Hellenistic Greek: The Alphabet (Lower Case)

Pronunciation and Recognition

This lesson introduces you to most of the sounds and letters necessary to read Hellenistic Greek. Only the lower case letters are included in the chart below. The upper case (capital) letters will be introduced in the next lesson.

In the table below three pronunciation systems are shown. The first is the pronunciation used by Modern Greek speakers. The second is the pronunciation of Greek in the late Hellenistic Period, the time of the birth of early Christianity. The third is the artificial (“Erasmian”) pronunciation still used in some Biblical Greek classes.

In class you should repeat the sound associated with each letter following the example of your instructor.

The Lower Case Greek Letters, Their Names and Pronunciations

For many of the consonants in the table below, the audio provided pronounces the consonant followed by the vowel sound /a:/ (as in father or clock) so that you can hear how the consonant should sound at the beginning of a word, then both preceded and followed by that same vowel so that you can hear how it should sound in the middle of a word.

Lower Case Letter	Name	Pronunciation
Lower Case Letter	Name	Modern	Koine	Erasmian
α	ἄλφα Alpha	/a:/ as in “father”	/a:/ as in “father”	/a:/ as in “father” or sometimes /æ/ as cat
β	βῆτα Beta	/v/ as in “vat”	v as in "vote" (but more like Spanish b/v in vaca and bote)	/b/ as in “bat”
γ	γάμμα Gamma	/g/ as in “go” but /y/ as in “yet” before /i/ or /e/ sounds	Softer than the g in "get", more like Spanish g in lago but y as in "yet" before iota and epsilon. n /ŋ/ as in "sing or " before γ, κ, ξ, or χ.	/g/ as in “go”
δ	δέλτα Delta	/ð/ (th) as in “then” but not /θ/ as in “thin” (Contrast below.)	th as in then (but not thin. Contrast theta (θ) below.	/d/ as in “dog”
ε	ἒψιλόν E-psilon	/e/ as in “set”	e as in set	/e/ as in “set”
ζ	ζῆτα Zeta	/z/ as in “daze”	z as in zoo	/z/ as in “daze”
η	ῆτα Eta	/i/ as in “machine” and "seen"	/e/ like the first part of the a in late	/eɪ/ as in “daze” and "weight"
θ	θέτα Theta	/θ/ as in “thin” but not /ð/ as in “then” (Contrast δ above.)	th as in thin, but not in then. Contrast delta (δ) above.	/θ/ as in “thin” but not /ð/ as in “then”
ι	ἰῶτα Iota	/i/ as in “machine” and "seen"	ee (/i/) as in meet, or y as in yet	/i/ as in “machine” (long) or /ɪ/ as in “fit” (short)
κ	κάππα Kappa	/k/ as in “kitchen”	unaspirated ck as in nickle, but not aspirated k as in kite.	/k/ as in “kitchen”
λ	λάμβδα Lambda	/l/ as in “little”	l as in light	/l/ as in “little”
μ	μῦ Mu	/m/ as in “me”	m as in mouse	/m/ as in “me”
ν	νῦ Nu	/n/ as in “knee”	n as in nose	/n/ as in “knee”
ξ	ξεῖ Xi	/ks/ as in kicks or x as in ax	ks as in kicks x as in ax	/ks/ as in kicks or x as in ax
ὀ	ὂμικρόν O-micron	/o/ as in “tote” or “boat”	o as in tote or boat	/ɒ/ as in “not” or “cot”
π	πεῖ Pi	/p/ as in “pan”	unaspirated /p/ as in span, not aspirated /pʰ/ as in pan	/p/ as in “pan”
ρ	ῥῶ Rho	/R/ more like the Spanish trilled r than English r.	a trilled /r/ like Spanish r, not like English r	/r/ as in read.
σ, ς	σῖγμα Sigma	/s/ as in “sister”	/s/ as in sister, but z as in zoo before beta (β), gamma (γ), delta (δ), and mu (μ)	/s/ as in “sister”
τ	ταῦ Tau	unaspirated /t/ as in “stop” (but unlike “top”)	unaspirated /t/ as in stop, but not like the /tʰ/ in top	/t/ as in stop or top
υ	ὒψιλόν U-psilon	/y/ like German ü	similar to German ü /y/	/y/ like German ü, or sometimes /u/ as in “rule” or even /ʊ/ as in “hook”
φ	φεῖ Phi	/f/ as in “fan” or “phone”	/f/ as in fan or phone	/f/ as in fan or phone
χ	χεῖ Chi	/χ/ Not found in English (unless you pronounce the ch in "loch" like some Canadians do!). Much like Spanish “j”	Not found in English, like Spanish j	/χ/ Not found in English. Much like Spanish “j”
ψ	ψεῖ Psi	/ps/ as in “lips”	ps as in lips	/ps/ as in “lips”
ω	ὦμέγα O-mega	/o/ as in “tote”	o as in tote or boat	/o/ as in “tote”

Forms of Sigma

Notice that there are two forms of lower case sigma. One (ς) is used only as the final letter in a word and is thus called “final sigma.” The other (σ) may be used anywhere else. Some examples are: σῶμα (body), ἐκκλησία (church), ἥλιος (sun).

Diphthongs and Digraphs

Several common combinations of two vowel letters have traditionally been called diphthongs. By the Hellenistic period, they were no longer pronounced as true diphthongs, however (two vowel sounds slurred together into one continuous, yet shifting sound). Several would more properly be called “digraphs” (two letters used together to represent a single sound). Others represent the combination of one vowel sound with a consonantal sound. In this course we will call them simply "Letter Pairs".

These letter pairs (traditional diphthongs) are as follows.

Representing a single vowel sound in the Hellenistic Period:

Letter Pair	Pronunciation			Greek Example
Letter Pair	Modern	Koine	Erasmian	Greek Example
αι	/e/ as in “bet”	/e/ as in “bet”	/aɪ/ as in aisle	αἰτέω (request, demand)
ει	/i/ as in machine	/i/ as in machine	/eɪ/as in eight	εἰρήνη (peace)
οι	/i/ as in machine	/y/ like German ü	/oɪ/ as in oil	οἶκος (house, home)
ου	/u/ as in “boot” or “soup”	/u/ as in “boot” or “soup”	/u/ as in “boot” or “soup”	οὐρανός (heaven, sky)

Representing a semivowel plus a vowel in the Hellenistic Period:

Letter Pair	Pronunciation			Greek Example
Letter Pair	Modern	Koine	Erasmian	Greek Example
υι	/ι/ as in machine	/uɪ/ as in suite	/uɪ/ as in suite	υἱός (child, descendant, son)

Representing a vowel sound plus a consonantal sound in the Hellenistic Period:

Letter Pair	Pronunciation			Greek Example
Letter Pair	Modern	Koine	Erasmian	Greek Example
αυ	/av/ as in “of” before s, voiced consonants (b,g,d,z,l,m,n,r), or any vowel; /af/ as in “prof” (short for “professor”) before all other letters	/av/ as in “of” before s, voiced consonants (b,g,d,z,l,m,n,r), or any vowel; /af/ as in “prof” (short for “professor”) before all other letters	/au/ as in "out" or "house"	αὐτός (he, she, it)
ευ	/ev/ as in “ever” or /ef/ as in “effort” following the same rule as for αυ	/ev/ as in “ever” or /ef/ as in “effort” following the same rule as for αυ	/ɪu/ as in feud	εὐθύς (immediately)

Diaeresis. A diaeresis (¨) is placed over the second letter of a pair of vowels which would otherwise form a diphthong to indicate that they do not form a diphthong and are to be pronounced individually. Example: Ἠσαΐας (Isaiah).

Consonant Pairs. Several combinations of two consonant letters are worth special attention. These are as follows:

Letter Pair	Pronunciation			Greek Example
Letter Pair	Modern	Koine	Erasmian	Greek Example
γγ	/ŋ/ as in “anger” or “sing”		/ŋ/ as in “anger” or “sing”	ἄγγελος (angel) is pronounced as angelos.
γκ	/ŋk/ as in “ink”		/ŋk/ as in “ink”	ἀγκάλη (arm) is pronouned ankali.
γχ	/ŋχ/ Not found in English. You may substitute /ŋk/ as “ink” or “anchor”		/ŋχ/ Not found in English. You may substitute /ŋk/ as “ink” or “anchor”	ἐγχρίω (I annoint) may be pronounced enkrio.
μπ	/mb/ in the middle of words. /b/ elsewhere		/mp/ (no change from the separate letters)	πέμπω (I send) is pronounced pembo in Modern Greek, but pempo in the Erasmian system.
ντ	/nd/ in the middle of words. /d/ elsewhere		/nt/ (no change from the separate letters	Ἀντιπας (Antipas) is pronounced andipas in Modern Greek, but antipas in the Erasmian system.

Tips for Learning the Alphabet.

Learn to pronounce the name of each letter. In pronouncing the name you also say the sound the letter represents.

A few lower case Greek letters look like, but are not pronounced like some English letters. These should be learned carefully to avoid confusion. They are:

η should not be confused with an English n.
υ is NOT pronounced like an English u.
ν should not be confused with the English v. It is pronounced like an English n.
ρ should be carefully distinguished from English p. It is pronounced similar to an r.
χ must be distinguished from English x. It is pronounced like a Spanish j.
ω must be differentiated from English w.
β resembles an upper case English B, but sounded closer to an English v in Hellenistic Greek.
δ resembles the English d, but in Hellenistic Greek it was pronounced more like the th in “then”.
γ resembles an English y but was pronounced like one only when it appeared before certain vowels (those that sound like the i in “machine” or e in “bet”). In most other places it is pronounced similar to the English g in “go” but not exactly. Listen closely to the recording above.

Learn these letters especially well.

Some other letters resemble English letters and are pronounced similarly to their English counterparts. α, ε, κ, ο, and τ, for example, should pose few problems.

The rest of the letters, while not causing special confusion, must simply be memorized. λ, μ, ξ, π, φ, and ψ bear no particular resemblance to English letters. Look at each one and pronounce it several times. Learn the name for each letter.

Hellenistic Greek

Lesson 1: The Alphabet (Lower Case Letters)

The Lesson at a Glance

Pronunciation and Recognition

The Lower Case Greek Letters, Their Names and Pronunciations

Forms of Sigma

Diphthongs and Digraphs

Tips for Learning the Alphabet.

Exercises

Exercise 1.1

Exercise 1.2

Writing the Greek Alphabet