Punctuation and Syllabification

In this Chapter we will learn
    1) Four Greek punctuation marks and three accents.
    2) How to break a Greek word into parts so we can pronounce it.
    3) 25 Vocabulary Words

An English Comma, is a Greek Comma,
An English Period, is a Greek Period,
so far so good.
An English semicolon is a Greek Question mark,
And a period above the line is a Greek semicolon.

Diaeresis (double dot over a vowel, as in 'naive', in English) indicates the vowels are NOT pronounced as a dipthong.

Apostrophe, when a preposition ends with a vowel, and the next word begins with a vowel, the final vowel of the first word drops out.  It is marked by an apostrophe, which is placed where the vowel was dropped.

Accent , placed over a vowel showing the syllable that gets the accent.  It was a pitch accent and eventually became a stress accent as in English.  The pitch accent can be a acute, both mark and pitch going up, a grave, both mark and pitch going down or a circumflex accent, both the mark and the pitch rose up then dropped a little.

Syllabification Dividing words into syllables for pronunciation ease is done in Greek as it is in English.  Here are eight simple rules:
    1) There is one vowel (or dipthong) per syllable
    2) A single consonant by itself, (not a cluster) goes with the following vowel.
    3) Two consecutive vowels, which do NOT form a dipthong, are divided.
    4) A consonant cluster that can NOT begin a word is divided , and the first consonant goes with the preceding vowel.
    5) A consonant cluster that can begin a word goes with the following vowel.
    6) Double consonants are divided.
    7) Any consonant plus a mu or a vau goes with the following vowel.
    8) Compound words are divided where joined.

There are only 5,437 different Greek words in the entire NT.  They occur a total of 138,162 times.  But there are only 313 words that occur 50 times or more.  When you learn 319 Greek words you can read 79.92% of the total word count!  Contrast that with Spanish or French  where you must learn about 2,000 words to speak the language.  In a years study you can become proficient at reading your Greek NT. Take the time, a little bit EVERY day.  

Mounce Chapter 4 Vocabulary (Memorize)

Practice Pronounciations
John 1:1 (GTR) en arch hn o logoV kai o logoV hn proV ton qeon kai qeoV hn o logoV 

According to  Matthewt 1:18-25  KATA MATQAION 1 :18 tou de ihsou cristou h gennhsiV outwV hn mnhsteuqeishV gar thV mhtroV autou mariaV tw iwshj prin h sunelqein autouV eureqh en gastri ecousa ek pneumatoV agiou  19 iwshj de o anhr authV dikaioV wn kai mh qelwn authn paradeigmatisai eboulhqh laqra apolusai authn  20 tauta de autou enqumhqentoV idou aggeloV kuriou kat onar ejanh autw legwn iwshj uioV dabid mh jobhqhV paralabein mariam thn gunaika sou to gar en auth gennhqen ek pneumatoV estin agiou  21 texetai de uion kai kaleseiV to onoma autou ihsoun autoV gar swsei ton laon autou apo twn amartiwn autwn  22 touto de olon gegonen ina plhrwqh to rhqen upo tou kuriou dia tou projhtou legontoV  23 idou h parqenoV en gastri exei kai texetai uion kai kalesousin to onoma autou emmanouhl o estin meqermhneuomenon meq hmwn o qeoV  24 diegerqeiV de o iwshj apo tou upnou epoihsen wV prosetaxen autw o aggeloV kuriou kai parelaben thn gunaika autou  25 kai ouk eginwsken authn ewV ou eteken ton uion authV ton prwtotokon kai ekalesen to onoma autou ihsoun

According to  Matthewt 1:18-25 According to  Matthew 1:18 ¶ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.  19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.  20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.  22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,  23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.  24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:  25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.(KJV)

EXERCISE 4 (Don't just gawk, don't just print it, write it out by hand and syllablificate)

Punctuation and Syllabification

Syllabification: Divide the following words into syllables. If you are learing the rules, indicate which ones apply.

1. ajmh;n

2. rafh;

3. e[scatoV

4. kardi;a

5. pneu[a

6. profhthV

7. sajbbaton

8. a[ggeloV

9. a[nqrwpoV

10 peripatejw

Reading: We cannot stress enough how important it is to learn to pronounce the language. After years of teaching Greek we assure you that if you do not learn to pronounce it, you will never master the language. As you are reading, do not worry about the meaning of the words. Practice reading the selections over and over and over. Read it out loud until you can read it correctly in good time.