Basic Greek Grammar: Lesson One
Alphabet
Lowercase:
α
β
γ
δ
ε
ζ
η
θ
ι
κ
λ
µ
ν
ξ
ο
π
ρ
σ
[
ς
]
τ
υ
φ
χ
ψ
ω
Uppercase:
Α
Β
Γ
Δ
Ε
Ζ
Η
Θ
Ι
Κ
Λ
Μ
Ν
Ξ
Ο
Π
Ρ
Σ
Τ
Υ
Φ
Χ
Ψ
Ω
Names:
alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho,sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega
Points to remember:
γ
is usually pronounced as a hard “g,” but when it immediately precedes
κ
,
χ
,
ξ
, or
γ
, it is pronouncedas a nasalized “n”. Example:
ἄγγελος
is pronounced “angelos”.
ζ
is pronounced as “dz,” (e.g. the end sound of “blades”).µ
υ
is pronounced “mew,” not “moo”.“sigma” is written as “
σ
” when it appears at the beginning or in the middle of a word; when it is the lastletter of the word it is written as a “final sigma” – “
ς
”.
υ
is transliterated as “y,” not “u”. Example: µ
ύστηριον
= “mysterion”.“xi,” “pi,” “phi,” “chi,” etc., are all pronounced with an “ee” sound, not a long “i” sound – the longtradition of college fraternities notwithstanding!
Vowels
ShortLong
α
as in father
α
as in father
ε
as in bed
η
as in they
ι
as in pit
ι
as inmachine
ο
as in top
ω
as in tote
υ
as in
deja vu
υ
as in
deja vu
Breathing Marks
Smooth breathing mark: unpronounced [glottal stop] – [
᾽
]. Example:
ἐν
is pronounced “en”Rough breathing mark: pronounced as initial “h” – [
῾
]. Example:
ἕν
is pronounced “hen”All words that begin with a vowel have a breathing mark.All words that begin with
ρ
have a rough breathing mark.
Diphthongs
αι
is pronounced
ai
as in Th
ai
land
ει
is pronounced
ei
as in
ei
ght
οι
is pronounced
oi
as in Illin
oi
s
αυ
is pronounced
ow
as in c
ow
ευ
is pronounced
eu
as in f
eu
d
ηυ
is pronounced the same as eu
ου
is pronounced
ou
as in s
ou
p
υι
is pronounced
uee
as in q
uee
nWhen a word begins with a diphthong, the breathing mark goes over second letter. For example:
αὐτός
Iota subscripts
Iota subscripts may be found beneath the vowels
α
,
η
,
ω
–
ᾳ,ῃ,ῳ
. These vowel blends aresometimes called “improper diphthongs”. The iota subscripts do not affect the pronunciation of thevowels they blend with, but it is important to remember them as a vital part of spelling, for in someinstances they may help determine the proper parsing of a word.
Accents
Almost every Greek word will be marked with one of three kinds of accent: acute [
΄
], grave [`], or circumflex [
̂
]. We will not discuss the rules governing the placement of these accents in this class. Anadditional mark you may see from time to time is called a dieresis [
̈
]; it indicates that two vowelswhich would normally form a diphthong are to be pronounced separately.
Punctuation
Period: same as in English – “.”Comma: same as in English – “,”Semi-Colon: raised dot – “
·
”Question Mark: same as English semi-colon – “;”
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