Pronunciation of Ancient Greek in teaching Greek, from the reconstructed pronunciation of Ancient Greek and from the pronunciation used in other countries. The Classical Association, therefore, promulgated a new pronunciation as described by W. Sidney Allen in 1987, based on the reconstructed ancient pronunciation, which is now generally in use in British schools. The reforms in the pronunciation of Ancient Greek in schools have not affected the pronunciation of individual Greek-derived words in English itself, and there is now considerable variation in the English pronunciation (and indeed spelling) of the names of Ancient Greek historical or mythological personages or places (see "English words of Greek origin").
Ancient Greek personal names used for names that derived not from other words but from the sounds made by little children addressing their relatives. Typically, they involve repeated consonants or syllables (like English "Dada, Nana")—examples are "Nanna" and "Papas". They grew hugely in frequency from a low base in the Roman period, probably through the influence of other naming traditions such as Phrygian, in which such names were very common. The main broad characteristics of Greek name formation listed above are found in other Indo-European languages (the Indo-Iranian, Germanic, Celtic, Baltic, and Slavic subgroups); they look like an ancient inheritance within Greek. The naming