The Speaking Greek CD

The pronunciation of Ancient Greek, by Professor David Langslow, with sample illustrative sentences from RG Section 1a, spoken by Dr Philomen Probert.
Reading of Section 1A-J (involving the whole reading team) Reading of Section 2A-D Reading of Section 3A-E 


CD 2
Tracks 29-32 Reading of Section 4A-D
Tracks 33-6 Reading of Section 9E-H
Tracks 37-9 Reading of Section 10A-C
Tracks 40-2 Reading of Section 14A, B, E
Tracks 43-5 Reading of Section 15A-C
Tracks 46-9 Reading of Section 16A, B, C, G
Tracks 50-1 Reading of Section 18A-B
Tracks 52-4 Reading of Section 19A, E, F
Tracks 55-7 Reading of Section 20D-F
Choosing between the accents
Before the teacher can read the Greek aloud, he or she must choose between the melodic accent, used before AD 300, and the dynamic accent, used later (and still in modern Greek). The differences between these two accents are explained by Professor Langslow in track 6 of his talk, ‘Pronouncing Ancient Greek’, on tracks
1- 8 of the Speaking Greek CD which is sold with the RG Course. (See also the written explanation of the two accents in Chapter 6, ‘Accent’, of W. S. Allen’s Vox Graeca (2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, 1974).) Teacher and students alike may hear the difference between the two accents by listening to track 8 of the CD.
By listening to these comparative readings, the listener will note that the melodic accent, though it contributes to vivid performance, is difficult for English speakers and demands considerable practice before perfected. However, if the class has time and determination to practise melodic accents, this will reinforce students’ knowledge of written accent marks, since only the melodic 
The Speaking Greek CD 7
accent differentiates between acute (Allen’s ‘rising tone’), circumflex (Allen’s ‘rising and falling tone’) and grave (Allen’s ‘modified tone’) sounds. The dynamic accent, when properly emphasized on the syllable marked by acute or circumflex, will reinforce students’ memory of the syllable on which to position an accent mark, but not of which mark to use. Despite this mnemonic disadvantage, many students prefer to practise dynamic accents since they are also used in English and therefore come more easily.
Because practice of both accents is beneficial, the teacher may want to use both with students, but at different times. Pitching (‘intoning’) accents is recommended in the early months of the course when students are learning both accent position and accent mark of basic words, or in later months when texts are unadapted and particularly beautiful to hear (notably Section 15a-c (from Euripides’ Alkestis), Section 18a-e (from Plato’s Protagoras) and Section 20a-g (from Homer’s Odyssey)). Stressing (‘breath-emphasizing’) accents is recommended when students are secure with accent marks and their position, and the text is adapted prose. Using both accents together is not recommended, since, as Allen states in his recorded talk, English-speaking readers tend to stress the syllable they intone. The position of stressed, as opposed to intoned, syllables in classical Greek prose is unknown; in verse, stressed syllables are marked by poetic beat, or ictus. Thus a reader who, when reading verse aloud, stresses beat and pitched tone can distort the rhythm; for verse has stress (= ictus) separate from intoned syllable (= marked with acute or circumflex). Too many stressed syllables in orally read verse can change, say, the potential ‘thum pe ty thump thump’ of the dactylic hexameter into an eventhumpier ‘thum pe ty thump thump’