Hellenistic Greek: The Alphabet (Upper Case)

Pronunciation and Recognition

In the table below, the upper case (capital) Greek letters are paired with the lower case letters that you learned in lesson one. Take a few minutes now to compare the upper and lower case forms of each letter and review the pronunciation of each letter.

The Upper Case Greek Letters, Their Names and Pronunciation

Letter	Name	Modern Pronunciation	Koine Pronunciation	Erasmian Pronunciation
Α α	ἄλφα alpha	/a:/ as in “father”	/a:/ as in “father”	/a:/ as in “father” or sometimes /æ/ as cat
Β 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 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 ι and ε. /ŋ/ as in "sing" before γ, κ, ξ, or χ.	/g/ as in “go”
Δ δ	δέλτα Delta	/ð/ (th) as in “then” but not /θ/ as in “thin” (Contrast Θ θ below.)	/ð/ (th) as in “then” but not /θ/ as in “thin” (Contrast Θ θ below.)	/d/ as in “dog”
Ε ε	ἒψιλόν E-psilon	/ɛ/ as in “set”	/ɛ/ as in set	/ɛ/ as in “set”
Ζ ζ	ζῆτα Zeta	/z/ as in “daze”	/z/ as in daze	/z/ as in “daze”
Η 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 θ	θέτα Theta	/θ/ as in “thin” but not /ð/ as in “then” (Contrast δ above.)	/θ/ as in “thin” but not /ð/ as in “then” (Contrast δ above.)	/θ/ as in “thin” but not /ð/ as in “then”
Ι ι	ἰῶτα Iota	/i/ as in “machine” and "seen"	/i/ as in “machine” and "seen" , or y as in yet	/i/ as in “machine” (long) or /ɪ/ as in “fit” (short)
Κ κ	κάππα Kappa	/k/ as in “kitchen”	unaspirated /k/ as in nickle, but not aspirated /kʰ/ as in kite.	/k/ as in “kitchen”
Λ λ	λάμβδα Lambda	/l/ as in “little”	/l/ as in light	/l/ as in “little”
Μ μ	μῦ Mu	/m/ as in “me”	/m/ as in me	/m/ as in “me”
Ν ν	νῦ Nu	/n/ as in “knee”	/n/ as in knee	/n/ as in “knee”
Ξ 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
Ο ο	ὂμικρόν O-micron	/o/ as in tote or boat	/o/ as in tote or boat	/ɒ/ as in not or cot
Π π	πεῖ Pi	/p/ as in pan	unaspirated /p/ as in span, not aspirated /pʰ/ as in pan	/p/ as in pan
Ρ 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, 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 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 υ	ὒψιλόν U-psilon	/y/ like German ü	/y/ like German ü	/y/ like German ü, or sometimes /u/ as in rule or even /ʊ/ as in hook
Φ φ	φεῖ Phi	/f/ as in fan or phone	/f/ as in fan or phone	/f/ as in fan or phone
Χ χ	χεῖ Chi	/χ/ Not found in English. Much like Spanish "j"	/χ/ Not found in English. Much like Spanish j	/χ/ Not found in English. Much like Spanish "j"
Ψ ψ	ψεῖ Psi	/ps/ as in lips	ps as in lips	/ps/ as in lips
Ω ω	ὦμέγα O-mega	/o/ as in tote	o as in tote or boat	/o/ as in tote

Recognizing the Upper Case Letters

Several of the upper case letters resemble their English equivalents: Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Τ. Others resemble their lower case Greek equivalents: Θ, Π, Ρ, Φ, Χ, Ψ. Two of these (Ρ, and Χ) should be carefully distinguished from the English letters that look like them. Ρ is the upper case of ρ, not p. Χ is the upper case of χ, not x.

You should concentrate on the following upper case letters: Γ, Δ, Η, Λ, Ξ, Σ, Υ, and Ω. Be careful to distinguish Η and Υ from the English letters that resemble them. Η is the upper case form of η. Υ is the upper case of υ, not γ.

Usage of the Upper Case in Printed Greek Texts

In printed editions of texts from the Hellenistic period, upper case letters are used for proper names and at the beginning of a paragraph, not at the beginning of every sentence.

"Long" and "Short" Vowels

For purposes of accentuation (the placement of accent marks) the Greek vowels are divided into three groups. ε and ο are designated as short vowels. η and ω are designated long vowels. The other three vowels (α, ι, υ) may be considered either short or long, depending upon the context in which they occur.

In the Classical period (before 350 BCE), long vowels were actually pronounced for a longer time than short vowels, about twice as long. By the middle of the Hellenistic period, though, this distinction was not consistently made. The terms long and short do not indicate anything about the pronunciation of the Greek vowels in this course. They only designate the way the vowels function with regard to the placement of accent marks, which we will learn in the lesson on diacritics.

Long	Short	Variable
η, ω	ε, ο	α, ι, υ

Diphthongs

All diphthongs except αι and οι are considered long in all contexts. The diphthongs αι and οι are long except when they occur as the last two letters of a word.

Iota Subscript

Three Greek vowels frequently occur with a small iota (ι) written beneath them: ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ. These digraphs have traditionally been called “improper diphthongs” and are in fact descended from diphthongs that have lost their second element. The iota subscript (iota written underneath) does not affect pronunciation in any way, but does have an important role to play grammatically. You will learn about that when you study the forms of Greek nouns.

Exercise 2.1: Proper Names

Ἀβραάμ

Abraham
Δαυίδ

David
Ῥώμη

Rome
Μαρία

Maria, Mary
Ἀνδρέας

Andrew
Ναθαναήλ

Nathanael
Θωμᾶς

Thomas
Σίμων

Simon
Κόρινθος

Corinth
Θεσσαλονίκη

Thessalonica

Punctuation Marks

The Greek comma and period look the same as in English and are used in very similar ways to their English counterparts.

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. (John 1:1)

A raised dot (·) indicates a break where we might expect a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in English.

ἐπροφήτευσεν λέγων·
Εὐλογητός κύριος ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.
He prophesied saying:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. (Luke 1:67-68)

The Greek question mark poses the greatest potential for confusion and should be learned with care. It looks like an English semi-colon (;).

τί λέγει;
What does it say? (Romans 10:8)

Writing the Greek Upper Case Letters

Notice that all of the upper case letters sit neatly on the line. None of them extends below it.

Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω

Take a piece of paper and practice writing these letters.

If you are learning Greek in a classroom setting, your instructor may ask to see your work. Write as neatly as you can.

Greek Word Order

The order of the words in a Greek sentence often does not match the order of the words in a good English translation of that sentence. As this course proceeds, you will learn how to understand Greek word order and choose the best order for your English translation. Some examples appear in the reading exercise that follows.

Reading and Translation

Read the Greek text, and attempt your own translation. After attempting your own translation, reveal the English translation provided. Sometimes more than one translation is provided.

The Greek texts in this exercise include several words that you have not seen before. Try to guess at what they might mean before you look at the English translation.

Ἐν ἀρχῇ

In [the] beginning
[ἦν = was, existed]

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος.

In the beginning was the word. / The word existed in the beginning.
ὁ λόγος ἦν θεός.

The word was God.
θεὸς ὁ λόγος ἦν.

The word was God.

While the Greek word order is different in examples 3 and 4, the English translation is the same. Here's why: In sentences with the verb εἰμί (ἦν), the small word ὁ (often translated as "the"), marks the subject of the sentence. It indicates that the word that follows it (λόγος "word") is the subject, not the complement, of the verb ἦν. In English, the subject of a simple sentence comes first, so the translation must be "The word was God," not "God was the word."
θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

The word was God.

Once again, ὁ marks λόγος as the subject of the sentence, so it must come first in English. The word order used here is the one that appears in John 1:1 of the Greek New Testament.

The difference between sentences 4 and 5 is one of subtle thematic prominance. You will learn more about this later.
ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν. (Guess what πρὸς means.)

The word was with God.

In the lessons that follow, you will learn why the Greek word for God is spelled θεόν here in stead of θεός.
[καί = and] Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν.

In the beginning was the word and the word was with God (John 1:1).
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God (John 1:1).

Hellenistic Greek

Lesson 2: The Alphabet (Upper Case Letters)

The Lesson at a Glance