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LESSON 1
THE GREEK LETTERS 

by George Valsamis

Page 3

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An introductory note to pronunciation

   There is much talk about how ancient Greek was actually pronounced and there isn't nor can it be a definite conclusion. Most grammar books complicate things by trying to determine subtle nuances that no one really knows. In this course we follow modern Greek pronunciation because it is easier than what some scholars propose, it is how the New Testament was pronounced, and it is alive and certain. You can also read a discussion at Elpenor's Communities about this subject, and a study about the error of Erasmus and un-greek pronunciations of Greek.

   It is known that the abandonment of prosody (complete in medieval and modern Greek) started to happen already from the end of the 5th c. B.C. - something Plato didn't like very much. Obviously, the reasons of this transformation, of this subjugation of language's inherent music, is something worth studying. Thinking was increasing its distance from language and preferred to lose the certainty of whatever achieved in order to move towards unforeseen realities. Essentially, modern Greek pronunciation starts from Plato's time; we call it modern, not because it is young, but because it is still in use today.

Greek Alphabet Audio Files (letters, words, phrases)

The Lord's Prayer (Pater Emon), narrated by Elli Lampeti

The word Philotimo, pronounced and explained by President B. Obama

The word Peripeteia, pronounced by Anthony Hopkins

Modern Greek audio files (from 1 to 30 minutes)

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Reference address : https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/lessons/lesson1.asp?pg=3