Hi! - I am helping to record Josephus' Wars of the Jews'. I am just wondering if anybody has any ideas on the following pronunciations:
Pheroras - Feroras or Peroras?
Macheras - Makeras or Maseras?
Gittha - Gita, Githa, or Geeta?
Straho- Stray-ho or Strah-o?
Apamia - A-pay-mee-a or a-palm-ia?
I am probably gonna drive you crazy with this post! (sorry!) Just want to be as accurate as possible. For future reference I found a cool website that has recorded pronunciations! SWEEEET! http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
Pheroras = FERORAS; a Greek "ph" (transcribing Greek Letter "Phi") is always pronounced as an "F"
Macheras = MAKH-ER-AS; I'm not entirely surely what language this name is from (it looks like a Greek or Latinized version of a Hebrew original) but none of the relevant languages has the soft English "C", nor do they have the English "CH" as in "CHURCH". The sound you want is that of the Greek Letter "Chi", the aspirated "K" which does not really exist in English, except in foreign imports like "KHAN".
Gittha = GIT-THA, rather like "guitar"
Straho = STRAR-HO, with a long "A" in the first syllable. A Greek alpha is a short "A" as in "cat" or a long one as in "barter" but does not have the sound of the long English "A" in "pay".
Apamia = A-PA-MEE-A, where all three "A"'s are short, with the second syllable being half of "PAPA".
You must be joking; my first degree was in Natural Sciences (Chemistry major) from Cambridge, England, my second in Law from Capital Law School in Columbus OH. I learned a fair amount of Latin at school, and have been to Greece twice. I helps to know a little Greek pronunciation when you get off the beaten track and the signs change from English/Greek to Greek only - try deciphering a Greek sign reading "edificios maritimes" (sea castle - in Argos) if you have no idea how to pronounce the Greek! A visit to Morocco taught me a little about Arabic pronunciation, most of which is applicable to the other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic.
I hope you will not be offended if I make one respectful suggestion, which might eliminate a few problems in Josephus. Because of the way they are written, with only the consonants being real letters and the vowels being (optionally) written as pointing marks above the consonants, Hebrew and Aramaic both expect alternating consonants and vowels. Thus, most of the time, you pronounce the consonant with its following vowel, unlike English which has a lot of consonant-vowel-consonant syllables. In case you're wondering, an initial vowel in Hebrew uses one of the "letters" Aleph or Ayin to, in effect, create a space in which the initial vowel can exist.
I dunno, guys, I think I'd go directly to the man -- an Orthodox rabbi. Not right now of course, it's Passover today, but you should be able to find one in your phone book. He'd probably be thrilled that you're recording this book.
I'd be a little careful about an orthodox rabbi; a conservative or liberal one might be more forgiving. Josephus was, with considerable justification, regarded as a traitor to his own people for going over to the Roman side during the Jewish revolt circa AD 70, and I'm not sure the orthodox have ever forgiven him. Would the Daughters of the Revolution welcome a reading of the memoirs of Benedict Arnold?
Also, the pronunciation of present day Hebrew, resurrected only during the 19th century, appears to have been heavily influenced by the Germanic influences in Yiddish and might be somewhat misleading as to ancient Hebrew or Aramaic names rendered into Greek and/or Latin forms, as are many of the names in Josephus.
Ancient Hebrew was actually quite close to Arabic in pronunciation. The Yemenite Jews still read the Torah in a manner that is closer to the original. In the time of King David or earlier, it probably even had a case system quite close to Arabic. This was dropped by the time the Torah was written down.
Greek pronunciation is debateable, but the Koine Greek of the time of Jesus was actually pronounced in a similar way to Modern Greek, not the "Erasmus" method taught in schools and universities. Unfortunately, outside of Greece, that pronunciation is rarely taught, even when studying New Testament Greek or Koine.
Just want to be as accurate as possible. For future reference I found a cool website that has recorded pronunciations! SWEEEET!