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Indefinite Article
by Guest User - Monday, 7 June 2010, 10:27 PM
  Is there a difference between μια and μία as an indefinite article? I tend to see them used interchangeably depending on what text I am using and the accent always seems to be spoken on the i...

Thanks,

Chris
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Re: Indefinite Article
by Greg Brush - Tuesday, 8 June 2010, 02:18 PM
  No, no difference -- they are simply spoken (and written) variants. Either one is totally acceptable, although you may find a colloquial preference for one or the other depending on the pronunciation of the word which follows.

Regards,
Greg Brush
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Re: Indefinite Article
by Guest User - Wednesday, 9 June 2010, 03:33 AM
  The audio that I've listened to seems to pronounce them the same way i.e. MEE-uh. How is one pronounced differently than the other?

Thanks,
Chris
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Re: Indefinite Article
by Greg Brush - Wednesday, 9 June 2010, 07:14 AM
  μία has two syllables and the stress is on the first syllable, MEE-ah, while μια is one syllable, mYAH. You will hear this distinction in pronunciation throughout the LGO course.

For a little more about this, see "FYI: μια/μία" in Discussion Forum 18. And for a definitive recording of the difference in pronunciation, go to at Harry Foundalis' webpage "The Details of Modern Greek Phonetics and Phonology" and listen to his recordings of μια and μία in the section on Forced Palatalization.

Regards,
Greg Brush
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Re: Indefinite Article
by Guest User - Thursday, 10 June 2010, 12:29 AM
  Greg,

Thanks for the info -- this is helpful

Chris
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