GREEK ALPHABET
Before learning any Greek, it is vital that you learn the alphabet and how each letter is pronounced!
There are 24 letters to learn, as listed below:
α (alpha) —> Can be short, as in cat OR long, as in father
β (beta) —> English equivalent is ‘b’ like ‘bee’
γ (gamma) —> English equivalent is ‘g’ like ‘go’
δ (delta) —> English equivalent is ‘d’ like ‘dog’
ε (epsilon) —> Short ‘e’ like ‘get’
ζ (zeta) —> English equivalent is ‘z’ or ‘sd’ like ‘wisdom’
η (eta) —> Long ‘e’ like ‘late’
θ (theta) —> English equivalent is ‘th’ like ‘three’
ι (iota) —> Can be short, as in lip OR long, as in lie
κ (kappa) —> English equivalent is ‘c’ or ‘k’ like ‘cat’
λ (lambda) —> English equivalent to ‘l’ like ‘limp’
μ (mu) —> English equivalent to ‘m’ like ‘man’
ν (nu) —> English equivalent to ‘n’ like ‘night’
ξ (xi) —> English equivalent to ‘x’ like ‘mix’ or ‘licks’
ο (omicron) —> Short ‘o’ like ‘log’
π (pi) —> English equivalent to ‘p’ like ‘pig’
ρ (rho) —> English equivalent to ‘r’ like ‘rat’
σ/ς (sigma) —> English equivalent to ‘s’ like ‘sit’
τ (tau) —> English equivalent to ‘t’ like ‘tip’
υ (upsilon) —> Can be short like the French word ‘tu’, OR long as in ‘surf’
φ (phi) —> English equivalent to ‘ph’ like ‘phase’
χ (chi) —> English Equivalent to ‘ch’ like ‘loch’
ψ (psi) —> English equivalent to ‘ps’ like ‘corpse’
ω (omega) —> Long ‘o’ like ‘oar’
Important:
Sigma is σ normally, ς at the end of a word (e.g. στρατηγος)
If there are two gammas next to each other, the first gamma is pronounced as ‘n’ (this is also the case if a gamma is followed by a ‘k’ sound such as kappa, xi or chi)
Breathings:
Any word starting with a vowel (α, ε, η, ι, ο, ω) must have a breathing over it. This can either by a rough breathing, indicating a ‘h’ sound at the start of the word, or a smooth breathing, no ‘h’ sound at the start.
It looks like this ἀ (smooth breathing) OR ἁ (rough Breathing) - It is important to look at the direction of the breathing to know whether it is smooth or rough.
Whilst you do not need to learn accents, you must know and use breathing as, in some instances, a simple breathing can alter the meaning of the word.
Diphthongs:
A diphthong is when 2 vowels combine and become one sound. We have this in English (e.g. boat, scream)
Here are some common ones:
αι (e.g. high)
αυ (e.g. shower)
ει (e.g. weight)
ευ (e.g. feud)
οι (e.g. boy)
ου (e.g. stool)
Iota Subscript
If an iota follows a long alpha, eta or omega, it is written underneath (e.g. ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ).
Remember to look out for these!
While we don’t know if it was pronounced, it is good to include it in the pronunciation.
Capital Letters:
As with Latin, capital letters are only used at the start of proper names, not at the start of sentences.
Whilst some of them are obvious, there are a few to watch out for.
α —> Α
β —> Β
γ —> Γ
δ —> Δ
ε —> Ε
ζ —> Ζ
η —> Η
θ —> Θ
ι —> Ι
κ —> Κ
λ —> Λ
μ —> Μ
ν —> Ν
ξ —> Ξ
ο —> Ο
π —> Π
ρ —> Ρ
σ/ς —> Σ
τ —> Τ
υ —> Υ
φ —> Φ
χ —> Χ
ψ —> Ψ
ω —> Ω