Learn Greek Online!: "Hearing" alone can be misleading

I'm often not sure of what I'm hearing well enough to repeat the words and phrases accurately. So, I say what I think I'm hearing, only to be dismayed, on seeing the word in print, to realize I've both heard and learned it incorrectly! From checking the written text later, I often discover that:

1. Accented syllables are either not accented in speech, and sometimes, the accented syllable isn't even there! (This is in direct contradiction to the "rules" given in most textbook on Greek, btw.)

2. Spoken phrases, even whole sentences, seem to (a) have one or two "accents" for the whole utterance, rather than one accent on each word (as marked); and
(b) the unaccented majority of sounds seem to run seamlessly together, with many of them only glossed faintly or left out.

I've looked in vain for a written description of spoken Greek that describes, explains, or even admits to such text-speech discrepancies. Surely I'm not the only learner who has noticed this -- or am I?

A "demystifying" explanation of the real relationship between "seen" Greek and "spoken" Greek would be, therefore, enormously helpful.

Learn Greek Online!

You are here