Introductory Ancient Greek Language/Basics

Learning a different alphabet may seem daunting at first, but Greek characters are very similar to the Latin ones English speakers are used to. Greek evolved from the Phoenicians who were the first recorded civilization to create an alphabet, and Latin similarly developed from Greek and other languages. The name alphabet itself comes from the words Alpha and Beta.

It's a lot to take in at one go so don't feel bad if you fail to remember all of these immediately. You will have plenty of time to get these characters under your belt. When you feel ready, try to convert some Greek into English and some English into Greek below.

The Letters, Greek orthography

Greek	Name	English equivalent	Notes
Α α	alpha	a	pronounced like 'a' in 'father'
Β β	beta	b	like 'b' in 'book'
Γ γ	gamma	g	normally 'g' as in 'graph', but when followed by other palatal consonants (γ, κ, χ, etc.), the resulting diphthong is pronounced like "ng."
Δ δ	delta	d	like 'd' in 'demography'
Ε ε	epsilon	e	like 'e' in 'epigraphy'
Ζ ζ	zeta	z	pronounced like 'sd' or 'ds' (as in 'glazed' or 'adze')
Η η	eta	ē	pronounced like "a" in "hate."
Θ θ	theta	th	like 'th' in 'theatric' (never 'th' as in 'that')
Ι ι	iota	i	like 'i' in 'policeman'
Κ κ	kappa	k	like 'k' in 'kinetic'
Λ λ	lambda	l	like 'l' in 'look'
Μ μ	mu	m	like 'm' in 'meter'
Ν ν	nu	n	like 'n' in 'noon'
Ξ ξ	xi	x	like 'x' in 'axe'
Ο ο	omicron	o	more of an 'aw' sound, like 'o' in 'optic'
Π π	pi	p	like 'p' in 'port'
Ρ ρ	rho	r	trilled, like Spanish 'r'
Σ σ or ς	sigma	s	like 's' in 'seed'; ς (final sigma) is used at the end of a word
Τ τ	tau	t	like 't' in 'tactile'
Υ υ	upsilon	u	pronounced like French 'tu', comparable to 'oo' in 'wood' when short; when long, more like 'oo' in 'food' or 'u' in French 'sur'
Φ φ	phi	ph	like 'ph' in 'Philip'
Χ χ	chi	ch	like 'ch' in 'loch'
Ψ ψ	psi	ps	like 'ps' in 'lapse'
Ω ω	omega	ō	like 'o' in 'ode'

Notes

1.Capital letters are used at the beginning of names but not at the beginning of sentences unless the sentence begins a paragraph or quotation.

2.The letters ψ, ξ, and ζ are called double consonants; θ, φ, and χ are called aspirated consonants.

3.ε and ο are always short, and η and ω are always long. α, ι, and υ can be long or short.

4.Sometimes ι is written beneath α, η, and ω. This is known as an iota subscript, which is not pronounced. If an iota subscript is written with a capital letter, it is written on the line but still not pronounced.

eg - ᾳ, ῳ, ῃ and AI, ΩΙ, ΗΙ

ῳκει, ῳδη, ζῳον - iota subscript not pronounced

Diphthongs

The word diphthong comes from Greek - δι, meaning "double" and φθογγος, meaning "sound, voice". A diphthong is made up of two vowel sounds combined in succession to make up one sound; compare 'I' in English to the sounds 'a' followed by 'i'. 'I' is pronounced much quicker, so as to have one sound. Because Ancient Greek was spoken over a long period of time, the pronunciation of the diphthongs changed over time. Initially, the partial diphthongs were proper in that they were pronounced as diphthongs. Over time, they came to be pronounced as the first vowel, and only the orthography showed the diphthongization.

Proper diphthongs:

αυ - ow as in English house

ευ - e as in English met + oo as in English "moon"

υι - we as in English queen

ει - ei as in English eight

ου - oo as in Enlish food

οι - oi as in English coin

αι - ai as in English aisle

ηυ - η followed by υ; similar to ευ, but with a longer initial vowel

Latinization

Through history Greek names have been translated according to a Latin form, which English typically uses.

υ to y

κ to c

αι to ae

οι to oe

In order to stay true to the original Greek, however, we will not concern ourselves with the latinized, transliterated forms. We will deal exclusively in Greek, and however those letters get transposed to English will be inconsequential.

Activities

Convert these English words to Greek characters.

Ping
Dig
Philadelphia
Below
Telephone
Relay

Convert these Greek words to English.

Δελφι
Μιδας
Ξερξης
Λεωνιδας
Θερμοπυλη
κυκλοψ
κυδος