The Greek Alphabet and Pronunciation

Lower/
Upper
a A
b B
g G
d D
e E
z

Greek
Name
a!lfa
bh'ta
gavmma
devlta
e]yilovn
digavmma
zh'ta

h
q
i
k
l
m
n
x
o

H
Q
I
K
L
M
N
X
O

h^ta
qh'ta
ijw'ta
kavppa
lavmbda
mu'
nu'
xi'
o] mikrovn

Eta
Theta
Iota
Kappa
Lambda
Mu
Nu
Xsi (xi)
Omicron7

pi'
kovppa
rJw'
sivgma
tau'
u^ yilovn

Pi
Koppa4
Rho
Sigma
Tau
Upsilon11

fi'
ci'
yi'
w^ mevga
savmpi

Phi
Chi
Psi
Omega13
Sampi4

r
s/"
t
u

R
S
T
U

f
c
y
w

F
C
Y
W

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

English
Name
Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Delta
Epsilon3
Digamma4
Zeta

Pronunciation
a
b
g2
d
e
w
z6

as in father
as in Bible
as in gone
as in dog
as in met
as in few
as in daze
as in zoo
e2
as in obey
th as in thing
i
as in intrigue
k as in kitchen
l
as in law
m as in mother
n as in new
xs as in axiom
o8 as in not
obey
9
p
as in peach
q as in quick
r
as in rod
10
s
as in study
t
as in talk
u/y as in universe or
book
ph5 as in phone
ch5, 12 as in loch
ps5 ps as in lips
o o as in tone
s

Num1

Comments

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

short/long vowel

8
9
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900

short vowel
Not used in NT
within a word
@ beg of a word
long vowel
short/long vowel

dbl. cons. sound

short vowel
alt. pron.
Not used in NT

short/long vowel

dbl. cons. sound

Not used in NT

Each letter had a num erical va lue assign ed to it, similar to Hebrew and L atin; the Greeks w rote num bers
using letters, akin to Roman num erals.
g before -g, -k, or -c is pronounced (n): (angelos)
e letter, named e} y ilovn , literally means simple e sound.
, , are three archa ic letters used in NT times on ly as num bers.
z, x, and y are dou ble-consonan t sounds w ritten as a single letter.
z sounds like z when occurring at the beginning of a word and as dz in the middle.
o letter, named o} mikrovn , literally means small o sound.
o will be pronounced as o in omelet in this course.
r at the beginning of a w ord is written with rou gh brea thing ( J) .
" written at the end of a w ord ; s elsew here: seismo v" earthquake.
u letter, named u^ yilovn , literally means simple usound.
c may be pronounced either as ch in (German) Bach or as chasm, whichever you find more comfortable.
w letter, named w^ mevg a, literally means big o sound.

Vowels, Diphthongs & Diacritical Marks

I.

Vowe ls
A. There are seven vow el letters with ten vowel sounds (long vowels are marked with 2 abov e);
B. Vow els are paired : short and lon g (e.g., short a with long a2 )
English
Vowel

Greek
Short

a
e
i
o
u

e
i
o
u
II.

Pronunciation

Greek
Long

a as in father
e as in get
i as in pin
o as in omelet
u as in flute

a
2
h
2i
w
u2

Pronunciation

Formation

same as short

open

e as in grey

open

i as in marine

close

o as in note

open

same as short

close

Diphthon gs:
A. D iphth ong comes from two Gre ek w ord s: di two + fqovg g-o" sounds;
B. A d iphthong refers to a single syllable that is compo sed of two v owels;
C. The second letter is a lwa ys a close vow el (i, u)
Diphthong

Pronunciation

vowel + i

ai
ei
oi
ui

Diphthong

Pronunciation

vowel + u
ai as in aisle
ei as in freight

au
eu

oi as in oil
ui as in suite

au as in G erm . Sauerkraut
eu as in Eucharist at the beginning of a w ord
ou as in soup within a w ord

ou

ou as in soup

rarely occur

III.

hu

a as in grey + u as in Germ. Gru

@ n (run the two
sounds toge ther)

wu

o as in note + u as in Germ. Gru

@ n (run the two
sounds toge ther)

Diacritical Marks
A. Breathing: occurs with vowels or diphthongs at the beginning of a word:
1.
Smoo th ( j) points away from the word; vowel/diph. has a normal sound.
2.
Rough ( J) points towards the word; the vowel/diph. Is preceded by an h sound.
B. Acce nt: occurs w ith vowels or diph thongs to indicate w ord stress
1.
Acute ( v) can occur on any one of the last three syllables;
2.
Circum flex ( ') can occur on either one of the last two syllables;
3.
Grave ( V) can occur only on the last syllable.
C. Iota Sub script: a, h, or w can combine with i to form a single letter:
1.
i is written below and doe s not a ffect th e pronu nciation: a/, h/, w/.
D. Diaeresis: ( @) indicates two adjacent vowels are pronounced separately, e.g. jH sai>a ".

IV: Punctuation:
A.

Comm a (,): looks just like an English one.

B.

Period (.): looks just like an English one.

C.

Semicolon (:): written s a period a bov e the line.

D.
E.

Question Mark (;): looks like an English semicolon.

Apostrophe ( j) : looks like an English one but is used to indicate elision

(when a w ord s final v ow el drops befo re ne xt w ord beg inning w ith a v ow el.

,
.
:
;

ajll j i{na