Hello George,

I would like to ask you a few simple questions. How to correctly pronounce Υἱὲ in Jesus prayer? (it's a little funny with english letters, but please try). And what sounds have accent on them in the following words: ἐλέησόν and ἁμαρτωλό? Is it eleisOn and amartelO? Then, is Θ in Θεοῦ more like T, or more like Th? Then, is Θεοῦ pronounced TheU?

One other thing: I downloaded mp3 Gospels in Greek from a site, but I am pretty sure they are not pronouncing it correctly, that is, as you Greeks would pronounce... For instance, they are saying "vios" for "Son". My question: I know that in modern Greek people say "yos". Is it the same in koine Greek? In other words, is it "eeos", or "yos" (again, please write the closest english equivalent, unless you know Serbian, in which case we would save ourselves a whole lot of trouble; it's a phonetic language, so there is no need for "closest equivalents" - you just write it as it is. But you probably already knew that).

Thanks.

Is there an mp3 recording of the Gospels in koine Greek that is actually read by a Greek?
How about the Psalter? I've learned Church Slavonic from the Psalter, so the same in Greek would be of an immense help.

Hello Bojan, I wish I knew Serbian, but I read all of your great theologians in Greek translations. With only a few exceptions, our modern theology is so academic, that it has lost its purpose, and we search for healthier waters in Jevtic, Popovitc, Bulovic, etc. But let's hope now English can help us in these problems:

"How to correctly pronounce Υἱὲ in Jesus prayer?"

Yἱ - as in permIt
έ - as in dAy

"What sounds have accent on them in the following words: ἐλέησόν and ἁμαρτωλό? Is it eleisOn and amartelO?"

There are two stresses in ἐλέησόν με. The first belongs to ἐλέησον, and the second is pronounced with ἐλέησον but it really comes from the word με that follows without accent at all. You will pronounce both words as if they were united (ἐλέησόνμε) stressing first the έ and then the ό).

Both stressings are equally loud. It is like a wave, first you up with "elE" then you go down with "e", then up again with "sOn", and then down again with "me".

On Amartolo(n) you stress just the final syllable.

"Is Θ in Θεοῦ more like T, or more like Th? Then, is Θεοῦ pronounced TheU?"

It is not like T, but only like TH (as in "THeory"), and is pronounced as you say, stressing the final syllable.

"I know that in modern Greek people say "yos". Is it the same in koine Greek? In other words, is it "eeos", or "yos"."

In modern Greek we use both υἱός and γιός - but we seldom use γιός when we refer to Christ. Considering the two vowels and the spirit on the ι of υἱός, γιός is much closer to how a Greek in the times of Homer would pronounce υἱός. In koine, just eos.

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For the Audio problem - I know you can't find many web sites to trust. They read according to various theories, ignoring the living language. They do not conform even between them, since pronunciation theories can be very different.

The only recording that I would suggest is that by actor Elli Lambeti, the Gospel of Matthew along with Easter hymns, but it is not available to download. I believe there is a CD version at some stores.

Best wishes!

Thank you very much.
Yes, you can never go wrong with Abbas Justin Popovich.
But, the influence of the Greek fathers on him was so great that it is even questionable if you are reading him in translation. It's more like looking in the mirror.

And one last question (for now). If Byzantine Greek and Modern Greek are so close, as you suggested in one other post, could I just ask my Greek neighbour (a couple of doors down) to correct my pronunciation of New Testament Greek, Psalter Greek, or that from the Prayerbook?

Just to clarify: I am not trying to learn some lost language of Homer (that's maybe not even lost, after all), but the language of Saint Nicholas... Saint John Chrysostom... Saint Gregory Palamas...
Or, to simplify it even more - the Greek language that Saint Sava of Serbia spoke when he was in Vatoped monastery...

Can any Greek person with just the knowledge of Modern Greek help me with that?

There are dialects now, as in antiquity. If your neighbour is from Cyprus, I wouldn't recommend him as a source for pronunciation, because Cypriots have developed a very distorted form of Greek, perhaps influenced by English pronunciation. (No offense, my Cypriot friends, but this is not Greek that you speak!) They know it themselves, so that, if you watch politicians and other persons who expose themselves in the media, etc, they all try to soften their pronunciation and hide their every-day way of speaking.

Cretans also have some peculiarities - not annoying, like Cypriots, yet not ideal for one who want to learn how to pronounce Greek.

Generally speaking, yes of course, you can find great help from this neighbour of yours.