Greetings all,
My book says ευ/ηυ is pronounced as eu in feud, but does that include the semivowel “y” at the beginning (as in the English pronounciation of “fyood” (if that were a word) or "euphony? Does it depend on its position in the word? For example, is βασιλεὺς pronounced basilyoos?
My apologies for the elementary question.
No, there shouldn’t be a “y” glide (a “yod”), but modern speakers find it hard to avoid and most (me included) usually don’t try. ηυ and ευ were originally different diphthongs but the distinction was erased quite early on, so ηυρηκα became ευρηκα (with or without initial aspiration restored). The standard work on classical Greek pronunciation is W.S.Alllen’s Vox Graeca (in English, fortunately for us). But of course pronunciation varied according to time and place—as it still does.
[adding my own meagre two cents]
And for what it’s worth, the Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek (CGCG) in section 1.21 says that the dipthong ευ was pronounced as “a glide from ‘get’ to ‘wide’ cf. Cockney ‘bell’”
I’ve actually been trying to follow that e.g. παιδευω = pai-dehw-oh
Thanks for the helpful and insightful answers, mwh and Mitch!