Re: The Sound of Koine

Stephen C. Carlson (scarlson@washdc.mindspring.com)
Sun, 18 Aug 1996 00:11:17 -0400

At 09:00 8/16/96 -0600, Jack Kilmon wrote:
>Stephen C Carlson wrote:
>> The major evidence for the pronunciation of Koine Greek is how
>> the Romans transliterated Greek words into the Roman alphabet,
>> and how Latin words were transliterated into the Greek. Similar
>> evidence can be adduced for Greek based upon borrowings to and
>> from other languages.
>
> The clumsiness that I perceive with Latin as a model for Greek
>is the various ways Latin has been pronounced in different arenas.

No one is suggesting that Latin be a model for Koine Greek pronunciation;
however, contemporaneous transcriptions of Greek words into the Roman
alphabet and vice versa is important evidence of Koine Greek pronunci-
ation. Also important are mispelling in Greek papyri.

For a detailed treatment of both Latin and Greek pronunciation see
W. Sidney Allen, VOX LATINA and VOX GRAECA respectively.

Stephen Carlson

--
Stephen C. Carlson                   : Poetry speaks of aspirations,
scarlson@mindspring.com              : and songs chant the words.
http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/ :               -- Shujing 2.35