1.4 Voicing and Sandhi — Epoché
What you will be able to do Say why the words for the door come out with a b in the middle, although nothing in the spelling has a b in it. Apply the rule: a word ending in n, followed by a word beginning with one of five consonants, turns that consonant voiced. Hear where one word ends and the next begins, even when the join has been smoothed over. Read ten sentences in which the change happens, and say what it did in each. Prerequisites : 1.3 — stress. Read 1.3 Sounds first if you have not. Every language smooths the joins between words. English does it constantly and invisibly: ten pounds comes out with an m, in cars with an ng, would you with a j-sound in the middle. No English speaker is taught this and none of it is written down. Greek does the same kind of thing, but with one difference that matters for a learner: in Greek the change is regular enough to state as a rule, and common enough that you will meet it in the first sentence you hear. How it sounds The rule, in one line: a word ending in n, followed immediately by a word beginning with p, t, k, ps or ks, makes that consonant voiced — and the n is usually absorbed into it. Written Said Example π b πόρτα — door τ d ταινία — film κ g καφές — coffee ψ bz ψωμί — bread ξ gz ξενοδοχείο — hotel The words that end in n are exactly the ones you meet most: the definite article in two of its forms, the negative, and the preposition-plus-article combinations. That is why this is not an advanced refinement to be left until later. It is in the first sentence of any conversation, and a learner who does not know it hears a word he cannot find in the dictionary. Take the two words for the door . The article ends in n, the noun begins with p. Said together the p is voiced to b and the n is swallowed, so the two words come out as something like timbórta — and if you were listening for the p you will not find it. That is the whole difficulty, and it disappears the moment you expect the change instead of being surprised by it. Where the n comes from and where it goes Greek has been losing these final n's for centuries, and different speakers keep different amounts of them. Some pronounce the n clearly and then the voiced consonant; others drop the n entirely and leave only the voicing; a few, in careful or formal speech, leave both alone. All three are heard daily. You are not required to choose: say the n lightly, let the following consonant voice itself, and you will land in the middle of the range. The spelling, meanwhile, does not move. The article is written with its n whatever happens in the mouth, which is convenient for reading — you always see the grammatical form — and means that this lesson is entirely about the ear. When you write, write the n. One useful consequence for the ear: because the change happens at a join, hearing it tells you where the join is. A learner who hears a b in the middle of an unbroken stretch of sound now knows that a word ended just before it. That is worth more than it sounds when you are trying to break a stream of speech into words. A word on the term. Linguists call this kind of change sandhi , a word borrowed from the grammarians of ancient India, who described the same phenomenon in Sanskrit two and a half thousand years ago and wrote the rules down in detail. You do not need the term, but it is worth knowing that the thing it names is ordinary: languages that write their sandhi are the unusual ones, and Greek, like English, mostly does not. Finally, a caution against over-applying the rule. It works across the join between two words only when they are said together as a unit — an article and its noun, a negative and its verb. If there is a pause, a hesitation, or a comma where you would draw breath, the change does not happen, and nobody will think it strange. When in doubt, say the two words separately: you will sound careful rather than wrong, which is the right kind of mistake to make in the first month. Read it aloud Ten sentences. Read each one twice: once as it is written, word by word, and once joined up with the change applied. The second version is what you will hear. Greek English What happens at the join Άνοιξα την πόρτα. [1] I opened the door. the p of the second word comes out as b, and the n disappears into it Άνοιξε την πόρτα. [2] Open the door. the same two words, and the same change, in an imperative Είδα την ταινία. [3] I watched the movie. here the t becomes d Ήπια τον καφέ. [4] I drank the coffee. and here the k becomes g Έπιασες τον κλέφτη. [5] You caught the thief. the same change, with the masculine form of the word before it Δεν πίνω. [6] I don't drink. after the negative, the p is a b again Δεν τραγουδάω. [7] I do not sing. the t after the negative is a d Δεν καπνίζει. [8] He does not smoke. and the k is a g Μένω στην πόλη. [9] I'm living in the city. the same thing inside a preposition-plus-article Κατασκήνωσαν στην παραλία. [10] They camped on the beach. four words, one change, at the join in the middle New words Word (with article) Meaning Notes η πόρτα el i pórta door Part of speech / class noun, feminine How it differs from English from Latin, and the first word most learners hear the change in η ταινία el i tenía film, movie Part of speech / class noun, feminine How it differs from English also a ribbon or a strip: the original sense ο καφές el o kafés coffee Part of speech / class noun, masculine How it differs from English ends in the s-sound, so it takes the final sigma ο κλέφτης el o kléftis thief Part of speech / class noun, masculine How it differs from English the klepto- of kleptomania η παραλία el i paralía beach Part of speech / class noun, feminine How it differs from English built on the word for the sea: the place beside it η πόλη el i póli city, town Part of speech / class noun, feminine How it differs from English the -polis of metropolis and police Practice Apply the rule. Say each pair joined up, and say what the second consonant becomes: την πόρτα · τον