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! === Sound values === {{Main|Greek orthography|Pronunciation of Ancient Greek in teaching}}{{Further|Manners of articulation}} In both Ancient and Modern Greek, the letters of the Greek alphabet have fairly stable and consistent symbol-to-sound mappings, making pronunciation of words largely predictable. Ancient Greek spelling was generally near-[[Phonemic orthography|phonemic]]. For a number of letters, sound values differ considerably between Ancient and Modern Greek, because their pronunciation has followed a set of systematic phonological shifts that affected the language in its post-classical stages.<ref name="horrocks_231">{{harvnb|Horrocks|2006|pp=231–250}}</ref> {|cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" style="text-align:center;" |style="vertical-align:top;"| {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Letter !! rowspan="2"|Name !colspan="2"|Ancient pronunciation !colspan="2"|Modern pronunciation |- ! {{smaller|IPA<ref name="woodard_2008_15">{{harvnb|Woodard|2008|pp=15–17}}</ref>}} ! {{smaller|Approximate western European equivalent}} ! {{smaller|IPA<ref name="holton_1998_31">{{harvnb|Holton|Mackridge|Philippaki-Warburton|1998|p=31}}</ref>}} ! {{smaller|Approximate western European equivalent}}<ref name="Adams1987pp67">{{harvnb|Adams|1987|pages=6–7}}</ref> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Α α}} ||[[alpha]], {{wikt-lang|el|άλφα}} || Short: {{IPAblink|a}}<br/>Long: {{IPAblink|aː}} ||Short: first a as in English ''<u>a</u>wait''<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/><br/>Long: a as in English ''f<u>a</u>ther''<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/>|| {{IPAblink|ɐ|a}} ||a as in English ''f<u>a</u>ther'', but short |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Β β}} ||[[beta]], {{wikt-lang|el|βήτα}} || {{IPAblink|b}}<ref name="Mastronarde2013p10">{{harvnb|Mastronarde|2013|page=10}}</ref><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> || b as in English ''<u>b</u>etter''<ref name="Groton2013p10">{{harvnb|Groton|2013|page=3}}</ref><ref name="Mastronarde2013p10"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> || {{IPAblink|v}} || v as in English ''<u>v</u>ote'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Γ γ}} ||[[gamma]], {{wikt-lang|el|γάμμα}} || {{IPAblink|ɡ}}<br/>{{IPAblink|ŋ}} when used before {{lang|el|γ}}, {{lang|el|κ}}, {{lang|el|ξ}}, {{lang|el|χ}}, and possibly {{lang|el|μ}}|| g as in English ''<u>g</u>et''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p10"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/><br/>ng as in English ''sing'' when used before {{lang|el|γ}}, {{lang|el|κ}}, {{lang|el|ξ}}, {{lang|el|χ}}, and possibly {{lang|el|μ}}<ref name="Mastronarde2013p10"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/><ref group="ex">For example, ἀ'''γ'''κών.</ref> ||{{IPAblink|ɣ}} before /a/, /o/, /u/; {{IPAblink|ʝ}} before /e/, /i/; {{IPAblink|ŋ}}<ref group="ex">For example, ε'''γ'''γραφή.</ref> ~ {{IPAblink|ɲ}}<ref group="ex">For example, ε'''γ'''γεγραμμένος.</ref> | g as in Spanish ''la<u>g</u>o;'' y as in English ''<u>y</u>ellow;'' ng as in English ''lo<u>ng</u>'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Δ δ}} ||[[Delta (letter)|delta]], {{wikt-lang|el|δέλτα}} || {{IPAblink|d}} || d as in English ''<u>d</u>elete''<ref name="Groton2013p10"/><ref name="Mastronarde2013p10"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> ||{{IPAblink|ð}} || th as in English ''<u>th</u>en'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ε ε}} ||[[epsilon]], {{wikt-lang|el|έψιλον}} || {{IPAblink|e}} || colspan="3"|ea as in Scottish English gr<u>ea</u>''t''<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Ben |date=May 2006 |title=Acquisition of Scottish English Phonology: An Overview |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277877087 |access-date=25 October 2023 |website=ResearchGate}}</ref> similar to ay as in English overl<u>ay</u>, but without pronouncing y. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Overlay Definition & Meaning |url=https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/overlay |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Britannica Dictionary |language=en-US}}</ref><!--See [[Talk:Greek_alphabet#Sound_values_of_epsilon_and_eta]]--> |- <!--Voiced alveolar affricate--> |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ζ ζ}} ||[[zeta]], {{wikt-lang|el|ζήτα}} || {{IPA|[zd]}}, <small>or possibly {{IPAblink|dz}}</small> || sd as in English ''wi<u>sd</u>om'',<br/><small>or possibly dz as in English ''a<u>dz</u>e''</small><ref name="hinge">{{harvnb|Hinge|2001|pp=212–234}}</ref><ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56">{{harvnb|Keller|Russell|2012|pages=5–6}}</ref>{{refn|group="note"|name="zetashift"|By around 350 BC, zeta in the Attic dialect had shifted to become a single fricative, {{IPAblink|z}}, as in modern Greek.<ref name="Mastronarde2013p11">{{harvnb|Mastronarde|2013|page=11}}</ref>}} ||{{IPAblink|z}} || z as in English ''<u>z</u>oo'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Η η}} ||[[eta]], {{wikt-lang|el|ήτα}} || {{IPAblink|ɛː}} ||e as in English n<u>e</u>t, but long <ref>{{Cite web |title=Net Definition & Meaning |url=https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/net |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Britannica Dictionary |language=en-US}}</ref> ê as in French ''t<u>ê</u>te''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p11" /><!--See [[Talk:Greek_alphabet#Sound_values_of_epsilon_and_eta]]--> | {{IPAblink|i}} || i as in English ''mach<u>i</u>ne'', but short |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Θ θ}} ||[[theta]], {{wikt-lang|el|θήτα}} || {{IPAblink|tʰ}} || t as in English ''<u>t</u>op''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p11"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/>{{refn|group="note"|name="thetaphichi"|The letters [[theta]] {{angbr|{{lang|el|θ}}}}, [[phi]] {{angbr|{{lang|el|φ}}}}, and [[Chi (letter)|chi]] {{angbr|{{lang|el|χ}}}} are normally taught to English speakers with their modern Greek pronunciations of {{IPAblink|θ}}, {{IPAblink|f}}, and {{IPAblink|x}} ~ {{IPAblink|ç}} respectively, because these sounds are easier for English speakers to distinguish from the sounds made by the letters [[tau]] ({{IPAblink|t}}), [[pi (letter)|pi]] ({{IPAblink|p}}), and [[kappa]] ({{IPAblink|k}}) respectively.<ref name="Mastronarde2013pp1113">{{harvnb|Mastronarde|2013|pages=11–13}}</ref><ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56"/> These are not the sounds they made in classical Attic Greek.<ref name="Mastronarde2013pp1113"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56"/> In classical Attic Greek, these three letters were always [[aspirated consonants]], pronounced exactly like tau, pi, and kappa respectively, only with a blast of air following the actual consonant sound.<ref name="Mastronarde2013pp1113"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56"/>}} ||{{IPAblink|θ}} ||th as in English ''<u>th</u>in'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ι ι}} ||[[iota]], {{wikt-lang|el|ιώτα}} || Short: {{IPAblink|i}}<br/>Long: {{IPAblink|iː}} ||Short: i as in French ''v<u>i</u>te'',<ref name="Mastronarde2013p11"/><br/>Long: i as in English ''mach<u>i</u>ne''<ref name="Adams1987pp67"/>||{{IPAblink|i}}, {{IPAblink|ç}},<ref group="ex">For example, πάπ'''ι'''α.</ref> {{IPAblink|ʝ}},<ref group="ex">For example, β'''ι'''α.</ref> {{IPAblink|ɲ}}<ref group="ex">For example, μ'''ι'''α.</ref> || i as in English ''mach<u>i</u>ne'', but short |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Κ κ}} ||[[kappa]], {{wikt-lang|el|κάππα}} || {{IPAblink|k}} || k as in English,<ref name="Mastronarde2013p11"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> but completely [[unaspirated]]<ref name="Mastronarde2013p11"/> || {{IPAblink|k}} ~ {{IPAblink|c}} || k as in English ''ma<u>k</u>e'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Λ λ}} ||[[lambda|lambda, lamda, labda]], {{wikt-lang|el|λάμβδα| λάμβδα, λάμδα, λάβδα}}{{refn|group="note"|name="lambdaorlabda"|The letter {{lang|el|Λ}} is almost universally known today as ''lambda'' ({{wikt-lang|el|λάμβδα}}) except in Modern Greek and in [[Lambda#Character_encodings|Unicode]], where it is ''lamda'' ({{wikt-lang|el|λάμδα}}), and the most common name for it during the [[Classical Greece|Greek Classical Period]] (510–323 BC) appears to have been ''labda'' ({{wikt-lang|el|λάβδα}}), without the {{lang|el|μ}}.<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/>}} || {{IPAblink|l}} || colspan="3"|l as in English ''<u>l</u>antern''<ref name="Groton2013p10"/><ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Μ μ}} ||[[Mu (letter)|mu]], {{wikt-lang|el|μυ}} || {{IPAblink|m}} || colspan="3"|m as in English ''<u>m</u>usic''<ref name="Groton2013p10"/><ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ν ν}} ||[[Nu (letter)|nu]], {{wikt-lang|el|νυ}} || {{IPAblink|n}} || colspan="3"|n as in English ''<u>n</u>et''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ξ ξ}} ||[[Xi (letter)|xi]], {{wikt-lang|el|ξι}} || {{IPA|[ks]}} || colspan="3"|x as in English ''fo<u>x</u>''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ο ο}} ||[[omicron]], {{wikt-lang|el|όμικρον}} || {{IPAblink|o}} || colspan="3"|o as in German ''<u>o</u>hne'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Π π}} ||[[Pi (letter)|pi]], {{wikt-lang|el|πι}} || {{IPAblink|p}} || colspan="3"|p as in English ''to<u>p</u>''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ρ ρ}} ||[[rho]], {{wikt-lang|el|ρο}} || {{IPAblink|r}} || colspan="3"|trilled r as in Italian or Spanish<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/><ref name="Groton2013p10"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Σ σ/ς, Ϲ ϲ}}{{refn|group="note"|name="nicholas_finalsigma"|The letter [[sigma]] {{angbr|{{lang|el|Σ}}}} has two different lowercase forms in its standard variant, {{angbr|{{lang|el|σ}}}} and {{angbr|{{lang|el|ς}}}}, with {{angbr|{{lang|el|ς}}}} being used in word-final position and {{angbr|{{lang|el|σ}}}} elsewhere.<ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56"/><ref name="Mastronarde2013p12">{{harvnb|Mastronarde|2013|page=12}}</ref><ref name="Nick2004">{{cite web |first=Nick |last=Nicholas |year=2004 |title=Sigma: final versus non-final |url=http://www.opoudjis.net/unicode/letters.html |access-date=2016-09-29}}</ref> In some 19th-century typesetting, {{angbr|{{lang|el|ς}}}} was also used word-medially at the end of a [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] morpheme, e.g. "δυςκατανοήτων", marking the morpheme boundary between "δυς-κατανοήτων" ("difficult to understand"); modern standard practice is to spell "δυσκατανοήτων" with a non-final sigma.<ref name="Nick2004"/> The letter sigma also has an alternative variant, the [[lunate sigma]] (uppercase {{lang|el|Ϲ}}, lowercase {{lang|el|ϲ}}), which is used in all positions.<ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56"/><ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/><ref name="Thompson1912pp108144">{{harvnb|Thompson|1912|pages=108, 144}}</ref> This form of the letter developed during the [[Hellenistic period]] (323–31 BC) as a simplification of the older {{lang|el|Σ σ}}/ς variant.<ref name="Thompson1912pp108144"/> Thus, the word {{lang|grc-Latn|stasis}} can either be written {{lang|el|στάσις}} or {{lang|el|ϲτάϲιϲ}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Keller|Russell|2012|page=6}}</ref> In modern, edited Greek texts, the lunate sigma typically appears primarily in older typesetting.<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/>}} |[[sigma]], {{wikt-lang|el|σίγμα}} || {{IPAblink|s}}<br/>{{IPAblink|z}} before {{lang|el|β}}, {{lang|el|γ}}, or {{lang|el|μ}}|| colspan="3"|s as in English ''<u>s</u>oft''<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/><br/> s as in English ''mu<u>s</u>e'' when used before {{lang|el|β}}, {{lang|el|γ}}, or {{lang|el|μ}}<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Τ τ}} ||[[tau]], {{wikt-lang|el|ταυ}} || {{IPAblink|t}} || colspan="3"|t as in English ''coa<u>t</u>''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Υ υ}} ||[[upsilon]], {{wikt-lang|el|ύψιλον}} || Short: {{IPAblink|y}}<br/>Long: {{IPAblink|yː}} ||Short: u as in French ''l<u>u</u>ne''<br/>Long: u as in French ''r<u>u</u>se''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p12"/> ||{{IPAblink|i}} || i as in English ''mach<u>i</u>ne'', but short |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Φ φ}} ||[[phi]], {{wikt-lang|el|φι}} || {{IPAblink|pʰ}} || p as in English ''<u>p</u>ot''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p13">{{harvnb|Mastronarde|2013|page=13}}</ref>{{refn|group="note"|name="thetaphichi"}}|| {{IPAblink|f}} || f as in English ''<u>f</u>ive'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Χ χ}} ||[[Chi (letter)|chi]], {{wikt-lang|el|χι}} || {{IPAblink|kʰ}} ||c as in English ''<u>c</u>at''<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/>{{refn|group="note"|name="thetaphichi"}}|| {{IPAblink|x}} ~ {{IPAblink|ç}} || ch as in Scottish ''lo<u>ch</u>'' ~ h as in English ''<u>h</u>ue'' |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ψ ψ}} ||[[Psi (letter)|psi]], {{wikt-lang|el|ψι}} || {{IPA|[ps]}} || colspan="3"|ps as in English ''la<u>ps</u>e''<ref name="Mastronarde2013p13"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/> |- |style="font-size:120%;"|{{lang|el|Ω ω}} ||[[omega]], {{wikt-lang|el|ωμέγα}} || {{IPAblink|ɔː}} || aw as in English ''s<u>aw</u>''<ref name="KellerRussell2012p5"/>{{refn|group="note"|name="omegapronunciation"|The letter [[omega]] {{angbr|{{lang|el|ω}}}} is normally taught to English speakers as {{IPA|[oʊ]}}, the long o as in English ''g<u>o</u>'', in order to more clearly distinguish it from omicron {{angbr|{{lang|el|ο}}}}.<ref name="Mastronarde2013p13"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56"/> This is not the sound it actually made in classical Attic Greek.<ref name="Mastronarde2013p13"/><ref name="KellerRussell2012pp56"/>}} || {{IPAblink|o̞|o}} || o as in German ''<u>o</u>hne'', similar to British English ''c<u>a</u>ll'' |} |} ;Examples {{reflist|group="ex"}} ;Notes {{reflist|group="note"}} Among consonant letters, all letters that denoted voiced plosive consonants ({{IPA|/b, d, g/}}) and aspirated plosives ({{IPA|/pʰ, tʰ, kʰ/}}) in Ancient Greek stand for corresponding [[Fricative consonant|fricative sounds]] in Modern Greek. The correspondences are as follows: {| class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"| !colspan="3"|Former [[Plosive#Voice|voiced plosives]] !colspan="3"|Former [[Plosive#Aspiration|aspirates]] |- style="font-size: smaller;" !Letter !Ancient !Modern !Letter !Ancient !Modern |- |Labial |{{lang|el|Β β}} |{{IPAslink|b}} |{{IPAslink|v}} |{{lang|el|Φ φ}} |{{IPAslink|pʰ}} |{{IPAslink|f}} |- |Dental |{{lang|el|Δ δ}} |{{IPAslink|d}} |{{IPAslink|ð}} |{{lang|el|Θ θ}} |{{IPAslink|tʰ}} |{{IPAslink|θ}} |- |Dorsal |{{lang|el|Γ γ}} |{{IPAslink|ɡ}} |{{IPAblink|ɣ}} ~ {{IPAblink|ʝ}} |{{lang|el|Χ χ}} |{{IPAslink|kʰ}} |{{IPAblink|x}} ~ {{IPAblink|ç}} |} Among the vowel symbols, Modern Greek sound values reflect the radical simplification of the vowel system of post-classical Greek, merging multiple formerly distinct vowel phonemes into a much smaller number. This leads to several groups of vowel letters denoting identical sounds today. Modern Greek orthography remains true to the historical spellings in most of these cases. As a consequence, the spellings of words in Modern Greek are often not predictable from the pronunciation alone, while the reverse mapping, from spelling to pronunciation, is usually regular and predictable. The following vowel letters and digraphs are involved in the mergers: {| class="wikitable" |- !Letter !! Ancient !! Modern |- |{{lang|el|Η η}} ||{{IPA link|ɛː}} ||rowspan="6"|> {{IPA link|i}} |- |{{lang|el|Ι ι}} ||{{IPA link|i}}({{IPA|ː}}) |- |{{lang|el|ΕΙ ει}} ||{{IPA|eː}} |- |{{lang|el|Υ υ}} ||{{IPA link|u}}({{IPA|ː}}) > {{IPA link|y}} |- |{{lang|el|ΟΙ οι}} ||{{IPA|oi}} > {{IPA link|y}} |- |{{lang|el|ΥΙ υι}} ||{{IPA|yː}} > {{IPA link|y}} |- |{{lang|el|Ω ω}} |{{IPA link|ɔː}} | rowspan="2" |> {{IPA link|o̞|o}} |- |{{lang|el|Ο ο}} |{{IPA link|o}} |- |{{lang|el|Ε ε}} |{{IPA link|e}} | rowspan="2" |> {{IPA link|e̞|e}} |- |{{lang|el|ΑΙ αι}} |{{IPA|ai}} |} Modern Greek speakers typically use the same, modern symbol–sound mappings in reading Greek of all historical stages. In other countries, students of Ancient Greek may use a variety of [[Pronunciation of Ancient Greek in teaching|conventional approximations]] of the historical sound system in pronouncing Ancient Greek. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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