Accents
As you have already read in the previous lesson, Classical Greek was written only with capital letters and there were no accents and no punctuation. Accents started to appear for the first time in Alexandria during the 2nd century B.C and they were introduced formally with the introduction of the minuscule alphabet.
Dionysius Thrax (170-90 B.C.) writes in the "Art of Grammar" about the accents:
As you have already read in the previous lesson, Classical Greek was written only with capital letters and there were no accents and no punctuation. Accents started to appear for the first time in Alexandria during the 2nd century B.C and they were introduced formally with the introduction of the minuscule alphabet.
Dionysius Thrax (170-90 B.C.) writes in the "Art of Grammar" about the accents:
Tone is the resonance of a voice endowed with harmony. It, is heightened in the acute, balanced in the grave, and broken in the circumflex.
The accents started being used mainly because the Greeks needed an assistance to pronounce the words correctly (read more about the musicality of the language in the first lesson) and also because the language became really popular due to the vastness of the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire.
Before the establishment of a single system of accents, every writer used his own.
The Ancient Greek accent system was used from the 10th century until the end of the 20th century with the introduction of a "single-accent" system or the "Modern Greek Accent"
There are three accents in the Ancient Greek Language
The most common, the acute > ´ < like in the word father (πατήρ)
The grave > ` < like in the word wise (σοφὸς) *inferior importance
The circumflex > ῀ < like in the word gift (δῶρον)
These accents are placed on the Antepenult, the Penult or the Ultima.
No word in Ancient Greek can be accented before the Antepenult.
Depending on their placement, the type of the accent changes, the following table lists these names and shows where you can actually place an accent (from Antepenult to Ultima):
Before the establishment of a single system of accents, every writer used his own.
The Ancient Greek accent system was used from the 10th century until the end of the 20th century with the introduction of a "single-accent" system or the "Modern Greek Accent"
There are three accents in the Ancient Greek Language
The most common, the acute > ´ < like in the word father (πατήρ)
The grave > ` < like in the word wise (σοφὸς) *inferior importance
The circumflex > ῀ < like in the word gift (δῶρον)
These accents are placed on the Antepenult, the Penult or the Ultima.
No word in Ancient Greek can be accented before the Antepenult.
Depending on their placement, the type of the accent changes, the following table lists these names and shows where you can actually place an accent (from Antepenult to Ultima):
The previous table can be explained by these rules:
Oxytone is a word that has an acute on the Ultima
Perispomenon is a word that has a circumflex on the Ultima
Paroxytone is a word that an acute on the Penult
Properispomenon is a word that a circumflex on the Penult
Proparoxytone is a word that has an acute on the Antepenult
Don't worry if you got confused. It is a matter of naming and not of difficulty. You can memorize the names latter. What you need to always have in mind is a the set of rules regarding which accent do you use.
When do you use the acute?
-> The antepenult gets always an acute
-> The vowels "ο" and "ε" get always an acute
->The penult gets an acute when both the vowels of the penult and the ultima are long
When do you use the circumflex?
-> The penult gets a circumflex when the vowel of the penult is long and the vowel of the ultima is short
These four rules are by far the most important basic rules of the Ancient Greek accent system.
If you wish to acquire advanced knowledge regarding the accents, you must understand these rules and have them memorized.
You will be able to place an accent in most of the words, and you will learn the advanced rules gradually.
When do you use the grave?
The importance of the grave is lesser due to its small difference with the acute because. Many contemporary writers do not distinguish between acute and grave. Nevertheless:
-> The grave is placed only in the ultima when there is no punctuation mark or modal word follows.
If you don't already know about short and long vowels, read this extra lesson before progressing:
When do you use the acute?
-> The antepenult gets always an acute
-> The vowels "ο" and "ε" get always an acute
->The penult gets an acute when both the vowels of the penult and the ultima are long
When do you use the circumflex?
-> The penult gets a circumflex when the vowel of the penult is long and the vowel of the ultima is short
These four rules are by far the most important basic rules of the Ancient Greek accent system.
If you wish to acquire advanced knowledge regarding the accents, you must understand these rules and have them memorized.
You will be able to place an accent in most of the words, and you will learn the advanced rules gradually.
When do you use the grave?
The importance of the grave is lesser due to its small difference with the acute because. Many contemporary writers do not distinguish between acute and grave. Nevertheless:
-> The grave is placed only in the ultima when there is no punctuation mark or modal word follows.
If you don't already know about short and long vowels, read this extra lesson before progressing:
To make sure that you have understood these rules, answer the following questions.
Try not to guess, if you are not sure look back at the rules
Try not to guess, if you are not sure look back at the rules
Congratulations! Now you know the basics about the Ancient Greek accents.
There is vast amount of advanced and special rules, but you will learn these while you progress with grammar.
For now, there is another interesting chapter.
There is vast amount of advanced and special rules, but you will learn these while you progress with grammar.
For now, there is another interesting chapter.
Pronounciation
The pronunciation of Ancient Greek is an especially difficult matter.
It is a hard task to reproduce a musical language,like the Ancient Greek, with no speakers alive.
Because of that pronunciation is not really important. Actually there are several ways of pronunciation and for example the English speakers pronounce the Ancient Greek words differently than the French or the Greek.
First of all, let us talk about practical pronunciation.
Practical pronunciation is about pronouncing when you want to read, study or virtually any case that you don't want to SPEAK in Ancient Greek.
Having to remember all the rules and mimic every sound of a musical language that is not spoken, is a task that you don't have to do.
Ken Schenk in this following video pronounces each letter one-by-one by the way English speakers pronounce them.
You have already imagined these sounds when reading the transliterations of the Alphabet but it is time to hear them in real-time.
At the same time you will do a review on the Alphabet, in case you have forgotten some letters:
It is a hard task to reproduce a musical language,like the Ancient Greek, with no speakers alive.
Because of that pronunciation is not really important. Actually there are several ways of pronunciation and for example the English speakers pronounce the Ancient Greek words differently than the French or the Greek.
First of all, let us talk about practical pronunciation.
Practical pronunciation is about pronouncing when you want to read, study or virtually any case that you don't want to SPEAK in Ancient Greek.
Having to remember all the rules and mimic every sound of a musical language that is not spoken, is a task that you don't have to do.
Ken Schenk in this following video pronounces each letter one-by-one by the way English speakers pronounce them.
You have already imagined these sounds when reading the transliterations of the Alphabet but it is time to hear them in real-time.
At the same time you will do a review on the Alphabet, in case you have forgotten some letters:
It does not matter if you forget a sound or pronounce it slightly different. As I noted before, every speaker has a different pronunciation, thus making a mistake -as long as you are not totally confusing the sounds- does not matter.
Do you want to learn the Greek pronunciation instead? Or want to compare differences?
Watch the next video to compare optionally:
But what about the actual pronunciation?
The melodic pronunciation that the Ancient Greeks had?
Scholars have replicated (as much as possible) these sounds and recreated the "true" pronunciation.
The following video, created by Podium-Arts is the pronounced text of the first verses of Odyssey (a1-27), probbably the most famous part of text in Greek.
Now that you are able to read Greek, follow the speaker by reading the Greek text.
Try to understand which word are you hearing. If you get confused pause and rewind.
Hearing this actual pronunciation will help you understand the accents as well.
text start: 00:51
text end: 04:14
The melodic pronunciation that the Ancient Greeks had?
Scholars have replicated (as much as possible) these sounds and recreated the "true" pronunciation.
The following video, created by Podium-Arts is the pronounced text of the first verses of Odyssey (a1-27), probbably the most famous part of text in Greek.
Now that you are able to read Greek, follow the speaker by reading the Greek text.
Try to understand which word are you hearing. If you get confused pause and rewind.
Hearing this actual pronunciation will help you understand the accents as well.
text start: 00:51
text end: 04:14
Before progressing you should listen to the following pronounced words.
These are some of the most commonly used Ancient Greek words which you will encounter frequently.
It is a nice idea to have an acoustic experience of each one.
Again, try to connect what you hear with what you read. If you don't remember a letter go back to the lesson two.
εἰμί ( I am)
γίγνομαι ( I become)
λέγω ( I say)
αὐτός (he)
τοιοῦτος (he, indicative)
λαμβάνω (I get)
δίδωμι (I give)
δύναμαι (I can)
Can you replicate the pronunciation?