Note 10 — THE PRONUNCIATION OF GREEK, &c.

“If we find a word pronounced in a given manner in the time of Athenæus, we are warranted, in the absence of proof, in supposing it to have been pronounced in the same way in the time of Homer; and what prevailed in Homer’s time may be presumed to have continued till the age of Athenæus.”—Pennington, p. 7. This is too strong. Considering the immense interval of time and progress of culture between Homer and Athenæus, and considering the tendency to change inherent in human nature, I can see no presumption that the pronunciation of the language should have remained through so many centuries unchanged.