^ 



"» 



m 



' ^ * 



4 



* ^ 



■* 



of the Greek Language. . S89 



or. 



It is generally admitted by the learned, tliat the ancient 

 Greeks pronounced the diphthong ov as their descendants do ; 

 that is, like ou in our word yoii, or like oo. 



HT. 



^ 



This is "bounded by the Modern Greeks like eev, I have not 

 found any particular remarks upon this diphthong ; but the general 



g in respect to the av and €v will, in a degree, be appl 



ble to it. 



XL 



The sound of this diphthong is scarcely to be distinguished, 

 except in length, from either of its two component letters taken 

 alone. This pronunciation must undoubtedly be defended upon 

 the ground of usage ; I am not aware of any direct evidence 

 relative to it in the Greek writers. 



to the roaring of the ocean. But the following remark (from an intelligent 

 writer before cited) will, at least, make us doubt of the justness of that applica- 

 tion : " I must here add, that these men [some modern Greeks] confirmed an 

 observation of our late revered and lamented President, that we are much mista- 

 ken in our idea of the supposed loftj sound of T<iXvipxJc-^et9 ^aXucr^^^; that the 

 Borderers on the coast of the Archipelago take their ideas from tlie gentle laving 

 of the shore by a summer wave, and not from the roaring of a winter ocean 5 

 and thej accordingly pronounced it Polyphlisveo thalasses.^^* The Greeks, I 

 have conversed with, pronounce it in the same manner, and accenting the 

 antepenultimate of the first word, and the penultimate of tl^e second. 



* Observations on the Greek Accents, by Arthur Browne, Esq. in the Tra?isnctiQJU of 

 t}ie Royal Irish Academy^ vol. vii. p. 370. 



