Greek alphabet Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History == === Origins === {{Main|History of the Greek alphabet}} [[File:Dipylon Inscription.JPG|thumb|[[Dipylon inscription]], one of the oldest known samples of the use of the Greek alphabet, {{circa|740 BC}}]] During the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean period]], from around the sixteenth century to the twelfth century BC, [[Linear B]] was used to write the earliest attested form of the Greek language, known as [[Mycenaean Greek]]. This writing system, unrelated to the Greek alphabet, last appeared in the thirteenth century BC. In the late ninth century BC or early eighth century BC, the Greek alphabet emerged.{{sfn|Johnston|2003|pages=263–276}} The period between the use of the two writing systems, during which no Greek texts are attested, is known as the [[Greek Dark Ages]]. The Greeks adopted the alphabet from the earlier [[Phoenician alphabet]], one of the closely related scripts used for the [[West Semitic languages]], calling it Φοινικήια γράμματα 'Phoenician letters'.<ref>A Companion to the Ancient Greek Language, article by Roger D. Woodward (ed. Egbert J. Bakker, 2010, Wiley-Blackwell).</ref> However, the Phoenician alphabet is limited to consonants. When it was adopted for writing Greek, certain consonants were adapted to express vowels. The use of both vowels and consonants makes Greek the first [[alphabet]] in the narrow sense,{{sfn|Coulmas|1996|p=}} as distinguished from the [[abjad]]s used in [[Semitic languages]], which have letters only for consonants.{{sfn|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=4}} [[File:NAMA Alphabet grec.jpg|thumb|right|Early Greek alphabet on pottery in the [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]]]] Greek initially took over all of the 22 letters of Phoenician. Five were reassigned to denote vowel sounds: the glide consonants {{IPA|/j/}} (''[[yodh]]'') and {{IPA|/w/}} (''[[waw (letter)|waw]]'') were used for [i] (Ι, ''[[iota]]'') and [u] (Υ, ''[[upsilon]]'') respectively; the [[glottal stop]] consonant {{IPA|/ʔ/}} (''[[aleph]]'') was used for [a] (Α, ''[[alpha]]''); the [[pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] {{IPA|/ʕ/}} (''[[Ayin|ʿayin]]'') was turned into [o] (Ο, ''[[omicron]]''); and the letter for {{IPA|/h/}} (''[[he (letter)|he]]'') was turned into [e] (Ε, ''[[epsilon]]''). A doublet of waw was also borrowed as a consonant for [w] (Ϝ, [[digamma]]). In addition, the Phoenician letter for the emphatic glottal {{IPA|/ħ/}} (''[[heth]]'') was borrowed in two different functions by different dialects of Greek: as a letter for /h/ (Η, [[heta]]) by those dialects that had such a sound, and as an additional vowel letter for the long {{IPA|/ɛː/}} (Η, [[eta]]) by those dialects that lacked the consonant. Eventually, a seventh vowel letter for the long {{IPA|/ɔː/}} (Ω, [[omega]]) was introduced. Greek also introduced three new consonant letters for its aspirated plosive sounds and consonant clusters: Φ (''[[Phi (letter)|phi]]'') for {{IPA|/pʰ/}}, Χ (''[[Chi (letter)|chi]]'') for {{IPA|/kʰ/}} and Ψ (''[[Psi (letter)|psi]]'') for {{IPA|/ps/}}. In western Greek variants, Χ was instead used for {{IPA|/ks/}} and Ψ for {{IPA|/kʰ/}}. The origin of these letters is a matter of some debate. <div style="float:none;"> {|class="wikitable" style="float:left;" |- !colspan="3"|Phoenician !colspan="4"|Greek |- |[[File:Phoenician aleph.svg|x12px]] |[[aleph (letter)|aleph]] |{{IPAslink|ʔ}} |{{GrGl|Alpha 03}} |Α |[[alpha]] |{{IPAslink|a}}, {{IPAslink|aː}} |- |[[File:Phoenician beth.svg|x12px]] |[[beth (letter)|beth]] |{{IPAslink|b}} |{{GrGl|Beta 16}} |Β |[[beta]] |{{IPAslink|b}} |- |[[File:Phoenician gimel.svg|x12px]] |[[gimel (letter)|gimel]] |{{IPAslink|ɡ}} |{{GrGl|Gamma archaic 1}} |Γ |[[gamma]] |{{IPAslink|ɡ}} |- |[[File:Phoenician daleth.svg|x12px]] |[[daleth (letter)|daleth]] |{{IPAslink|d}} |{{GrGl|Delta 04}} |Δ |[[delta (letter)|delta]] |{{IPAslink|d}} |- |[[File:Phoenician he.svg|x12px]] |[[he (letter)|he]] |{{IPAslink|h}} |{{GrGl|Epsilon archaic}} |Ε |[[epsilon]] |{{IPAslink|e}}, {{IPAslink|eː}}<ref name="longepsilon" group="note">Epsilon {{angbr|ε}} and omicron {{angbr|ο}} originally could denote both short and long vowels in pre-classical archaic Greek spelling, just like other vowel letters. They were restricted to the function of short vowel signs in classical Greek, as the long vowels {{IPAslink|eː}} and {{IPAslink|oː}} came to be spelled instead with the digraphs {{angbr|ει}} and {{angbr|ου}}, having phonologically merged with a corresponding pair of former diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/ respectively.</ref> |- |[[File:Phoenician waw.svg|x12px]] |[[waw (letter)|waw]] |{{IPAslink|w}} |{{GrGl|Digamma oblique}} |Ϝ |''([[digamma]])'' |{{IPAslink|w}} |- |[[File:Phoenician zayin.svg|x12px]] |[[zayin (letter)|zayin]] |{{IPAslink|z}} |{{GrGl|Zeta archaic}} |Ζ |[[zeta (letter)|zeta]] |[zd](?) |- |[[File:Phoenician heth.svg|x12px]] |[[heth (letter)|heth]] |{{IPAslink|ħ}} |{{GrGl|Eta archaic}} |Η |[[eta (letter)|eta]] |{{IPAslink|h}}, {{IPAslink|ɛː}} |- |[[File:Phoenician teth.svg|x12px]] |[[teth (letter)|teth]] |{{IPAslink|tˤ}} |{{GrGl|Theta archaic}} |Θ |[[theta]] |{{IPAslink|tʰ}} |- |[[File:Phoenician yodh.svg|x12px]] |[[yodh (letter)|yodh]] |{{IPAslink|j}} |{{GrGl|Iota normal}} |Ι |[[iota]] |{{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|iː}} |- |[[File:Phoenician kaph.svg|x12px]] |[[kaph (letter)|kaph]] |{{IPAslink|k}} |{{GrGl|Kappa normal}} |Κ |[[kappa]] |{{IPAslink|k}} |- |[[File:Phoenician lamedh.svg|x12px]] |[[lamedh (letter)|lamedh]] |{{IPAslink|l}} |{{GrGl|Lambda 09}} |Λ |[[lambda]] |{{IPAslink|l}} |- |[[File:Phoenician mem.svg|x12px]] |[[mem (letter)|mem]] |{{IPAslink|m}} |{{GrGl|Mu 04}} |Μ |[[mu (letter)|mu]] |{{IPAslink|m}} |- |[[File:Phoenician nun.svg|x12px]] |[[nun (letter)|nun]] |{{IPAslink|n}} |{{GrGl|Nu 01}} |Ν |[[nu (letter)|nu]] |{{IPAslink|n}} |} {|class="wikitable" style="float:left;" |- !colspan="3"|Phoenician !colspan="4"|Greek |- |[[File:Phoenician samekh.svg|x12px]] |[[samekh]] |{{IPAslink|s}} |{{GrGl|Xi archaic}} |Ξ |[[xi (letter)|xi]] |{{IPA|/ks/}} |- |[[File:Phoenician ayin.svg|x12px]] |[[ayin (letter)|ʿayin]] |{{IPAslink|ʕ}} |{{GrGl|Omicron 04}} |Ο |[[omicron]] |{{IPAslink|o}}, {{IPAslink|oː}}<ref name="longepsilon" group="note"/> |- |[[File:Phoenician pe.svg|x12px]] |[[Pe (Semitic letter)|pe]] |{{IPAslink|p}} |{{GrGl|Pi archaic}} |Π |[[pi (letter)|pi]] |{{IPAslink|p}} |- |[[File:Phoenician sade.svg|x12px]] |[[Tsade (letter)|ṣade]] |{{IPAslink|sˤ}} |{{GrGl|San 02}} |Ϻ |''([[San (letter)|san]])'' |{{IPAslink|s}} |- |[[File:Phoenician qoph.svg|x12px]] |[[qoph]] |{{IPAslink|q}} |{{GrGl|Koppa normal}} |Ϙ |''([[koppa (letter)|koppa]])'' |{{IPAslink|k}} |- |[[File:Phoenician res.svg|x12px]] |[[resh|reš]] |{{IPAslink|r}} |{{GrGl|Rho pointed}} |Ρ |[[rho]] |{{IPAslink|r}} |- |[[File:Phoenician sin.svg|x12px]] |[[shin (letter)|šin]] |{{IPAslink|ʃ}} |{{GrGl|Sigma normal}} |Σ |[[sigma]] |{{IPAslink|s}} |- |[[File:Phoenician taw.svg|x12px]] |[[taw]] |{{IPAslink|t}} |{{GrGl|Tau normal}} |Τ |[[tau (letter)|tau]] |{{IPAslink|t}} |- |[[File:Phoenician waw.svg|x12px]] |''([[waw (letter)|waw]])'' |{{IPAslink|w}} |{{GrGl|Upsilon normal}} |Υ |[[upsilon]] |{{IPAslink|u}}, {{IPAslink|uː}} |- |colspan="3"|– |{{GrGl|Phi archaic}} |Φ |[[phi]] |{{IPAslink|pʰ}} |- |colspan="3"|– |{{GrGl|Chi normal}} |Χ |[[chi (letter)|chi]] |{{IPAslink|kʰ}} |- |colspan="3"|– |{{GrGl|Psi straight}} |Ψ |[[psi (letter)|psi]] |{{IPA|/ps/}} |- |colspan="3"|– |{{GrGl|Omega normal}} |Ω |[[omega]] |{{IPAslink|ɔː}} |} {{clear|left}} </div> Three of the original Phoenician letters dropped out of use before the alphabet took its classical shape: the letter Ϻ (''[[San (letter)|san]]''), which had been in competition with Σ (''[[sigma]]'') denoting the same phoneme /s/; the letter Ϙ (''[[qoppa]]''), which was redundant with Κ (''[[kappa]]'') for /k/, and Ϝ (''[[digamma]]''), whose sound value /w/ dropped out of the spoken language before or during the classical period. Greek was originally written predominantly from right to left, just like Phoenician, but scribes could freely alternate between directions. For a time, a writing style with alternating right-to-left and left-to-right lines (called ''[[boustrophedon]]'', literally "ox-turning", after the manner of an ox ploughing a field) was common, until in the classical period the left-to-right writing direction became the norm. Individual letter shapes were mirrored depending on the writing direction of the current line. === Archaic variants === {{Main|Archaic Greek alphabets}} [[File:Ancient Greek epichoric alphabets.svg|thumb|right|400px|Distribution of "green", "red" and "blue" alphabet types, after Kirchhoff.]] There were initially numerous [[Archaic Greek alphabets|local (epichoric) variants]] of the Greek alphabet, which differed in the use and non-use of the additional vowel and consonant symbols and several other features. Epichoric alphabets are commonly divided into four major types according to their different treatments of additional consonant letters for the aspirated consonants (/pʰ, kʰ/) and consonant clusters (/ks, ps/) of Greek.{{sfn|Voutiras|2007|page=270}} These four types are often conventionally labelled as "green", "red", "light blue" and "dark blue" types, based on a colour-coded map in a seminal 19th-century work on the topic, ''Studien zur Geschichte des griechischen Alphabets'' by [[Adolf Kirchhoff]] (1867).{{sfn|Voutiras|2007|page=270}} The "green" (or southern) type is the most archaic and closest to the Phoenician.{{sfn|Woodard|2010|pages=26–46}} The "red" (or western) type is the one that was later transmitted to the West and became the ancestor of the [[Latin alphabet]], and bears some crucial features characteristic of that later development.{{sfn|Woodard|2010|pages=26–46}} The "blue" (or eastern) type is the one from which the later standard Greek alphabet emerged.{{sfn|Woodard|2010|pages=26–46}} [[Athens]] used a local form of the "light blue" alphabet type until the end of the fifth century BC, which lacked the letters Ξ and Ψ as well as the vowel symbols Η and Ω.{{sfn|Woodard|2010|pages=26–46}}{{sfn|Jeffery|1961|page=66}} In the Old Attic alphabet, {{lang|grc|ΧΣ}} stood for {{IPA|/ks/}} and {{lang|grc|ΦΣ}} for {{IPA|/ps/}}. {{lang|grc|Ε}} was used for all three sounds {{IPA|/e, eː, ɛː/}} (correspondinɡ to classical {{lang|grc|Ε, ΕΙ, Η}} respectively), and {{lang|grc|Ο}} was used for all of {{IPA|/o, oː, ɔː/}} (corresponding to classical {{lang|grc|Ο, ΟΥ, Ω}} respectively).{{sfn|Jeffery|1961|page=66}} The letter {{lang|grc|Η}} (heta) was used for the consonant {{IPA|/h/}}.{{sfn|Jeffery|1961|page=66}} Some variant local letter forms were also characteristic of Athenian writing, some of which were shared with the neighboring (but otherwise "red") alphabet of [[Euboia]]: a form of {{lang|grc|Λ}} that resembled a Latin ''L'' ({{GrGl|Lambda Athenian}}) and a form of {{wikt-lang|grc|Σ}} that resembled a Latin ''S'' ({{GrGl|Sigma Z-shaped}}).{{sfn|Jeffery|1961|page=66}} {|class="noresize wikitable" !colspan="2"|Phoenician model |[[File:Phoenician aleph.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician beth.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician gimel.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician daleth.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician he.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician waw.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician zayin.svg|x12px]] |colspan="2" align="center"|[[File:Phoenician heth.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician teth.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician yodh.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician kaph.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician lamedh.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician mem.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician nun.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician samekh.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician ayin.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician pe.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician sade.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician qoph.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician res.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician sin.svg|x12px]] |[[File:Phoenician taw.svg|x12px]] |- !style="background-color:#9afa95;"|Southern !style="background-color:#9afa95;"|"green" |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Alpha 03}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Beta 16}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Gamma archaic 1}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Delta 04}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Epsilon archaic}} |rowspan="4" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Digamma oblique}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Zeta archaic}} |rowspan="4" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Eta archaic}} |rowspan="4" valign="top" |— |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Theta archaic}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Iota normal}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Kappa normal}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Lambda 09}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Mu 04}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Nu 01}} |rowspan="3" valign="top" |— |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Omicron 04}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Pi archaic}} |rowspan="4" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|San 02}} |rowspan="4" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Koppa normal}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Rho pointed}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Sigma normal}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Tau normal}} |rowspan="5" valign="top" style="background-color:#9afa95;"|{{GrGl|Upsilon normal}}* |rowspan="1" valign="top" |— |rowspan="1" valign="top" |— |rowspan="1" valign="top" |— |rowspan="3" valign="top" |— |rowspan="4" valign="top" |— |- !rowspan="1" style="background-color:#f9d7b3;"|Western !style="background-color:#f9d7b3;"|"red" |rowspan="1" valign="top" style="background-color:#f9d7b3;"|{{GrGl|Chi normal}} |rowspan="4" valign="top" style="background-color:#f9d7b3;"|{{GrGl|Phi archaic}} |rowspan="1" valign="top" style="background-color:#f9d7b3;"|{{GrGl|Psi straight}} |- !rowspan="2" style="background-color:#d1cfff;"|Eastern !style="background-color:#d1cfff;"|"light blue" |rowspan="3" valign="top" |— |rowspan="3" valign="top" style="background-color:#d1cfff;"|{{GrGl|Chi normal}} |- !style="background-color:#a39efe;"|"dark blue" |rowspan="2" valign="top" style="background-color:#a39efe;"|{{GrGl|Xi archaic}} |rowspan="2" valign="top" style="background-color:#a39efe;"|{{GrGl|Psi straight}} |- !colspan="2" style="background-color:#a39efe;"|Classic Ionian | valign="top" | — | valign="top" | — | valign="top" style="background-color:#a39efe;"|{{GrGl|Eta normal}} | valign="top" | — | valign="top" | — | valign="top" style="background-color:#a39efe;"|{{GrGl|Omega normal}} |- !colspan="2"|Modern alphabet |[[Α]]||[[Β]]||[[Γ]]||[[Δ]]||[[Ε]]||—||[[Ζ]]||—||[[Η]]||[[Θ]]||[[Ι]]||[[Κ]]||[[Λ]]||[[Μ]]||[[Ν]]||[[Ξ]]||[[Ο]]||[[Pi (letter)|Π]]||—||—||[[Ρ]]||[[Σ]]||[[Τ]]||[[Υ]]||—||[[Φ]]||[[Χ]]||[[Ψ]]||[[Ω]] |- !colspan="2"|Sound in Ancient Greek |a||b||g||d||e||w||zd||h||ē||tʰ||i||k||l||m||n||ks||o||p||s||k||r||s||t||u||ks||pʰ||kʰ||ps||ō |- |} <nowiki>*</nowiki>Upsilon is also derived from [[waw (letter)|waw]] ([[File:Phoenician waw.svg|x12px]]). The classical twenty-four-letter alphabet that is now used to represent the Greek language was originally the local alphabet of [[Ionia]].{{sfn|Threatte|1980|page=26}} By the late fifth century BC, it was commonly used by many Athenians.{{sfn|Threatte|1980|page=26}} In {{circa}} 403 BC, at the suggestion of the [[Eponymous archon|archon]] [[Eucleides]], the Athenian Assembly formally abandoned the Old Attic alphabet and adopted the Ionian alphabet as part of the democratic reforms after the [[Phyle Campaign|overthrow]] of the [[Thirty Tyrants]].{{sfn|Threatte|1980|page=26}}{{sfn|Horrocks|2010|page=xiix}} Because of Eucleides's role in suggesting the idea to adopt the Ionian alphabet, the standard twenty-four-letter Greek alphabet is sometimes known as the "Eucleidean alphabet".{{sfn|Threatte|1980|page=26}} Roughly thirty years later, the Eucleidean alphabet was adopted in Boeotia and it may have been adopted a few years previously in [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]].{{sfn|Panayotou|2007|page=407}} By the end of the fourth century BC, it had displaced local alphabets across the Greek-speaking world to become the standard form of the Greek alphabet.{{sfn|Panayotou|2007|page=407}} === Letter names<!--'English pronunciation of Greek letters' redirects here--> === When the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, they took over not only the letter shapes and sound values but also the names by which the sequence of the alphabet could be recited and memorized. In Phoenician, each letter name was a word that began with the sound represented by that letter; thus ''[[Aleph|ʾaleph]]'', the word for "ox", was used as the name for the glottal stop {{IPA|/ʔ/}}, ''[[Bet (letter)|bet]]'', or "house", for the {{IPA|/b/}} sound, and so on. When the letters were adopted by the Greeks, most of the Phoenician names were maintained or modified slightly to fit Greek phonology; thus, ''ʾaleph, bet, gimel'' became ''alpha, beta, gamma''. The Greek names of the following letters are more or less straightforward continuations of their Phoenician antecedents. Between Ancient and Modern Greek, they have remained largely unchanged, except that their pronunciation has followed regular sound changes along with other words (for instance, in the name of ''beta'', ancient /b/ regularly changed to modern /v/, and ancient /ɛː/ to modern /i/, resulting in the modern pronunciation ''vita''). The name of lambda is attested in early sources as {{lang|grc|λάβδα}} besides {{lang|grc|λάμβδα}};<ref>{{harvnb|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. "λάβδα"}}</ref><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5">{{harvnb|Keller|Russell|2012|page=5}}</ref> in Modern Greek the spelling is often {{lang|el|λάμδα}}, reflecting pronunciation.<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> Similarly, iota is sometimes spelled {{lang|el|γιώτα}} in Modern Greek ({{IPA|[ʝ]}} is conventionally transcribed {{angle brackets|γ{ι,η,υ,ει,οι}|}} word-initially and [[intervocalic]]ally before [[back vowel]]s and {{IPA|/a/}}). In the tables below, the Greek names of all letters are given in their traditional polytonic spelling; in modern practice, like with all other words, they are usually spelled in the simplified monotonic system. {{Listen|filename= Ell-AlphabitosUpload.ogg|title=Greek alphabet|description=The names of the letters in spoken Standard Modern Greek|format=[[Ogg]]}} {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Letter !colspan="3"|Name !colspan="3"|Pronunciation |- style="font-size: smaller;" ! Greek ! Phoenician original ! English ! Greek (Ancient) ! Greek (Modern) ! English |- |style="text-align: center;"|Α |{{lang|el|ἄλφα}} ||''aleph'' ||alpha |{{IPA|[alpʰa]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈalfa]}} ||{{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-alpha.ogg|ˈ|æ|l|f|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Β |{{lang|el|βῆτα}} ||''beth'' ||beta |{{IPA|[bɛːta]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈvita]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|iː|t|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|b|eɪ|t|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Γ |{{lang|el|γάμμα}} ||''gimel'' ||gamma |{{IPA|[ɡamma]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈɣama]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|æ|m|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Δ |{{lang|el|δέλτα}} ||''daleth'' ||delta |{{IPA|[delta]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈðelta]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|t|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Η |{{lang|el|ἦτα}} ||''heth'' ||eta |{{IPA|[hɛːta], [ɛːta]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈita]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|t|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|eɪ|t|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Θ |{{lang|el|θῆτα}} ||''teth'' ||theta |{{IPA|[tʰɛːta]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈθita]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|θ|iː|t|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|audio=En-us-theta.ogg|ˈ|θ|eɪ|t|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ι |{{lang|el|ἰῶτα}} ||''yodh'' ||iota |{{IPA|[iɔːta]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈʝota]}} ||{{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-iota.ogg|aɪ|ˈ|oʊ|t|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Κ |{{lang|el|κάππα}} ||''kaph'' ||kappa |{{IPA|[kappa]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈkapa]}} ||{{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-kappa.ogg|ˈ|k|æ|p|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Λ |{{lang|el|λάμβδα}} ||''lamedh'' ||lambda |{{IPA|[lambda]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈlamða]}} ||{{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-lambda.ogg|ˈ|l|æ|m|d|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Μ |{{lang|el|μῦ}} ||''mem'' ||mu |{{IPA|[myː]}} ||{{IPA|[mi]}} ||{{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-mu.ogg|m|j|uː}}; occasionally {{IPAc-en|US|m|uː}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ν |{{lang|el|νῦ}} ||''nun'' ||nu |{{IPA|[nyː]}} ||{{IPA|[ni]}} ||{{IPAc-en|nj|uː}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ρ |{{lang|el|ῥῶ}} ||''reš'' ||rho |{{IPA|[rɔː]}} ||{{IPA|[ro]}} ||{{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-rho.ogg|r|oʊ}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Τ |{{lang|el|ταῦ}} ||''taw'' ||tau |{{IPA|[tau]}} ||{{IPA|[taf]}} ||{{IPAc-en|t|aʊ|,_|t|ɔː}} |} In the cases of the three historical sibilant letters below, the correspondence between Phoenician and Ancient Greek is less clear, with apparent mismatches both in letter names and sound values. The early history of these letters (and the fourth sibilant letter, obsolete [[San (letter)|san]]) has been a matter of some debate. Here too, the changes in the pronunciation of the letter names between Ancient and Modern Greek are regular. {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Letter !colspan="3"|Name !colspan="3"|Pronunciation |- style="font-size: smaller;" ! Greek ! Phoenician original ! English ! Greek (Ancient) ! Greek (Modern) ! English |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ζ |{{lang|el|ζῆτα}} ||''zayin'' ||zeta |{{IPA|[zdɛːta]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈzita]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|iː|t|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|z|eɪ|t|ə}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ξ |{{lang|el|ξεῖ, ξῖ}} ||''samekh'' ||xi |{{IPA|[kseː]}} ||{{IPA|[ksi]}} ||{{IPAc-en|z|aɪ|,_|k|s|aɪ}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Σ |{{lang|el|σίγμα}} ||''šin'' ||siɡma |{{IPA|[siɡma]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈsiɣma]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|ɡ|m|ə}} |} In the following group of consonant letters, the older forms of the names in Ancient Greek were spelled with {{lang|grc|-εῖ}}, indicating an original pronunciation with ''-ē''. In Modern Greek these names are spelled with {{lang|el|-ι}}. {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Letter !colspan="2"|Name !colspan="3"|Pronunciation |- style="font-size: smaller;" ! Greek ! English ! Greek (Ancient) ! Greek (Modern) ! English |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ξ |{{lang|grc|ξεῖ}}, {{lang|el|ξῖ}} ||xi |{{IPA|[kseː]}} ||{{IPA|[ksi]}} ||{{IPAc-en|z|aɪ|,_|k|s|aɪ}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Π |{{lang|grc|πεῖ}}, {{lang|el|πῖ}} ||pi |{{IPA|[peː]}} ||{{IPA|[pi]}} ||{{IPAc-en|p|aɪ}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Φ |{{lang|grc|φεῖ}}, {{lang|el|φῖ}} ||phi |{{IPA|[pʰeː]}} ||{{IPA|[fi]}} ||{{IPAc-en|f|aɪ}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Χ |{{lang|grc|χεῖ}}, {{lang|el|χῖ}} ||chi |{{IPA|[kʰeː]}} ||{{IPA|[çi]}} ||{{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-chi.ogg|k|aɪ}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ψ |{{lang|grc|ψεῖ}}, {{lang|el|ψῖ}} ||psi |{{IPA|[pseː]}} ||{{IPA|[psi]}} ||{{IPAc-en|s|aɪ}}, {{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-psi.ogg|p|s|aɪ}} |} The following group of vowel letters were originally called simply by their sound values as long vowels: ē, ō, ū, and {{IPA|ɔ}}. Their modern names contain adjectival qualifiers that were added during the Byzantine period, to distinguish between letters that had become confusable.<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> Thus, the letters {{angbr|ο}} and {{angbr|ω}}, pronounced identically by this time, were called ''o mikron'' ("small o") and ''o mega'' ("big o") respectively.<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> The letter {{angbr|ε}} was called ''e psilon'' ("plain e") to distinguish it from the identically pronounced digraph {{angbr|αι}}, while, similarly, {{angbr|υ}}, which at this time was pronounced {{IPAblink|y}}, was called ''y psilon'' ("plain y") to distinguish it from the identically pronounced digraph {{angbr|οι}}.<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Letter !colspan="4"|Name !colspan="3"|Pronunciation |- style="font-size: smaller;" ! Greek (Ancient) ! Greek (Medieval) ! Greek (Modern) ! English ! Greek (Ancient) ! Greek (Modern) ! English |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ε |{{lang|grc|εἶ}} ||{{lang|el|ἐ ψιλόν}} ||{{lang|el|ἔψιλον}} ||epsilon |{{IPA|[eː]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈepsilon]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|p|s|ᵻ|l|ɒ|n}}, some {{IPAc-en|UK|ɛ|p|ˈ|s|aɪ|l|ə|n}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ο |{{lang|grc|οὖ}} ||{{lang|el|ὀ μικρόν}} ||{{lang|el|ὄμικρον}} ||omicron |{{IPA|[oː]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈomikron]}} ||{{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒ|m|ᵻ|k|r|ɒ|n}}, traditional {{IPAc-en|UK|oʊ|ˈ|m|aɪ|k|r|ɒ|n}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Υ |{{lang|grc|ὖ}} ||{{lang|el|ὐ ψιλόν}} ||{{lang|el|ὔψιλον}} ||upsilon |{{IPA|[uː]}}, {{IPA|[yː]}} ||{{IPA|[ˈipsilon]}} ||{{IPAc-en|j|uː|p|ˈ|s|aɪ|l|ə|n|,_|ˈ|ʊ|p|s|ᵻ|l|ɒ|n}}, also {{IPAc-en|UK|ʌ|p|ˈ|s|aɪ|l|ə|n}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|ʌ|p|s|ᵻ|l|ɒ|n}} |- |style="text-align: center;"|Ω |{{lang|grc|ὦ}} ||{{lang|el|ὠ μέγα}} ||{{lang|el|ὠμέγα}} ||omega |{{IPA|[ɔː]}} ||{{IPA|[oˈmeɣa]}} ||{{IPAc-en|US|oʊ|ˈ|m|eɪ|ɡ|ə}}, traditional {{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|oʊ|m|ᵻ|ɡ|ə}} |} Some dialects of the Aegean and [[Cypriot Greek|Cypriot]] have retained [[long consonant]]s and pronounce {{IPA|[ˈɣamːa]}} and {{IPA|[ˈkapʰa]}}; also, {{lang|el|ήτα}} has come to be pronounced {{IPA|[ˈitʰa]}} in Cypriot.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0024-3841(68)90130-7|last=Newton|first=B. E.|year=1968|title=Spontaneous gemination in Cypriot Greek|journal=Lingua|volume=20|pages=15–57|issn=0024-3841}}</ref> === Letter shapes === [[File:Gospel Estienne 1550.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|A 16th-century edition of the New Testament ([[Gospel of John]]), printed in a renaissance typeface by [[Claude Garamond]]]] [[File:Theocritus-Syracusanus-et-al-Lodewijk-Caspar-Valckenaer MG 0683 - detail - Greek text - Theocritus - Idyll 1.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|Theocritus Idyll 1, lines 12–14, in script with abbreviations and ligatures from a caption in an illustrated edition of Theocritus. Lodewijk Caspar Valckenaer: ''Carmina bucolica'', Leiden 1779.]] Like Latin and other alphabetic scripts, Greek originally had only a single form of each letter, without a distinction between uppercase and lowercase. This distinction is an innovation of the modern era, drawing on different lines of development of the letter shapes in earlier handwriting. The oldest forms of the letters in antiquity are [[majuscule]] forms. Besides the upright, straight inscriptional forms (capitals) found in stone carvings or incised pottery, more fluent writing styles adapted for handwriting on soft materials were also developed during antiquity. Such handwriting has been preserved especially from [[papyrus]] manuscripts in [[Egypt]] since the [[Hellenistic period]]. Ancient handwriting developed two distinct styles: [[uncial]] writing, with carefully drawn, rounded block letters of about equal size, used as a [[book hand]] for carefully produced literary and religious manuscripts, and [[Greek cursive|cursive]] writing, used for everyday purposes.<ref name="thompson">{{harvnb|Thompson|1912|pp=102–103}}</ref> The cursive forms approached the style of lowercase letter forms, with [[Ascender (typography)|ascenders]] and descenders, as well as many connecting lines and ligatures between letters. In the ninth and tenth century, uncial book hands were replaced with a new, more compact writing style, with letter forms partly adapted from the earlier cursive.<ref name="thompson"/> This [[Greek minuscule|minuscule]] style remained the dominant form of handwritten Greek into the modern era. During the [[Renaissance]], western printers adopted the minuscule letter forms as lowercase printed typefaces, while modeling uppercase letters on the ancient inscriptional forms. The orthographic practice of using the letter case distinction for marking proper names, titles, etc. developed in parallel to the practice in Latin and other western languages. {|class="wikitable" |- !colspan="2"|Inscription !colspan="2"|Manuscript !colspan="2"|Modern print |- style="font-size: smaller;" !Archaic!!Classical!![[Uncial]]!![[Greek minuscule|Minuscule]]!!Lowercase!!Uppercase |- |{{GrGl|Alpha 03}} |{{GrGl|Alpha classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Alpha}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Alpha.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|α |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Α |- |{{GrGl|Beta 16}} |{{GrGl|Beta classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Beta}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Beta.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|β |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Β |- |{{GrGl|Gamma archaic 1}} |{{GrGl|Gamma classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Gamma}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Gamma.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|γ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Γ |- |{{GrGl|Delta 04}} |{{GrGl|Delta classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Delta}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Delta.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|δ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Δ |- |{{GrGl|Epsilon archaic}} |{{GrGl|Epsilon classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Epsilon}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Epsilon.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ε |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ε |- |{{GrGl|Zeta archaic}} |{{GrGl|Zeta classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Zeta}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Zeta.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ζ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ζ |- |{{GrGl|Eta archaic}} |{{GrGl|Eta classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Eta}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Eta.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|η |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Η |- |{{GrGl|Theta archaic}} |{{GrGl|Theta classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Theta}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Theta.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|θ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Θ |- |{{GrGl|Iota normal}} |{{GrGl|Iota classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Iota}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Iota.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ι |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ι |- |{{GrGl|Kappa normal}} |{{GrGl|Kappa classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Kappa}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Kappa.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|κ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Κ |- |{{GrGl|Lambda 09}} |{{GrGl|Lambda classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Lambda}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Lambda.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|λ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Λ |- |{{GrGl|Mu 04}} |{{GrGl|Mu classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Mu}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Mu.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|μ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Μ |- |{{GrGl|Nu 01}} |{{GrGl|Nu classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Nu}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Nu.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ν |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ν |- |{{GrGl|Xi archaic}} |{{GrGl|Xi classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Xi}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Xi.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ξ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ξ |- |{{GrGl|Omicron 04}} |{{GrGl|Omicron classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Omicron}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Omicron.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ο |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ο |- |{{GrGl|Pi archaic}} |{{GrGl|Pi classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Pi}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Pi.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|π |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Π |- |{{GrGl|Rho pointed}} |{{GrGl|Rho classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Rho}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Rho.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ρ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ρ |- |{{GrGl|Sigma normal}} |{{GrGl|Sigma classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Sigma}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Sigma.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|σς |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Σ |- |{{GrGl|Tau normal}} |{{GrGl|Tau classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Tau}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Tau.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|τ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Τ |- |{{GrGl|Upsilon normal}} |{{GrGl|Upsilon classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Upsilon}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Upsilon.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|υ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Υ |- |{{GrGl|Phi 03}} |{{GrGl|Phi archaic}} |{{GrGl|uncial Phi}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Phi.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|φ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Φ |- |{{GrGl|Chi normal}} |{{GrGl|Chi classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Chi}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Chi.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|χ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Χ |- |{{GrGl|Psi straight}} |{{GrGl|Psi classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Psi}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Psi.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ψ |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ψ |- |{{GrGl|Omega normal}} |{{GrGl|Omega classical}} |{{GrGl|uncial Omega}} |[[File:Greek minuscule Omega.svg|x30px]] |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|ω |style="font-family:serif;font-size:larger;"|Ω |} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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