User:Proteins/New Testament Greek/Alphabet and ancient Greek pronunciation

The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, many of which correspond to our modern English alphabet. Several letters, such as rho (ρ) and chi (χ), may be confusing because their sound differs from those of similar letters in the English alphabet. Still other letters have no English counterpart.

Simple vowels

Greek has seven vowels. The first five are αειου, which resemble the five usual vowels of English. Two of these are always short: ε ("eh") and ο ("o" as in "office"). The other three, αιυ, may be long or short, depending on the word and context. Greek has two vowels, η and ω, that are always long; they are pronounced "ay" (as in "face") and "oh" (as in "note"), respectively.

Greek vowels

Index	Vowel	Transliteration	IPA	Sound	Examples
1	α	a		father
2	ε	eh		bet
3	η	ay		face
4	ι	i		machine
5	ο	o		office
6	υ	u		universe
7	ω	oh		open

In some cases, a vowel will appear with a small iota (ι) subscript below it, as in the vowels ᾳῃῳ. These vowels are pronounced exactly like their counterparts without the subscript, αηω. This subscript was added by grammarians to remind Greek readers that an iota had once been part of the word (centuries earlier), but had been dropped in everyday speech.

Diphthongs

Greek also has seven common diphthongs, which are pairs of vowels that are sounded together.

Greek Diphthongs

Index	Diphthong	Transliteration	IPA	Sound	Examples
1	αι	ai		Cairo	καί, ναί, δίκαιος, δαιμόνιον, παιδίον, αἷμα, μάχαιρα, ἀναβαίνω, χαίρω
2	ει	ei		vein	εἰς, ἐκεῖ, εἰρήνη, ὑμεῖς, βασιλεία, ἐπεί, τέλειος, σημεῖον, ἀποκτείνω
3	οι	oi		soil	οἶκος, οἶνος, λοιπός, κοινός, μετάνοια, ὁμοίως, ἀνοίγω
4	αυ	au		out	αὐτός, σταυρός, Δαυίδ, θαυμάζω, καυχάομαι, αὐξάνω
5	ευ	eu		eulogy	πιστεύω, εὑρίσκω, βασιλεύς, πνευματικός, λευκός, ἱερεύς, προσευχή
6	ου	ou		soup	οὐκ, οὖν, τοῦτο, ἰδού, ἀκούω, ποῦ, οὐρανός, δοῦλος, πούς
7	υι	ui		French huit	υἱός

Diaeresis is a relatively rare mark placed above a vowel to indicate that it is not part of a diphthong. In other words, a vowel marked by a diaeresis should be pronounced separately from other surrounding vowels. The diaresis consists of two dots, similar to an umlaut in German, as in the examples ϊ and ϋ. A diaeresis is sometimes seen in English texts; for example, the diaeresis in preëmptive indicates that the two e's are pronounced separately.

Relatives of English letters

In addition to the five vowels αειου, the Greek alphabet has five others that resemble English letters: beta (β), delta (δ), kappa (κ), sigma (ς or σ), and tau (τ). These letters are pronounced like the English counterparts: "b", "d", "k", "s", and "t". The letter sigma is written as ς if it occurs at the end of a word, and otherwise as σ.

The Greek alphabet

The Greek Alphabet

Index	Upper and lower cases	Letter name	Transliteration	IPA	Sound	Examples
1		alpha, ἄλφα	a	ɑ	father	Ἀβραάμ, Ἀδάμ, Ἀσία, Ἀνδρέας, Ἀαρών, Ἅννα, ἀμήν, ἄβυσσος, ἄγγελος, ἀήρ
2		beta, βῆτα	b	b (-β-)	beg	Βηθλέεμ, Βηθανία, Βεελζεβούλ, Βηθεσδά, Βαρθολομαῖος, βαπτίζω, βάρβαρος, βάσις, βιβλίον, βλασφημία, βάθος, βασιλικός, βιωτικός
3		gamma, γάμμα	g	ɣ	go	Γάζα, Γαβριήλ, Γεθσημανί, Γολγοθᾶ, Γαλιλαία, γέεννα, γένεσις, γνῶσις
Gamma is pronounced as an "n" (as in think) before four consonants: itself (γ), kappa (κ), xi (ξ) and chi (χ). For example, consider the Greek words: ἄγγελος (angel), σπόγγος (sponge), ἄγκυρα (anchor), σφίγξ (sphinx) and τυγχάνω (I attain). This is known as the nasal gamma.
4		delta, δέλτα	d	d	dig	Δαυίδ, Δαμασκός, Δανιήλ, Δρούσιλλα, δύο, δυςεντέριον, διάκονος, διάβολος, δέκα
5		epsilon, ἒ ψῑλόν	short e	ɛ	met	Ἐλισάβετ, Ἑβραῖος, Ἐλιέζερ, Ἑνώχ, Ἐφραίμ, Εὐνίκη, ἔθνος, εἰρήνη, εὐλογία, εὐχαριστία
6		zeta, ζῆτα	z		gaze	Ζεύς, Ζαχαρίας, Ζεβεδαίος, ζωή, ζῆλος, ζηλωτής
7		eta, ἦτα	long e			Ἠσαῦ, Ἡρῴδης, Ἠλίας, Ἠσαΐας, ἦθος, ἡδονή, ἥλιος
8		theta, θῆτα	th		thick	Θωμᾶς, Θεσσαλονίκη, Θαδδαῖος, Θεός, θρόνος, θησαυρός, θεωρία
9		iota, ἰῶτα	i		machine	Ἰησοῦς, Ἱερουσαλήμ, Ἰωσήφ, Ἰακώβ, Ἰουλία, ἰδιώτης, ἶρις, ἰχθύς
10		kappa, κάππα	k		kin	Κορνήλιος, Καῖσαρ, Κόρινθος, Κλαυδία, Κρήτη, Κάϊν, Κανδάκη, Κηφᾶς, κάμηλος, κοσμος, κρίσις, κεραμικός, κατηγορία, κιθάρα, κριτικός, κύμβαλον, κρύσταλλος, κεντυρίων, κρυπτός, καθέδρα
11		lambda, λάμβδα	l		let	Λουκᾶς, Λίνος, Λυδία, Λωΐς, Λιβύη, Λάζαρος, Λευί, λέων, λογικός, λεπρός, λαμπάς, λάρυγξ, λόγος
12		mu, μῦ	m		met	Μαρία, Μάρθα, Μωϋσῆς, Μαθθαῖος, Μᾶρκος, Μεσοποταμία, μουσικός, μανία, μαρτυρία, μαργαρίτης, μετά
13		nu, νῦ	n		net	Ναζαρέθ, Ναθαναήλ, Νῶε, Νικόλαος, νέκρωσις, νέον, νύμφη, νίκη
14		xi, ξῖ	x		lax	ξένος, ξηρός, ξύλον
15		omicron, ὂ μῑκρόν	short o		office	Ὀλυμπᾶς, Οὐρβανός, ὀκτώ, οὐρανός, ὀφθαλμός
16		pi, πῖ	p		pet	Παῦλος, Πέτρος, Πιλᾶτος, πάθος, παιδαγωγός, πανοπλία, παραβολή, παραλυτικός, παράκλητος, πατριάρχης, πέντε, πληγή, πνευματικός, πόρνος, πρᾶξις, πρεσβύτερος
17		rho, ῥῶ	r		run	Ρώμη, Ρεβέκκα, Ραχήλ, Ρούθ, Ρουβήν, Ροῦφος, Ρόδη, ραββι, ῥῆμα, ῥήτωρ
18		sigma, σίγμα	s		set	Σολομών, Στέφανος, Σατανᾶς, Συρία, Σίμων, Σάρρα, Σήθ, Σουσάννα, σάββατον, σάπφιρος, σαρδόνυξ, σκάνδαλον, σελήνη, σοφία, σκορπίος, σπορά, σπόγγος, συναγωγή, συμφωνία, συνδρομή, σωματικός
The "s"-shaped version of lowercase sigma (ς) is used at the end of words, whereas the more circular version (σ) is used elsewhere.
19		tau, ταῦ	t		tip	Τιμόθεος, Ταβιθά, Τιβέριος, Τίτος, Ταρσός, ταβέρνη, ταῦρος, τοπάζιον, τραῦμα, τύπος
20		upsilon, ὖ ψῑλόν	u			ὑπόκρισις, ὕβρις, ὕπνος, ὑπερβολή, ὕσσωπος, ὑακίνθος
21		phi, φῖ	ph (f sound)		graphic	Φίλιππος, Φῆλιξ, Φαραώ, Φιλαδέλφεια, Φοῖνιξ, φαντασία, φάντασμα, φιλοσοφία
22		chi, χῖ	ch (as in Scottish loch)			Χριστός, Χλόη, Χανάαν, Χερούβ, χαρακτήρ, χάρισμα, χρῖσμα
23		psi, ψῖ	ps		gypsum	ψαλμός, ψυχή, ψεῦδος
24		omega, ὦ μέγα	long o		vote	Ὡσηε, ὡσαννά, ὥρα

Pitfalls to avoid

The Greek alphabet has several pitfalls for English students. Beware the following:

• The Greek letter eta (η) is pronounced like "ay", not an "n". Rather, the Greek letter nu (ν) is pronounced "n".
• The Greek letter rho (ρ) is pronounced like an "r", not a "p". Rather, the Greek letter pi (π) is pronounced "p".
• The Greek letter chi (χ) is pronounced like a "ch", not an "x". Rather, the Greek letter xi (ξ) is pronounced "x".
• The Greek letter nu (ν) is pronounced like an "n", not a "v".
• The Greek letter omega (ω) is pronounced like an "oh", not a "w".
• The uppercase Greek letters eta (Η) and upsilon (Υ) are not pronounced like the English H and Y, but rather as "ay" and "ooh", respectively.
• The Greek letters phi (φ) and psi (ψ) resemble one another, but are pronounced as "f" and "ps", respectively.
• The Greek letters nu (ν) and upsilon (υ) resemble one another, but are pronounced as "n" and "u", respectively. Notice that nu has a sharp point, whereas upsilon has a rounded bottom.
• The Greek letters nu (ν) and gamma (γ) resemble one another, but are pronounced as "n" and "g", respectively.
• The Greek letter theta (θ) is always pronounced like a hard "th" (as in "thick", "thin" or "think"), never as a soft "th" (as in "this", "the" or "thither").

References

• Smyth HW. (1920, 1956) Greek Grammar, revised by Gordon M. Messing, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 7. ISBN 0-674-36250-0