Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/93

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PROPER PRONUNCIATION OF GREEK. /I translate it by means of a grammar and lexicon into the English. Another degree of mastery- consists in the ability to translate the English by means of a grammar and lexicon into the Greek. A higher degree of mastery, which is not at- tained because it is not sought, consists in the ability to take the language in through the ear, to understand it when we hear it spoken. The highest degree of mastery consists in the power to think in it and feel in it, and to speak it with ease and without friction. And the degree of the discipline which a study imparts is in the direct ratio of the degree of the mastery of that study. The highest mastery, therefore, is the highest discipline. If, then, we would attain the high- est discipline which the Greek language with its wealth of literature may be made to yield, we must acquire it as a living language by living methods. And if we would be practical and would acquire it as a modern tongue for practical purposes, we must yet acquire it as a living lan- guage by living methods. And the first step in the direction of such an acquisition is to put our- selves in relations with it as a living language, to accept it as a living language, meant first for the ear, not for the eye ; to pronounce it as the