The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1878-05-15
GREEK PRONUNCIATION.

Our classical and scholastic readers will
be amused with the following very chsrac,
teristic letter of Professor Backie of Edin.
burgh, to the editor of the Times: "I was
sorry to observe from a report some time
ago in your columns that my esteemed friend
Mr.. Gladstone, in the matter of the pronun
citation of the language which he loves so
much, still remains hereto. The English
pronunciation of Greek is mere fgment, 8
piece of incongruity, absurdity, perverSeness,
and practical inconvenience altogether indie
fensible, and hope you will allow me, as q
Scottish scholar, to enter my protest against
the scholastic continuance of practice dis
graceful to the pathological science of these
islands. The vocslization of Greek | will
let pass, preSuming that by the admission of
all scholars it cannot stand single moment
after the overthrow which the bastard Latin
of the English schools has received from the
strong arm of the editor of Lucretius. But
neither does the case stand whit better in
the matter of the accentuation. never yet
found an English scholar who could answer
me the simple question, Why do you pro.
nounce Latin with the Latin accents re-
ceived by tradition from the LatiniSts of the
Roman Church, while you refuse to pro-
uounce Greek according to the combined
traditions of the Greek Church, the Greek
people, and the Alexaudrisn and Byzantine
grammarians ? Mr.. Gladstone says, repeat
ing in this the refrain of English scholars
ready to catch at any straw in defence of
their perversities, that Greek accent means
musical PITCH and Dug ut not to be con-
founded with stress or emphasis, which We
all understand. Now it is quite true that
one element of the Greek accent is musical
pitch, this pitch, however, being part of the
common music of spoken language, not of
singing or information; but it also means en-
phasis or stress, as can easily be proved from
the language of ancient grammsrians and
rhetorcians; and there is no contradiction
between these two things. But, even sup
posing it meant only musical pitch and not
emphasis at all, this would form not the
slightest justification of the present practice
of pronouncing Greek with the stress laid on
Latin chords by the ancient Romans, rather
than with the stress laid on Greek words by
the living Greek people, and utterly unsoieu.
tifc and iudefensible trsnsference that arose
out of mere scholastic earelessness, and the
want of all rhetorical culture in the great
English schools, assisted, l believe, by GER
tain one-sided hobby,hOrsicality about me-
tres, which for considerable period gave a
peculiar and somewhat narrow character to
English scholarship. There is nothing more
natural and more easy to pronounce ct once
With that elevation of the tone of the voice
which is meant by musical pitch, and that
dominance of emphasis which is now the more
commonly accepted meaning of the word &C.
cent. There is, therefore, no mystery in the
matter; only the logged conservatism of
English scholarship, too lazy or too proud to
abandon it's old traditions, and eager to de.
Tend an untenable position by any sort of
impractical subtlety and artificial mystery.
have only to add that in my teaching
hink it sufficient to insist on the stress being
aid on the proper syllable, without insisting
IN the accompanying elevation of tone, partly
because the ears Of our students are so gross
md their asthetiCsl culture so utterly ne