Greek Alphabet

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The Greek alphabet is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is the first and oldest alphabet in the narrow sense that it notes each vowel and consonant with a separate symbol. It is as such in continuous use to this day. The letters were also used to represent Greek numerals, beginning in the 2nd century BCE.

Classical Pronunciation

Alphabet

Greek LetterIPA (Homeric)IPA (Classical)EnglishGreek NameEnglish NameModern Greek Pronunciation
Α, α[a][ɑ]a (father)ἄλφαalphaalpha
Β, β[b][b]b (bet)βῆταbetavita
Γ, γ[g, ŋ][g, ŋ]g (get), ng (king) wherever it precedes γ, κ, ξ, or χ2γάμμαgammaghamma
Δ, δ[d][d]d (dog)δέλταdeltathelta
Ε, ε[e][é]ě (pet)ἔψῑλόνepsilon
Ζ, ζ[dʲ, gʲ][zd]z3 (wisdom)ζῆταzeta
Η, η[ɑ:][ε:]ai (hai'r)ἦταeta
Θ, θ[tʰ][tʰ] t!4 (top)θῆταtheta
Ι, ι[ɪ, i:][ɪ, i:]ǐ (hit), ee (seem)ἰῶταiota
Κ, κ[k][k]k (skip)κάππαkappa
Λ, λ[l][l]l (lame)λάβδαlambda
Μ, μ[m][m]m (mile)μῦmu
Ν, ν[n][n]n (no)νῦnu
Ξ, ξ[kʰs][kʰs]x (axe)ξῖxi
Ο, ο[o][o]ǒ (top) short oὂμῑκρόνomicron
Π, π[p][p]p (spot)πῖpi
Ρ, ρ[r][r]r ('Scottish' r)ῥῶrho
Σ, σ, ς[s][s]s (sit)σίγμαsigma
Τ, τ[t][t]t (stop)ταῦtau
Υ, υ[u][y]u (run)ὒψῑλόνupsilon
Φ, φ[pʰ][pʰ]p! (tophat)φῖphi
Χ, χ[kʰ][kʰ]c! (Scottish loch)χῖchi
Ψ, ψ[pʰs][pʰs]ps (apse)ψῖpsi
Ω, ω[o:][ɔ:]ō (low) long oὦμέγαomega

See Also

Greek Lexicon

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