Tutorial 1.1: Greek Alphabet

By Alan Knox | January 8th, 2009 | Category: Tutorials | 5 comments

Learning the Greek alphabet can be a daunting challenge, especially for people who are only familiar with one alphabet. However, it is vital that you learn the Greek letters and their pronunciation if you plan to learn Greek.

The bad news is that the Greek alphabet uses symbols that are different from the English alphabet symbols. The good news is that many of the Greek symbols parallel English symbols. Also, the Greek letters do not carry as many possible pronunciations as English letters.

Since no one speaks Koine Greek as their mother tongue any longer, no one knows exactly how the Greeks pronounced their letters in the first century. There are several suggested pronunciation guides. This is the one that I prefer:

Name Upper Case Lower Case English Pronunciation
Alpha Α α a father
Beta Β β b ball
Gamma Γ γ g gift
Delta Δ δ d dog
Epsilon Ε ε e egg
Zeta Ζ ζ z zoo
Eta Η η ē obey
Theta Θ θ th think
Iota Ι ι i igloo
Kappa Κ κ k kit
Lambda Λ λ l log
Mu Μ μ m man
Nu Ν ν n not
Xi Ξ ξ x wax
Omicron Ο ο o octagon
Pi Π π p pot
Rho Ρ ρ r run
Sigma Σ σ,ς s sit
Tau Τ τ t tub
Upsilon Υ υ u lute
Phi Φ φ ph phone
Chi Χ χ ch chemist
Psi Ψ ψ ps taps
Omega Ω ω ō home

Here are a few notes to help you learn the Greek alphabet:

  1. Gamma always makes the hard “g” sound as in girl or get, and never the soft “g” sound as in giraffe.
  2. Upper case Eta looks like a capital “H”, and lower case Eta looks like a lower case “n”, but they both make the long “e” sound as in they or eight.
  3. Lower case Nu looks like an English “v”, but it makes the “n” sound. It is easy to confuse lower case Nu with lower case Upsilon.
  4. Rho looks like the English “p” but it makes the sound of the English “r”.
  5. Do not let the two versions of Sigma confuse you. They both make the same sound. Final sigma (ς) is used when the Sigma is the last letter of a Greek word.
  6. Upper case Upsilon looks like an English “Y”, but it makes the long “u” sound, as in lute or suit.
  7. Chi looks like an English “X”, but it makes a sound similar to the English “k”. Xi actually makes the English “x” sound.

Tutorial 1.2: Diphthongs, Iota Subscripts, and Diaeresis Next ->

5 comments
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  1. Arthur Sido January 8th, 2009 2:26 pm :

    Now THAT is what I am talking about! Practical stuff that we can actually use in a blog!

  2. Bethany W January 8th, 2009 4:58 pm :

    Alan,
    Thank you for all your time and hard work setting up this blog. I think a lot of people will benefit from it! I can see this being a great tool for stay-at-home-moms who would love to learn Greek, but cannot take a seminary class. What’s more – it feels more interactive than studying my husband’s Greek-teaching books. It feels like a class… and I LOVE going to school!
    Keep up the good work, Brother!
    Bethany

  3. Alan Knox January 8th, 2009 5:18 pm :

    Arthur,

    I’m glad that you’re finding this useful. If you have any requestions for questions, please ask in the comments or email me at alan@hellenisti.com.

    Bethany,

    Thank you! My goal is that Hellenisti will be a cross between the standard online Greek resource (there are many of these) and a blog (there are many of these also). So, I hope that it will be interactive. That said, please ask questions or for clarifications or make requests at any time.

    -Alan

  4. Mark January 8th, 2009 10:41 pm :

    Thanks for doing this Alan. I have always had an interest in learning Greek, but could never find anywhere online that I thought taught it effectively.

  5. Ramses April 4th, 2009 12:51 pm :

    I’m not too sure if Χ makes a “k” sound. I always thought it was more like “ch” in German “bach”.

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