WARNING: The Greek language is very wise but, at the same time, is very

difficult because of the too many endings,terminations,suffixes. You need

much patience for one school-year in order to understand the Greek
spirit. You also need strong memory.

it contains 24 letters
(capital small ):

it is pronounced like the Spanish, Italian, and Georgian a / like the

English a in the word father / like the French a in the word
angle / like the Portuguese in the word l / like the Swedish
a in the word man

it is pronounced like the English, Italian, French, Portuguese, Swedish,

and Spanish v / like the German w

it is pronounced as the Spanish g between two vowels / more or less

as the English w in the words water and wind, but just a
consonant without the sound [oo] inc luded in that letter

like the English th in the words them, this, and father / as the
Spanish d between two vowels

as the Spanish and Italian e / as the English e in the words g et,

letter, and dress / like the French in the word tre, and
in the word athlte / as the Swedish e in the word ven /
like the Portuguese e in the word esta

pronounced as the English z / as the Italian and French s between

two vowels / as the German s in the words lesen and
philosophie / like the Portuguese s between two vowe ls, and the
z in dizer

 like the English th in the word think / like the Spanish [: official
pronunciation of North Spain] sound z in the words zona and
conocer

, (, )

pronounced like the Spanish and Italian c in the word casa / like the
English and German k / like the French c in climat / like the
Portuguese c in the word clnica / as the Swedish k in the
word karaktr

as the Spanish, Italian, and German l / like the French l in the word
analogique / as the Portuguese l in the word falar / as the
Swedish l in blod

it is pronounced as the English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and

Swedish m / like the Portuguese m in the word mandar

like the English, Spanish, German, French, Swedish, and Italian n / as

the Portuguese n in tcnico

as the English x in extra / like the German and Swedish x / like the
French x in the words thorax and axe

(, )

pronounced as the Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, and

English p / like the French p in the word parallle

like the Italian and Spanish r / as the Portuguese r in the word

patria

/ > ,
()
 We have two forms of the same letter. The former () is placed at the
beginning or in the middle of a Greek word, the latter ( = final
s) only at the end.

It is pronounced like the Spanish s / like the English s in the word

save / as the Italian s in the word mistero / like the French s
in the word plastique, and the / like the German s in the
words obst and eins / as the Portuguese s in the word saber
/ as the Swedish s in orsak and respekt.

(, )

as the Spanish and Italian t / like the English t in the words

outcome and nightmare / as the French t in the words
thorie and tage / as the Portuguese t in the word teatro

as the English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Swedish f / as

the German f in the word feuer, v in the word volk, and
ph in photograph

like the Spanish j / like the English h in the word horse

like the English sound ps in sto ps / like the French ps in the word
psychologie / as the German ps in pseudonym / as the
Swedish ps in psycolog

/, /, /, /, /, / same
pronunciation: . All of them are pronounced like the Spanish, Italian,
French, Georgian, and Portuguese i / as the Eng lish sound [ee] in the
words feel and speak / as the Swedish i in the word principiell.

/ / : . They both are pronounced as

the Spanish, Italian, French, and Georgian o / about like the English
sound [aw] in the words h awk, saw, thought, and talk / as
the Portuguese in the word pera / like the Swedish o in
socker.
/ / we
pronounce them in exactly the same way:

/ is pronounced: . Pronunciation: as the

Spanish, Italian, and Georgian u / as the oo in the Eng lish words
pool and fool / like the French ou / like the Portuguese o in the
word tomar, and the u in the word t udo / like the Swedish o in
the word sol.

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/ the basic pronunciation is: [g].

after a vowel, ,
If we want, also [ng],
rather more beautiful.

examples: [: ],
[: ], [: =],
[: =], [:
=], [: =].

Same consonants ( not , as we have just studied) are pronounced

as one.

Examples: [] = Hellenes = Greeks, [pronounced

], [].

[Another exception could be that of -, -, - (: compound

words deriving from , , , etc plus another word), etc,
which could be [-], [-], [-] (pronounced as two
consonants), but is not pronounced by all Greeks so.]

When these two complexes of consonants ( / ) are situated after a

vowel, they can also be pronounced: [ng].

: [b].

, ,
, [mb],
.

: [: ], [: ],
[: =], [
=], [=],
[=], [].

When situated after a vowel, it can also be pronounced: [mb].

 : [d].

, ,
, [nd],
.

: [: ], [:
], [],
[=] | | ,
[=],
[=], [=],
[=], [=] = everything,
[=], [=].

When situated after a vowel, it can also be pronounced: [nd].

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It is pronounced just like the pronunciation of the letter .

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(= ),
ng king waiting.
, ,
,
.

: , [: ],
[.: ], ,

In this complex of consonants, the letter is pronounced deep and

nasal, just like the sound of the letters ng in the English words king
and waiting.

If this sound is too difficu lt for you, pronounce it like the sound of the
Greek letters , which, of course, is wrong, but is the closest
possible pronunciation.

-------------------------------------------------------------

(= ),
nks thanks function.
, ,
,
.
 In this complex of consonants, the letter is pronounced deep and
nasal, just like the sound of the letters nks in the English words
thanks and function.

: [: ].

---------------------------------------------------------------

/, /, /: , soft,
softer than //, // //

, , followed by or (: , , , , , ): the sound of ,

, and becomes soft and liquid (softer and more liquid than
, , , , , , , etc) and gives the
pronunciation: [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], []
mentioned before. Especially as regards the , it is something
like the sound ch in the German words machen and nicht.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--

stress,accent.

above vowels.

We use the
stress,accent in order to show which the strong vowel is in a word which
has two or more vowels.

= , If
a word has only one vowel, we dont have to put the (= stress).

, , .
, . =
, .

-----------------------------------------------

diphthongs , :

[ : ],

[ ],

, , [ : : ],

[: / ],

[.: / ],
 [.: / ].

, ,
We write the diphthongs
with two letters, but we pronounce them as one vowel.

[: ] / [: ] /
[: ] / / / / /
/

,
[ ]:

we can dissolve a diphthong and pronounce two different

vowels [ ], by using the symbol over its second
vowel:

|[: --] / | / | /
| / | / | / | / | /
| / | / | / | / |

/ / / / /
/ /

,
[ ]: | / | / | /
| / | / | / |
/ | / | / | / |
/ | / | / |

/ / / / /
/ / / / /

,
[ ]: | / | / | /
| / | / | / | / |(=
)

/ / / / /
/

,
[ ]: | / | /
| / | / |
/ | / | / |
/ |
 [: / ] / / /
/ / / / /
/ / /

,
[ ]: | / | / | /
| / | / | / | / |

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

, , [] [] [] [] [] []

, ,
[] []:

when the next letter, , , ,

, , , , [].
: [] [] [].

: [: ],
[: ] | | , ,
, [. ], , | |
, , , | | ,
, [: ], , , ,
, , [: ]
(: ), , , .

, , , (, ), , , , ,
[]. : [] []
[].

: | | [: ],
[.: ], , [.:
], , , | | ,
, , (: ),
(: ), , |
| , [.: ],
, [.: ], ,
| | , | | ,
, , | | ,
[: ].

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

, , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , ,
 : [ ], [ ], [
],

, /// ,
(, , , , , , , , , , , , , ),
//// ,
. :
/,
. : / , /

: [: ],
[: ], [ ], , ,
[.: ], , , , , ,
, , , , , .

usual, communication, duration, music, regular,
yesterday, computer, humanity, million, yet, cure,
youth, failure, view, pure, annual, few, diffuse,
execution ,

, ,

yo, ya, ayuda, nio, Espaa, seor ,

moglie, bagno, signore, accompagnare ,

jahr, jeder ,

banho, milhar, mulher, senhora ,

baigner, travail ,

ljus, mjlk, fjder, journalist .

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

[ , , , ]

- [/, /, /].

Lets study a particular phenomenon. The complexes of letters , ,

, , etc may be pronounced in two different ways:
a) as two different vowels, represented by the symbols [-], [-], [-],
etc; which means as two different syllables, and
b) as one vowel. In that way, the Greek vowel is not pronounced as a
normal [], but soft and short, a lmost like a soft or : [ ], [], [],
etc. This kind of sounds can be found in many other languages, too. It is
like the English yet, cure, duration, youth, humanity,
regular, communication, failure, view, pure, computer,
music, annual, yesterday, few, diffuse, million,
execution, usual, etc, like the Spanish yo, ya, ayuda, nio,
Espaa, etc, like the Italian moglie, bagno, accompagnare, etc,
like the German jahr, jeder, etc, like the Portuguese ba nho,
milhar, mulher, senhora, etc, like the French baigner, etc, like
the Swedish ljus, mjlk, fjder, journalist, like the Russian
, , etc.
: [pronounced ], [pronounced
], [], [pronounced ], etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

/ ts meets
: like the sound of the ts in the Eng lish word
meets / like the German z.

: like the sound of the ds in the

English word needs.

------------------------------------------------------------------

, (+ ) /
, (+ ) / ,

( ),
/ / ,
//.

: [: =
= ], [: =
= ], [:
= = ]

---------------------------------------

Pronunciation of the letter followed by:

a) , , , , , , , , , vowel []. Examples: [pronounced

], [pronounced ], []

b) , , , , , []. Example: []

c) [] or [].
------------------------------------------

, .

= 1, = 2, = 3

= first | | , = second | |
, = | | third

We can use letters as numbers.