I was glad to hear about your Movement for the reintroduction of the polytonic system of accentuation. I certainly support it, for its abolition seems to me tantamount to an attempt to undermine an innate characteristic of the language itself, namely its subtly modulated, and perhaps unique system of differentiation in speech. The distinctions appreciated and formalized so long ago by the polytonic system are an inherent part of the long and uninterrupted history of both the spoken and written language, and its abolition has to my mind destroyed a central element in its evolution, and put the clock back — not forward, as its protagonists, I imagine, believe. In a language such as Greek with many layers of growth, the visible application of accentual rules (like metrical rules) provides a framework within which the various strands of that growth can be seen as a central feature. That it was a living part of intercommunication long ago does not mean that it has outlived its raison d’être at a period when other philological elements have been modified. I recommend you to read (if you can find a copy) pp. xxii-xxiii of Chandler’s
Greek Accentuation (2nd edn.), with the quotation from “Ioannes Alexandrinus” on the title-page.
The only item in the polytonic system which might without damage to the whole structure be sacrificed is, in my opinion, the barytone sign, which is, after all, only a modification of the oxytone, and is purely (is it not ?) a written symbol. I would defy anyone to distinguish between the two in speech.
I think your manifesto very much to the point.