

. Classification of Sounds. (: Te technical terminology introduced here is pro-

vided or the sake o explanation only and is not to be memorized by the student. Te

essential thing to learn is the recommended pronunciation, but some o the conceptsin this section will turn out to be helpul in understanding eatures o morphology

and word ormation learned later.)

Te number o syllables in an utterance generally corresponds to the number o

high points in a diagram o sonority or acoustic power. Sounds characteristically

occurring at high points in such a diagram are vowels.Tose that occur at low points

are consonants.A sound that can occur in either position is a semivowel.

Vowelsare classified in two important ways. First, they are termedfront, central,

or backaccording to the areas o the tongue and palate involved in pronunciation.

Second, they are termed close, mid, or openaccording to the degree o raising o thetongue, which determines the size o the passage through which air must pass during

the pronunciation o the sound. In addition, the quality o a vowel can be altered by

lip roundingor by nasalization.(In nasalization the velum or sof palate is not raised,

with the result that the nasal passages are open when the vowel is pronounced.)

A diphthongis the coalescence o two vowel sounds within a single syllable. Te

speaker begins by articulating the first vowel, which is normally the more open o

the two, and glides into the articulation o the second vowel, which is normally the

more close.Vowels have lengthor quantity,either longor short,roughly corresponding to a

greater or a lesser duration o pronunciation. Note that the vowels, , and may

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;

be long or short, whereas and are short and and are long. Te relations o thevowel sounds o classical Attic can be conveniently displayed on a vowel diagram:

Consonantsare classified in three important ways. First, according to whether or

not the vocal cords draw together and vibrate, they are termed voicedor voiceless. o

understand this distinction, pronounce b, thenp, either with your ears stopped up

or with a finger on your throat: you should hear or eel a vibration when the voiced

consonant bis uttered, but not when the voicelesspis pronounced.

Second, according to the position or organ o articulation, consonants are

described as ollows:

labial (or bilabial) lips

labio-dental upper teeth and lower lip

dental tongue-tip and upper teeth

alveolar tongue-tip and upper gums

palatal mid-tongue and hard palate

velar back-tongue and sof palate

Tird, consonants are classified according to the manner in which air is released

during pronunciation. When there is a complete closure o the speech organs, the sound

is called a stop;when the stop is released suddenly, the consonant is termed aplosive

(p, b, t, d, k,g). Te nine classical Greek plosives may be arranged in a table as ollows:

position

voiced

voiceless

aspirated

(voiceless)

labial velar dental

ront central back

close

open

mid

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When there is no complete closure o the speech organs, the sound is a continuant.

One type o continuant is the nasal, pronounced with tongue or lips closed but air

escaping through the nose(m, n).A second type o continuant is the liquid(a term

taken over rom the Latin grammarians, who thus translated the Greek grammar-ians term hugros,which was probably in origin a metrical term): or example,l,a lat-

eral continuant (air escapes on both sides o the tongue); r,an alveolar continuant. I

the air passage is so narrow as to create an audible eect, the continuant is termed a

fricative(only sin classical Greek). he aspirate (the sound o h) is also a continuant.

For urther details on reconstructing the pronunciation o classical Attic,

W. Sidney Allen, Vox Graeca: A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Greek,rd

ed. (Cambridge ), is highly recommended.

. Recommended Pronunciations. Audio examples o the recommended pronun-

ciations are available in the online tutorials associated with this textbook. Te

recommendations below reflect a pedagogically practical compromise involving

the admixture o the treatment o some sounds as they developed in late classical

or postclassical pronunciation. One may attempt a more purist pronunciation (or

instance o theta and phi), but this has been ound to cause many students to com-

mit spelling errors that are avoided with the compromise system. In the ollowing,

a letter or group o letters in square brackets, such as [u], represents a phonetic tran-

scription based on conventional values in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

alpha

like the first ain English aha(or the first ain Italian amare): a shortopen central vowel

like the second ain English aha(or the second ain Italian amare): along open central vowel

like the vowel in English high:a diphthong () generally pronounced by present-day students exactly like a plain long

alpha: a so-called long diphthong. Te classical pronunciation was along alpha gliding into iota. (See below.)

like the vowel in English how:a diphthongbeta

like English b:a voiced labial plosivegamma

like hardgingo:a voiced velar plosive, except beore , , , andperhaps, where it is a velar nasal, like nin inkor ngin song

delta

like French d(similar to English d, but English dtends to have a slightaspiration absent in the Greek): a voiced dental plosive

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;

epsilon

like ein Englishpet:a short ront mid vowel like the vowel o German Beet(similar to the vowel in English

eight): a digraph (two-letter symbol) representing a single sound(monophthong): a long ront close-mid vowel

a diphthong pronounced by combining with [u] (i.e., ooas in Englishpool) in one syllable. (Compare the vowel in Englishfeud.)

zeta

like [zd] in English wisdom:a monograph (single symbol) representinga double-consonant group. From about ... on, came to bepronounced as a single ricative, [z] as in English dozeor rose, and you

will ofen hear it pronounced that way.

eta like the in French tte:a long open vowel (similar to , but is more

open and more central)

() generally pronounced nowadays exactly like plain : a so-called longdiphthong. Te classical pronunciation was eta gliding into iota. (See

below.)

a diphthong very similar in sound to , made up o gliding into[u] (i.e., ooas in Englishpool): very hard or English speakers to

distinguish rom , and the Greeks themselves lost the distinction o

these two sounds in the ourth century ...theta

pronounced by most people today like ricative thin English thin,but pronounced in classical Attic like the tin English top:an

aspirated voiceless dental plosive (i.e., an aspirated tau). Te ricative

pronunciation arose in Attic and Koine during the Roman imperial

period (or even earlier in some dialects) and is recommended in

this course because it avoids conusion between and or Englishspeakers.

iota like iin French vite:a short close ront vowel, unrounded. (Te sound in

English bitis similar, but more open.)

like iin French vive:a long close ront vowel, unroundedkappa

like English k(but completely unaspirated): a voiceless velar plosive.In the preposition , kappa is assimilated in pronunciation to theollowing consonant: that is, it is aspirated to [ekh] beore or, orvoiced to [eg] beore, , , and sometimes .

lambda like a clear lin French, or like English lbeore vowels: a liquid

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mu

like English m:a labial nasalnu

like nin English net:a dental nasal. Nu is ofen assimilated to theollowing consonant in compounds or in phrases pronounced as a

unit: it is assimilated to the ollowing consonant beore , , , ,labialized tobeore the labial plosives (, , ), and converted to thevelar nasal beore the velar plosives (, , ).

xi

like English xinfox:a double consonant, [ks]omicron

like oin German Gott:a short back mid vowel

like the vowel in English boyor coin:a diphthong like ooin Englishpoolor ouin French rouge:a digraph representing

(during most o the classical period) a long close back vowel, [u]

pi

like Frenchpor noninitialpin English (that is, totally unaspirated): alabial voiceless plosive

rho

rolled ras in Italian or Scottish: a trilled alveolar liquidsigma

, , like the English sof sin mouse:a voiceless ricative, [s], except beorethe voiced consonants, , , , where it is a voiced ricative, [z],like the sin English muse. In most printed books, ollowing an

orthographic convention o late Byzantine times, sigma appears as -at the beginning o a word or within it, but as -at the end o a word.In some books you will also see the older letter orm (lunate sigma)printed in all positions.

tau

like French tor noninitial English t(completely unaspirated): a voiceless

dental plosiveupsilon

like short French uor German ,pronounced like the uin French lune:a short close ront rounded vowel (but in earlier Attic a close back

rounded vowel, [u], the value it retained in most diphthongs).

like long French uor German , pronounced like the uin French ruse:along close ront rounded vowel

a diphthong combining the rounded vowel [] with semivocalic i(i.e., the sound [y]). Te ull pronunciation was [y] or [yy], but in

classical times the iota was weakened to a glide between vowels andsometimes omitted in spelling.

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;

phi

pronounced by most people today as ricativef(as in Englishfoot), but inclassical times equivalent to an aspirated pi, likepin Englishpot:an

aspirated voiceless labial plosive. Phi became ricative in postclassicaltimes, and the pronunciation as ricativefis recommended in this

course because it avoids conusion between andor Englishspeakers.

chi

pronounced like the co English cator like chin Scottish loch:anaspirated voiceless velar plosive (aspirated kappa)

psi

likepsin English lapse:a monograph representing a double consonant [ps]

omega like awin English saw:a long open central-back vowel. (But you will

also hear it pronounced like English long oingo.)

() generally pronounced nowadays exactly like plain : a so-called longdiphthong. Te classical pronunciation was omega gliding into iota.

(See below.)

Breathing Signs

aspirate or rough breathing: a sign placed over an initial vowel or initialrho to indicate an initial sound h. (Te sign derives rom the use o

the lef hal o to indicate [h] afer had been converted to a vowelsymbol.)

smooth breathing: a sign placed over an initial vowel to indicate theabsence o aspiration

. Punctuation and Capitalization.Te Greek comma (,) and period (.) are used in

the same way as in English. Te Greek semicolon or colon is a single dot raised above

the line (). Te Greek question mark looks like the English semicolon (;).Te Athenians o classical times used only capital letters and rarely punctuated;

ofen they lef no space between words. Punctuation was gradually introduced inbooks in postclassical times but was consistently applied only in Byzantine and

modern times. In printed editions o Greek, punctuation is used throughout, and

lowercase letters are used except or the first letter o proper names or proper adjec-

tives and sometimes or the first letter o a section, paragraph, or quoted speech.

. Elision and Crasis.A short vowel at the end o a word (especially o certain rela-

tively weak words, such as particles, adverbs, and prepositions) is usually eliminated

(elided) beore a ollowing word beginning with a vowel. Elision is marked by an

apostrophe (), a symbol invented in postclassical times but applied consistently onlyin Byzantine and modern times. For example:

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I the ollowing word begins with a vowel that has rough breathing, then an unaspi-rated unvoiced plosive (, , ) at the end o the elided word is changed to the cor-responding aspirated plosive (, , ):

Similar elisions and spelling changes occur in compound words ormed with prepo-

sitional preixes:

- + - +

In other cases a final vowel is not elided but undergoes contraction or crasis

(mixing) with a ollowing vowel: this occurs, or instance, with the prefix - andwith the article. Te symbol called coronis(curved stroke), identical to the smooth

breathing sign (), is usually placed over the vowel ormed by contraction:

But when the irst vowel in crasis is a orm o the article with a rough breathing, the

resulting vowel has a rough breathing rather than a coronis:

Finally, when the second vowel in crasis has a rough breathing, the aspiration is

transerred to any unaspirated consonant o the preceding syllable and the coronis

replaces the rough breathing:

. Some ypographic Conventions.Te ollowing inormation is or later reerence.

Not all the phenomena described here will be seen in this book, but students will

meet them in reading Greek texts.

a. Diacritical marks (accents, breathings, coronis) belonging to a diphthong or vowel

digraph are conventionally printed over the second o the two vowels:, ,, .

b. When such a word is capitalized, only the first vowel o the diphthong is capital-

ized, and the diacritical marks remain on the second vowel: or example,whencapitalized is written .

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;

c. When an initial single vowel is capitalized, its diacritical marks are printed beore

it: or example,when capitalized is written .

d. When a long diphthong is capitalized, the main vowel is printed as a capital,

lowercase iota is printed beside it, and diacritical marks are placed beore the capital:

or example,when capitalized is written .

e. When two adjacent vowels that could orm a diphthong are pronounced sepa-

rately, the second vowel has a mark o separation printed over it (that mark is called

a diaeresis;it is written as two dots above the second vowel): or example, , (two syllables, not one).

. Historical Notes.

Long diphthongs and the silent iota. Te term long diphthongused in connection with

, , or is slightly misleading: all diphthongs are normally long vowels, but thethree long diphthongs are ormed rom the combination o a long vowel and an iota.

In classical times these were true diphthongs (long alpha gliding into iota, eta glid-

ing into iota, omega gliding into iota), but between the ourth and second centuries

... the iota weakened to a mere glide (like a consonantaly-sound) and then came

not to be pronounced at all (hence the modern pronunciation and the term silent

iotasometimes applied to this letter). Te practice o writing a small iota under the

vowel (called iota subscript:, , ) was developed in the Middle Ages and has been

ollowed in most printed texts, though you will also eventually encounter texts withthe iota written afer the long vowel (called iota adscript:, , ). In antiquity theadscript iota was always present when still pronounced (as in classical inscriptions),

but once the letter became silent many writers simply omitted it. Inclusion o the

silent iota was a mark o someone who had been trained to include it, in the same

way that writers o English need to be trained to spell words with letters that are no

longer pronounced.

Te names of the Greek letters.Te names are sometimes ancient, sometimes post-

classical or later. In classical times, the Greeks called what we call epsilon simply

; the Byzantines used the name (that is,plaine) to distinguish rom theletter pair, which in postclassical times became identical in pronunciation to .Likewise, they called what we call upsilon simply , but by Byzantine times it sharedthe same pronunciation with and was given the name (plain u) to distin-guish it rom the diphthong . In postclassical times the distinction in vowel lengthbetween (once called simply ) and was lost, and the names (little o)and (big o) were introduced to distinguish the letters.

Genuine and spurious diphthongs. In earlier Attic represented a real diphthong

(the sound o gliding into the sound o ), but the sound became a single vowel dur-ing classical times. Tis single long vowel represented by the digraph also occurred

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in some words as a result o contraction or compensatory lengthening. In the or-

mer type o occurrence, is called agenuine dipthong,whereas in the latter type ooccurrence it is traditionally reerred to as a spurious diphthong.(Tis distinction

will turn out to be significant in Unit and elsewhere.) A similar story applies with. In earlier Attic, represented a real diphthong, [ou] (the sound o gliding intothe originally back rounded sound o ), but the sound became a single vowel dur-ing classical times. Tis single vowel represented by the digraph also occurred insome words as a result o contraction or compensatory lengthening. In the ormer

type o occurrence, is called a genuine diphthong, whereas in the latter type ooccurrence it is traditionally reerred to as a spurious diphthong.

. Learn to write the Greek alphabet, especially the lowercase orms.

. Learn to recite the Greek alphabet.

. Practice pronunciation by reading aloud the vocabulary words ound in Units

, , and so orth. It is recommended that you give a slight stress to the accented

syllable. You may also wish to begin memorizing the meanings o the words in

Units and .