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Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek: Historical Pronunciation versus Erasmian
This book invites you to see not only how Hellenistic Koine ought to be pronounced but also why. Rigorously investigating the history of Greek orthography and sounds from classical times to the present, the author places linguistic findings on one side of the scale and related events on the other. The result is a balance between the evidence of the historical Greek sounds in Koine and pre-Koine times, and the political events that derailed those sounds as they were being transported through Europe's Renaissance academia and replaced them with Erasmian.This book argues for a return to the historical Greek sounds now preserved in Neohellenic (Modern Greek) as a step toward mending the Erasmian dichotomy that rendered post-Koine Greek irrelevant to New Testament Greek studies. The goal is a holistic and diachronic application of the Hellenic language and literature to illume exegetically the Greek text, as the New Testament contains numerous features that have close affinity with Neohellenic and should not be left unexplored.
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278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 16, 2021
This is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Admittedly, it’s nerdy. However, it’s very clear, consistent, and concise. However, one needs to be able to at least pronounce modern and Erasmian Greek to appreciate it fully.
Over ten years ago I was offering three two-hour-long presentations about New Testament textual criticism, and one seminarian in our group told me I pronounced Greek funny. I told him my pronunciation was modern Greek, not Erasmian, and that the Erasmian pronunciation never existed prior to Erasmus, and that modern Greek is nearly identical in pronunciation with koine Greek. (I thought they much was obvious when learning textual criticism, as long as one is familiar with modern Greek pronunciation prior to comparing mss). There are too many textual variants that make obvious sense if koine pronunciation was nearly identical with modern pronunciation.
That gentleman was a little bothered by my candid remarks, and I was immediately informed by him that the pronunciation he and all seminarians learned is “traditional” Greek, which most scholars use.
I don’t remember saying anything more in response at that time, but I vividly recall his confidence in what he had learned. Unfortunately, what he and countless other seminarians and academics have learned is a foreign language that no one ever spoke until it was invented by western scholastics. Erasmian pronunciation is not Greek. But not only is it’s pronunciation completely wrong, it’s pronunciation introduces hundreds of dilemmas into textual critical studies. This book clarifies how that is and why that is important.
This is not a book about splitting hairs. This is real history and real scholarship about a real living language that is millennia old. This research is one of a kind. Five stars all day long.
Over ten years ago I was offering three two-hour-long presentations about New Testament textual criticism, and one seminarian in our group told me I pronounced Greek funny. I told him my pronunciation was modern Greek, not Erasmian, and that the Erasmian pronunciation never existed prior to Erasmus, and that modern Greek is nearly identical in pronunciation with koine Greek. (I thought they much was obvious when learning textual criticism, as long as one is familiar with modern Greek pronunciation prior to comparing mss). There are too many textual variants that make obvious sense if koine pronunciation was nearly identical with modern pronunciation.
That gentleman was a little bothered by my candid remarks, and I was immediately informed by him that the pronunciation he and all seminarians learned is “traditional” Greek, which most scholars use.
I don’t remember saying anything more in response at that time, but I vividly recall his confidence in what he had learned. Unfortunately, what he and countless other seminarians and academics have learned is a foreign language that no one ever spoke until it was invented by western scholastics. Erasmian pronunciation is not Greek. But not only is it’s pronunciation completely wrong, it’s pronunciation introduces hundreds of dilemmas into textual critical studies. This book clarifies how that is and why that is important.
This is not a book about splitting hairs. This is real history and real scholarship about a real living language that is millennia old. This research is one of a kind. Five stars all day long.
July 31, 2023
One could reasonably describe growing up as the process by which one ascertains just how much one has been lied to throughout their lives. And now I learn I’ve almost assuredly been led astray about how to pronounce Ancient Greek throughout my life.
Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek: Historical Pronunciation versus Erasmian by Philemon Zachariou is not at all subtle about what it’s about: it’s on crusade against Erasmian pronunciation of Attic/Koine Greek.
For context: Attic/Koine Greek, like Classical Hebrew and Classical Latin, are generally reckoned as “dead” languages. Sure, there are modern versions of Greek, Hebrew (and Ecclesiastical Latin remains a thing), but we are at least fifteen hundred years removed from when those languages were spoken. When learning said languages one is taught a way of pronouncing them which purports to be the best representation we can imagine: for Classical Hebrew, based on the Masoretic vowel pointings of the first millennium; and for Attic/Koine Greek, especially in academic settings, is Erasmian, based on De recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronuntiatione written by Desiderius Erasmus in 1528.
Zachariou represents a very different school of thought, no doubt influenced by the continued beliefs and practices of the Greek and the Orthodox. To him Erasmian was a major digression rooted as much in anti-Byzantine sentiment as anything substantive in pronunciational differences. In this work Zachariou argues for the “Historical Greek Pronunciation” to be best reflected in modern Neohellenic Greek.
The author marshals a lot of interesting evidence. Without audio recordings it is difficult to ascertain how a language is pronounced; the author will point to common misspellings throughout the Classical and Koine periods to suggest similar sounding vowels or letters. The author sets forth the theory of the last major shifts to happen in the pronunciation of Greek took place in the Classical period when Attic speakers took on certain vowels from the Euboean dialect of Greek, and he argues for strong consistency in the pronunciation of Greek ever since.
The author is aware of the strongest argument against his premise: with as much change languages tend to go through over time, can it really be well sustained that Greek sounds almost exactly the same after 2000-2500 years? He makes his arguments to resist comparisons with other languages.
I am not well-versed enough in all the conversations to be able to well adjudicate between the various positions, but I can understand enough to believe that Zachariou should be taken seriously. And even if I may not be entirely sold on the premise that Plato, or the Apostles, could find themselves in modern Athens and be able to fully understand the language being spoken, I absolutely can believe Neohellenic would make more sense to them than the artificially constructed Erasmian pronunciation. The author should compel all of us who learned Erasmian to grapple with an important question: why do we trust in the opinions of a 16th century Dutch scholar with a decent enough understanding of Greek for his time but by no means a master of all things Greek when it comes to how we pronounce the language?
If I can find the time I am now quite interested in learning more about Neohellenic and would be willing to try to adapt how I thus pronounce Greek; if nothing else, it would provide the opportunity to make living use out of the learning of the language I have devoted countless hours to studying and reading.
I am definitely interested in hearing about opinions on the pronunciation of Attic and Koine Greek from those who have studied it more in depth.
Reading and Pronouncing Biblical Greek: Historical Pronunciation versus Erasmian by Philemon Zachariou is not at all subtle about what it’s about: it’s on crusade against Erasmian pronunciation of Attic/Koine Greek.
For context: Attic/Koine Greek, like Classical Hebrew and Classical Latin, are generally reckoned as “dead” languages. Sure, there are modern versions of Greek, Hebrew (and Ecclesiastical Latin remains a thing), but we are at least fifteen hundred years removed from when those languages were spoken. When learning said languages one is taught a way of pronouncing them which purports to be the best representation we can imagine: for Classical Hebrew, based on the Masoretic vowel pointings of the first millennium; and for Attic/Koine Greek, especially in academic settings, is Erasmian, based on De recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronuntiatione written by Desiderius Erasmus in 1528.
Zachariou represents a very different school of thought, no doubt influenced by the continued beliefs and practices of the Greek and the Orthodox. To him Erasmian was a major digression rooted as much in anti-Byzantine sentiment as anything substantive in pronunciational differences. In this work Zachariou argues for the “Historical Greek Pronunciation” to be best reflected in modern Neohellenic Greek.
The author marshals a lot of interesting evidence. Without audio recordings it is difficult to ascertain how a language is pronounced; the author will point to common misspellings throughout the Classical and Koine periods to suggest similar sounding vowels or letters. The author sets forth the theory of the last major shifts to happen in the pronunciation of Greek took place in the Classical period when Attic speakers took on certain vowels from the Euboean dialect of Greek, and he argues for strong consistency in the pronunciation of Greek ever since.
The author is aware of the strongest argument against his premise: with as much change languages tend to go through over time, can it really be well sustained that Greek sounds almost exactly the same after 2000-2500 years? He makes his arguments to resist comparisons with other languages.
I am not well-versed enough in all the conversations to be able to well adjudicate between the various positions, but I can understand enough to believe that Zachariou should be taken seriously. And even if I may not be entirely sold on the premise that Plato, or the Apostles, could find themselves in modern Athens and be able to fully understand the language being spoken, I absolutely can believe Neohellenic would make more sense to them than the artificially constructed Erasmian pronunciation. The author should compel all of us who learned Erasmian to grapple with an important question: why do we trust in the opinions of a 16th century Dutch scholar with a decent enough understanding of Greek for his time but by no means a master of all things Greek when it comes to how we pronounce the language?
If I can find the time I am now quite interested in learning more about Neohellenic and would be willing to try to adapt how I thus pronounce Greek; if nothing else, it would provide the opportunity to make living use out of the learning of the language I have devoted countless hours to studying and reading.
I am definitely interested in hearing about opinions on the pronunciation of Attic and Koine Greek from those who have studied it more in depth.
January 2, 2022
Excellent! Loved it, even though some of the linguistics were a little bit over my head here. The main point is that this book explains in great detail just why the HGP (Historical Greek Pronunciation) is the way Greek should be pronounced. To say Erasmian is completely inadequate to the proper pronunciation AND understanding of texts would be an understatement. You simply must read this book if you are interested in Greek.
Zachariou articulates what I have long believed about pronunciation but lacked the ability to express properly. Fortunately with this book I now no longer have to worry about it. This book should be REQUIRED reading in any theology program or seminary where Greek is taugt, in fact it should be required in University programs for Greek students.
Zachariou articulates what I have long believed about pronunciation but lacked the ability to express properly. Fortunately with this book I now no longer have to worry about it. This book should be REQUIRED reading in any theology program or seminary where Greek is taugt, in fact it should be required in University programs for Greek students.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews