Re: Byzantine Greek

From: "Peter Clark" <peter-clark@...>

>         The vowels are somewhat easy, I just need to make sure that I am
using the
> right ones for the time period. /a/ = alpha, /E/ = eta, /i/ = iota, /O/ =
> omega (or omicron?), /M/ (unrounded /u/) = ? For /M/ I think I'll need a
> digraph, like omicron-upsilon.
If you have a vowel /u/ the |ou| ligature would be more practical, but I'd
just use upsilon for an unrounded variant, even though by medieval times the
pronunciation of upsilon already merged with iota *I think*.

>         The consonants are a little harder. The easy ones: /p/ = pi, /t/ =
tau, /d/
> = delta, /k/ = kappa, /m/ = mu, /n/ = nu, /f/ = phi, /T/ = theta, /s/ =
> sigma, /x/ = chi, /l/ = lambda, /r/ = rho. That leaves /b/, /v/, /S/, /K/,
> and /j/. (/tS/ and /ts/ could probably be written as a digraph.) Now, my
> understanding is that beta was (and is) pronounced either /v/ or /B/. So I
> suppose I could use it for /v/, but that still leaves /b/. Does anyone
know
> how Greek would have transcribed foreign sounds (_besides_ just dismissing
> them as "bar-bar"!)
For /j/: Unicode includes a "j" letter for the Greek code, or just use iota.

For /K/: I'm thinking either a double lambda (analogous to Welsh), or lambda
with a reversed apostrophe above it, using the same convention as aspirate
"rh" rho. Tau-lambda is another option, but misleadning.

For /b/: double beta, for /v/, single beta. Or mu-pi for /b/, like modern
Greek does. Or even add the Cyrillic.

For /S/: double sigma, sigma-kappa(-iota) (analogous to Italian), or use the
Coptic or Cyrillic addition.

For /ts/: tau-sigma. For /tS/... this one is a tough one, kappa-iota maybe,
or tau-sigma-sigma (I hate trigraphs), or double kappa, or use the Coptic or
Cyrillic letter.

~Danny~

Replies