Letters and Pronunciation
Following are the uppercase and lowercase versions of each letter, followed by its name in English (Latin) and Greek. (You can also see how the transliteration works)
Vowel
Α/α alpha
(αλφα)
as in pat
Ε/ε epsilon (εψιλον)
as in pet
Η/η eta (ητα)
as in pit
Ι/ι iota (ιωτα)
as in pit, though when followed by a
vowel it can often be pronunced like y -
example: its very name, it's either said as iota or yota.
Ο/ο omicron (ομικρον)
as in pot
Υ/υ upsilon (υψιλον)
as in pit
Ω/ω omega (ωμεγα)
as in pot
Diphtongs
ΑΙ/αι
aplha-iota
as in pet
ΕΙ/ει epsilon-iota
as in pit
ΟΙ/οι omicron-iota
as in pit
ΥΙ/υι upsilon-iota
as in pit
ΟΥ/ου omicron-upsilon
as in put
ΑΥ/αυ alpha-upsilon
ΕΥ/ευ epsilon-upsilon
For the last two diphthongs: when followed by a voiceless consonant
or a vowel or nothing (end of the word), the upsilon is pronunced
as f resulting to 'af' and 'ef'; though, when
followed by a voiced consonant the f is
voiced as well making it a v. so we have
'av' and 'ev'.
(example: 'aura' and 'tau' in Greek are pronunced as 'avra' and
'taf')
Consonants
Β/β beta
(βητα)
V/v
Γ/γ gamma (γαμμα)
a voiced version of chi. Before epsilon (γε) and iota (γι), as in
yet and yiddish. Also see consonant clusters.
Δ/δ delta (δελτα)
as in those / Spanish soft d / Norse
Ð/ð
Ζ/ζ zeta (ζητα)
as in zone
Θ/θ theta (θητα)
th as in thorn / Norse
Þ/þ
Κ/κ kappa (καππα)
as in kinetic
Λ/λ lambda (λαμβδα)
L/l
Μ/μ mu (μυ)
M/m
Ν/ν nu (νυ)
N/n
Ξ/ξ xi (ξι)
X/x as in ax
Π/π pi (πι)
P/p as in ape
Ρ/ρ rho (ρω)
Spanish/Scotish R/r
Σ/σ/ς sigma (σιγμα)
S/s as in some. Before voiced consonants
it gets voiced to z
Τ/τ tau (ταυ)
T/t
Φ/φ phi (φι)
F/f
Χ/χ chi (χι)
Scottish ch [loch] / like an H/h but with
the tongue touching the palate
Ψ/ψ psi (ψι)
as in lips
- SPECIAL CONSONANT CLUSTERS:
Γκ/γκ gamma-kappa
as in gong
γγ gamma-gamma
as in gong
γχ gamma-chi
n+chi / like ankh but more aspirated -
see also Chi
Μπ/μπ mu-pi
as in bumble / B/b
Ντ/ντ nu-tau
as in dander /
D/d
All the above 5 diphthongs can be nasalized more or less depending to the speaker.
Any other consonant
combination is pronunced like their English
counterparts.
Just remember which is the proper letter in English!
Notes on Sounds, Accents etc.
The accent (similar in usage as in Spanish), if written, is placed on the vowel of the tonic syllable, or onto the second vowel if there's a diphthong. If there's an accent at the first vowel of a diphthong, or a diaeresis on the second, then it isn't an actual diphthong and the two vowels are pronunced seperately. The former occasion is the most common, but since words written in capital letters never get accents, the diaeresis is the only way to note the broken diphthong at all-caps phrases - English such example: naïve. (diairesis = two dots on top of iota or upsilon, Ï/ï - Ÿ/ü)
All vowels have the same short length. So yes, there are 2 ways to write 'e', 6 to write 'i' and 2 letters to write 'o'!
Diphthongs 'γγ' and 'γχ' are never found at the start of a word. Vowel diphthong 'υι' is very rare, virtually only in a couple words.
Greek language lacks a 'sh' sound. Consequently there are only simple unaspirated s, z, ts, j, x 's (no shame, pleasure, luxurious, chin etc.). Also, "ς" is the form of Sigma used only when it is the last letter of a word. Graphically is just like English s.
The capital letters are the same with the ones of the Enlish alphabet. Although the small letters seem entirely different (and some of them are indeed) at people's handwritting they are extrememly close to English.
Greek people know they have a difficult language and don't expect any tourist to know more than a couple words. And even while they think its easy phonetically, they understand the problems foreigners have pronuncing it. You can say gamma as a hard 'g', chi as 'h', and rho as an unrolled English 'r' and you'll be totally understood. People in no way expect you to be proficient in any aspect of Greek, so by studying a bit before visiting you can really impress people and win their hearts!
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