By the “music of language,” we mean the vocal coloration, the melody, that characterizes each language or local dialect and allows us to recognize it when we hear it, even if we can’t understand it. For example, we can easily tell when someone is speaking Russian or Spanish, and Greeks can distinguish certain locals (e.g., Cypriots or Ionians) based on their accent.
Ancient Greek was a predominantly musical language. Its toning was melodious, but originally there were no accents or diacritical marks in its writing because everyone knew how to pronounce the language correctly. Later on, punctuation marks, accents, and diacritical marks were invented, along with various grammar rules that essentially describe the way the language should be “sung.”
Many of the symbols or grammatical rules are essentially musical. These symbols, like in music, fall into two categories: those that describe the alternation of pitch (treble and bass) between syllables and words, and those that define the duration of each syllable and/or pause.
For pitch, the basic symbols of grammar are the tones, which were three: acute, grave, and circumflex. The duration of syllables is determined by the vowels they contain, categorized into long (η, ω), short (ε, ο), and breves (α, ι, υ). Syllables with long vowels last longer than those with short vowels, while breves, as implied by their name, can be either long or short depending on the grammar rules. Therefore, a syllable can have either a long or short duration. The typical ratio between the duration of a long syllable and a short syllable is usually 2:1 (the long syllable is twice as long as the short one).
If a text consists of a consistently repeated composition of long and short syllables, such as 3 short syllables followed by 1 long syllable, then the text has meter. It is metered speech/writing that is considered poetry.
Apart from the accents, there are additional punctuation marks that relate to the pitch and pronunciation of syllables in the Greek language, such as breathing marks, the iota subscript (marks of the polytonic system), quotation marks, and parentheses.
Quotation marks and parentheses are not absent in any modern language, so they don’t require a special presentation. However, it is good to remember their role. When reading a text and encountering quotation marks, we raise the pitch of our voice to read the enclosed section, whereas when encountering parentheses, we lower the pitch of our voice. So, they are tonal markers. Additionally, they contribute to the rhythm as a small pause precedes their reading.
Unfortunately, despite the efforts of scholars, Modern Greek has lost the melodic essence of the ancient language. However, it survives in some local dialects…
