[B-Greek] Sing and Learn NT Greek
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Dec 11 08:34:56 EST 2008
On Dec 11, 2008, at 8:20 AM, Carl Conrad wrote:
> Randall has already posted his reply. I went to James' site and read
> the review and then left a comment to the effect that what is offered
> in this item is "fun and games in fake Latin" and suggesting that one
What I actually wrote was, of course, "fun and games in fake Greek."
> might pay more and get Randall's materials from Biblical Ulpan (http://www.biblicalulpan.org/
> ) and begin a process of oral/aural acquisition of the authentic
> sounds of Koine Greek of the NT era. That's my honest opinion, which
> I'm not ashamed of having stated frankly, but it (literally) outraged
> the next (more or less anonymous) commenter who didn't seem aware that
> Erasmian pronunciation is an artificial creation that reflects what is
> spoken and heard only in academic classrooms and was never used by
> native speakers of Greek in any era.
>
> The fact is that I learned the Erasmian pronunciation of ancient Greek
> when I began Greek and I continued to use it and teach it throughout
> my whole career as a university teacher of ancient Greek. But I did
> tell my classes in the 1990's that this pronunciation does not reflect
> native-spoken Greek of any era and that its chief virtue, if it has
> one, is that the vowels, diphthongs, and consonants of Erasmian are
> more or less differentiated from each other, whereas several vowels
> and diphthongs of Koine were not so clearly differentiated. I really
> regret ever using Erasmian pronunciation and would not use it now;
> I've endeavored to use Randall's materials to habituate my ears and
> mind and eyes to the sounds of Koine as he has set them forth because
> I think they are authentic; they also seem easier to me than the
> reconstructed classical pronunciation set forth in Sidney Allen's
> book. The only other alternative is one that many have adopted: use
> the modern Greek pronunciation: that too seems to me a better choice
> than the Erasmian.
>
> There was a time, and it wasn't so very long ago, that I didn't feel
> so strongly on this issue, but it really does irk me that materials of
> this sort are published and marketed to promote what I think must, in
> all honesty, be called "fake Greek." It has one and only one virtue
> (and I concede that it is a real virtue): it enables a student to
> coordinate the written or printed word with a (more or less)
> consistently voiced phonology. But why do that, when it's possible to
> have what there's every reason to believe is the right phonology?
>
> I regret the likelihood that we'll start a new round of the never-
> ending roundabout on the "right" pronunciation of ancient Greek, and I
> grant the validity of the proposition, "De gustibus non disputandum
> est" -- but in my dotage I have grown less tolerant in some matters
> while at the same time more skeptical about others.
>
> On Dec 10, 2008, at 6:47 PM, Kathleen Marie wrote:
>
>> I downloaded a copy from audible.com for about $5.00. I think it's
>> really good. Playing the songs causes a friend of mine to be unable
>> to stop humming the tunes and it makes her crazy. I have to admit to
>> using it in a passive aggressive way a couple times.
>>
>> Kathleen Marie
>> student
>> Boston
>>
>> --- On Wed, 12/10/08, James Spinti <JSpinti at Eisenbrauns.com> wrote:
>> From: James Spinti <JSpinti at Eisenbrauns.com>
>> Subject: [B-Greek] Sing and Learn NT Greek
>> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>> Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 2:51 PM
>>
>> All,
>>
>> I have a brief review of Zondervan's "Sing and Learn NT Greek"
>> posted on
>> my blog:
>> http://anebooks.blogspot.com/2008/12/sing-and-learn-nt-greek.html
>> Tinyurl:
>> http://tinyurl.com/5d46ro
>>
>> Enjoy :)
>>
>> James
>> ________________________________
>> James Spinti
>> Marketing Director, Book Sales Division
>> Eisenbrauns, Good books for more than 30 years
>> Specializing in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Studies
>> jspinti at eisenbrauns dot com
>> Web: http://www.eisenbrauns.com
>> Phone: 574-269-2011 ext 226
>> Fax: 574-269-6788
>> ---
>> B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ---
>> B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek
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>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
>
>
>
> ---
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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