Here is a question that has been bothering me for some time. I am aware that the Greek υ is pronounced like the German ü (one approximation of which, perhaps, is the first vowel in words such as “music”), which stands in contrast to ου, for example, the latter of which is pronounced like the vowel in words such as “boot.”
Which brings me to my question: the υ in dipthongs is not pronounced like ü, if I am not mistaken. That is to say, the υ in dipthongs such as ου, αυ, ευ, and ηυ are no longer pronounced like the standalone υ, in the latter case of which it is pronounced like ü (e.g., as in “music”).
Is this right or am I missing something? Any comments welcome.
The original value of υ was [u]. Allen demonstrates this with ζυγόν = Latin iugum = Sanskrit yugám; θῡμός = Latin fūmus = Sanskrit dhūmáḥ. Boeotian and Laconian kept this value, for instance. And the Attic diphthongs indicate this original pronunciation. However, by 350 B.C., the Boeotians found that the Attic υ didn’t match their [u], but instead found Attic ου closer. Boeotian π]ουθιω = Attic Πυθίου.
See Vox Graeca pg. 65-69, where I’ve cribbed this from.
So, if I gather correctly, υ was pronounced as u; there is nothing strange about this. It is the Attic dialect that provides an exception to the rule. More precisely, the Attic dialect provides an exception to the rule in the case of standalone υ, but it follows the rule in the case of dipthongs containing υ.
You mean there is nothing strange about the transformation of [ u] to [ü] in some language? I have no idea if it occurs often.
No, the [ü] pronunciation seems to have happened very early as Ionic preserves the change too. The dialects that retained [ u] seem to have been the exceptional ones. And [ü] seems to have been the basis of the later dialects (even Tsaconian, which today has υ = [ u]).
Pretty late. The Byzantines named υ “ὒ ψιλόν” to distinguish it from οι, which had the same sound at that point, but was graphically δίφθογγον and not ψιλόν. So around 1000 AD. This is all from Allen’s Vox Graeca.