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Hi,

I think I understand the principle of sinizesis (paragraph 586), which dictates that the εω in πηληλιαδεω should be pronounced as a single long syllable. However, I'm not clear how it actually should be pronounced - εω doesn't seem to be one of the diphthongs listed and any other way of pronouncing seems to involve two vowels (however quickly one of them is pronounced) so it's not actually a single syllable at all. Is the ε just forgotten - or is there a specific pronunciation not mentioned in the text?

I know I'm missing something and I suspect it's really obvious...

Many thanks

David

Remember that a) we don't really know how things were pronounced (for example, eta's are often prounced like "aye" but probably were more like a short "e" as in bet) an b) the meter can change normal pronunciation:

MEnin a-AYde theA pe; LE-i-a-dEO (pronounced eh-oh really fast) a-khilE-OS.

OK - thanks very much for the reply.

David

I have seen a theory that originally this word was πηληϝιαδᾱ' elided for πηληϝιαδᾱo ; the next word was Ἀχιλῆϝος .

Pronunciation was likely: short ε close like French é ; η long open like English "air" (but without an r-component), or like the 'e' in 'pet' but drawled.