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Greek Pronunciation Guide:
Puncuation and Syllabification:
Punctuation: Period, Comma, Question Mark, Semicolon, Apostrophe:
In the preceding lessons, we discussed the smooth and rough breathing marks, the diaeresis, and the acute, grave and circumflex accent marks. In this section we will introduce the remaining punctuation marks.
Period and Comma:
The period and comma have the same appearance as they do in English, and have the same meaning. In the Greek BST font used at Goshen (which is used for our Greek interlinear study verse), the comma is a bit more exaggerated.
Punctuation
Mark
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English
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Greek
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Period
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.
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.
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Comma
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,
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,
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Question Mark
The Greek question mark looks like the English semicolon. This question mark, along with the context of the verse, will be your main clue that the sentence is a question. Note further, that the Greek text used at Goshen does not include the Greek question mark (in fact, the BST Greek font does appear to support the Greek question mark).
Punctuation
Mark
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English
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Greek
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Question
Mark
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?
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;
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Semicolon
The Greek semicolon looks like the English period, although it is elevated to the middle of the line of text. The Greek text used at Goshen does not include the Greek semicolon (the BST Greek font does appear to support the Greek semicolon).
Punctuation
Mark
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English
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Greek
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Semicolon
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;
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·
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Apostrophe
The Greek apostrophe looks like the smooth breathing mark, although it occurs after the last letter of a word, rather than over a vowel like the breathing mark. As in English, it is used to indicate that a letter has been omitted, and only occurs with words called prepositions (which will be discussed later) that end with short vowels.
Specifically, the apostrophe is used for words ending in short vowels, that are followed by words that begin with another vowel. The vowel deleted at the end of the first word is replaced by an apostrophe at the end of the word. The deletion of the vowel is referred to as elision.
We will use an example from Hewett, New Testament Greek, a Beginning and Intermediate Grammar (see our Greek book section), that illustrates a combination of elision followed by replacement of tau by theta. The letter replacement produces a result that is easier to pronounce, and occurs when the second word has a rough breathing:
metav hJmw'n
meq j hJmw'n
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(After elision, replace tau with theta)
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Punctuation
Mark
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English
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Greek
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Apostrophe
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'
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j
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Note that we have introduced two new words in the above example:
Greek
Word
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Definition of
Greek Word
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Frequency of
Occurrence
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G/K #: Strong's #
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metav
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with, among, ...
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469
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3552: 3326
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ejgwv
(hJmw'n)
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I, we, ...
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2666
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1609: 1473, 1691, 1698, 1700, 2248, 2249, 2254, 2257, 3165, 3427, 3450
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Syllabification:
Syllabification is the process of dividing words into syllables for pronunciation. The number of syllables per word is equal to the number of vowel sounds in the word! With this definition, it is important to keep in mind that the diphthong, although comprised of two vowels, generates a single vowel sound. After a bit of practice, you will develop a natural feeling for the formation of syllables. To get started, we will list a few well known rules for syllabification:
Recall in lesson one, we presented the Greek alphabet, and indicated whether the individual letters were vowels or consonants.
Two or more consonants that can begin a word:
The first rule is for two consonants that can begin a Greek word (refer to a Greek lexicon to determine which consonant pairs can begin a word). When two consonants that can begin a word occur within the interior of a word, they do not divide, but are used to start the next syllable. For example, the word for Christ, Cristov", is divided after the iota, and before the sigma:
Cristov"
Cri - stov"
(NOT Cris - tov")
Two consonants that can NOT begin a word:
Now consider the case of two consonants that can NOT begin a Greek word (again, consult your lexicon). In this case, the two consonants usually divide, with the first consonant of the pair terminating one syllable, and the second consonant beginning the next syllable. In the following example, ajdelfov", (meaning brother...), there is a syllable break between lambda and phi:
ajdelfov"
aj - del - fov"
Single consonant:
A single consonant is used to start the next syllable, unless at the end of a word. In the following example, the word agape (a word most Christians learn early on, before studying Greek!), is divided before the gamma and pi (which are single consonants standing alone):
ajgavph
aj - gav - ph
Two vowels which do NOT form a diphthong:
If two vowels occur in succession that do NOT form a diphthong, then divide the vowels, with the first vowel terminating one syllable, and the second vowel beginning the next syllable. Be careful to watch for diaeresis marks for vowel pairs that normally form a diphthong! For an example, we will use the first Greek word we learned from lesson one, the word for God:
qeov"
qe - ov"
Identical Consonant Pairs:
Two identical consonants, like the double gamma, gg, are divided, with one consonant terminating one syllable, and the second consonant beginning the next syllable. For our example, we will use the word for angel, a~ggelo"
a~ggelo"
a~g - ge - lo"
A consonant followed by a mu or nu:
When a consonant is followed by a mu or nu, the consonant pair is used to start the next syllable. For our example, we will use the word apoqnh/skw, although the split before theta-nu would also be covered by the rule for consonant pairs that can begin a word:
apoqnh/skw
a - po - qnh/ - skw
Three consecutive consonants:
For words with three consecutive consonants, the first consonant of the triplet will terminate one syllable, and the other two consonants will begin the next syllable. For our example, we will use the word for human being or man, apoqnh/skw.
a~nqropo"
a~n - qro - po"
Compound words:
Compound words are divided where they were joined.
Note that we have introduced a few new words in the above example:
Greek
Word
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Definition of
Greek Word
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Frequency of
Occurrence
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G/K #: Strong's #
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Cristov"
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Christ
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529
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5986: 5547
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ajdelfov"
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brother, neighbor, fellow believer, ...
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343
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81: 80
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anqropo"
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man, human being, ...
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550
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476: 444
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Whew... After this lesson, you should be able to pronounce any of the words you find in Biblical Greek! Of course, you need to build a vocabulary, but at this point you can at least pronounce Greek text, and start reading lexicons.
God bless you,
Job.
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