modern Greek alphabet

Letter names, order, sounds

Based on Open Educational Resources

Modern Greek alphabet ( η αλφαβήτα/ η αλφάβητος ) has 24 letters which have been used in the same form since 8th century BC.

Greek alphabet derived from Phoenician alphabet and it was in turn the ancestor of a number of European and Middle Eastern scripts, including Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/greek.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet http://phoenicia.org/alphabet.html

In Modern Greek, the letters of the alphabet

have a stable enough and consistent symbol-to-sound mapping. This makes pronunciation of words rather predictable in general.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet

Apart from its use in writing the Greek language, the Greek alphabet today also serves as a source of technical symbols and labels in many domains of mathematics, science and other fields

π = 3,14 T: biology, mathematics, physics Φ: mathematics, philosophy, computing

x:mathematics, neurology, chemistry, rhetoric , engineering

etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-resources/stargazing-basics/the-greek-alphabet/

Άλφα : A-α Νι: Ν-ν

Βήτα: Β-β Ξι: Ξ-ξΓάμμα: Γ-γ Όμικρον:Ο-ο Δέλτα: Δ-δ Πι: Π-πΈψιλον: Ε-ε Ρο: Ρ-ρΖήτα : Ζ-ζ Σίγμα: Σ-σ-ς Ήτα : Η-η Ταυ: Τ-τ Θήτα: Θ-θ Ύψιλον: Υ-υ Ιώτα: Ι-ι Φι: Φ-φ Κάππα: Κ-κ Χι: Χ-χΛάμδα: Λ-λ Ψι: Ψ-ψΜι: Μ-μ Ωμέγα: Ω-ω http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Greek_numbers.html http://poinikastas.csad.ox.ac.uk/browseGlyphs.shtml http://www.sixtysymbols.com/videos/alphabetagamma.htm

Άλφα : A-α álfa [a]

Aέρας [aéras]= wind masculine article noun ο Aέρας o aéras http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/alpha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha

Βήτα: Β-β Víta [v]

Βήμα [víma]= step neutral article noun το βήμα to víma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta

Γάμμα: Γ-γ γáma [γ/j]

γούνα [γúna]= fur

femin article noun η γούνα i γúna

γείτονας [jítonas]= neighbor masculine article noun ο γείτονας ο jítonas

Notice that γάμμα (γ) is pronounced [j] when [i]/ [e] follows http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma

Δέλτα: Δ,δδélta [δ]

δώρο [δóro]=gift neutral article noun

το δώρο to δóro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_(letter)

Έψιλον Ε-εépsilon [e]

Εγώ [eγó]= Ι personal pronoun

ετοιμάζω [etimázo] = to prepare, I prepare verb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epsilon

Ζήτα : Ζ-ζ zíta [z]

ζέστη: [zésti] = heat ( high temperature )

femin. article noun

η ζέστη I zésti http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeta

Ήτα : Η-ηíta [ι]

ήλιος : [ílios]= sun masc. article noun ο ήλιος o ílios http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta

Θήτα Θ-θ θíta [θ]

θάλασσα [θálasa]= sea fem. article noun η θάλασσα I θálasa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta

Ιώτα: Ι-ι[ióta] [i]

ικανός [ikanós] = (capable, able, skilled)

masc. article adjective

ο ικανός

o ikanós http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iota

Κάππα Κ-κ kápa [k-ç]

Καλό: [ kaló] =nice, good

neutr. article adjective το καλό to kaló Κεράσι: [çerási] =cherry neutral article noun το κεράσι to çerási Notice that κ is pronounced [ç] When [i/e] follows http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa

Λάμδα Λ-λlámδa [l]

λάδι =oil neutral article noun το λάδι to láδi

Ήλιος: [ ’Ιlios]= sun masc. article noun ο ήλιος o ílios

Notice the [l] pronounciation when an [i] follows http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda

Μι Μ-μ[mi] [m]

μαμά- [mamá] = mother feminine article noun

η μαμά

[i] [mamá] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(letter)

Νι Ν-ν[Ni] [n]

Νερό: [neró]= water neutral article noun

το νερό

to neró Νωρίς: [ norís] =early adverb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu_(letter)

Ξι Ξ, ξ[ksi] [ ks]

Notice Ξ indicates the combination [k+s]=[ks] Notice Ξ is not to be confused with the letter

X(chi:sounds [x/ç). X gave its form to latin letter x.

ξανά [ksaná] = again adverb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_(letter)

Όμικρον Ο-ο[ómikron] [o]

Όαση : [óasi] = oasis feminine article noun

η όαση i óasi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omicron

Πι Π-π[Pi ] [p]

Πάλι: [páli] = again adverb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_(letter)

Ρο Ρ-ρ[ro] [r]

Notice P [r] is not to be confused with the Latin letter P [p]

Θάρρος – [θáros]= courage neutral article noun το θάρρος to θáros Remember that ρρ= r No different pronunciation. Just [r] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rho

Σίγμα Σ-σ-ς[síγma] [s]

Θάλασσα: [ θálasa] = sea fem article noun η θάλασσα i θálasa Notice: No different pronunciation for σσ. Just s Notice: the letter "s" is used only at the very end of

a word ending in [s]. eg. θάρρος, NOT θάρροσ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma

Ταυ Τ-τ[taf] [t]

ταβάνι: taváni = rooftop neutral article noun το ταβάνι to taváni Remember that here: α+υ = af http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tau

ύψιλον Υ-υ[ípsilon] [i]

Υγεία: [ijía]= health fem article noun η υγεία

I ijía notice that Y=[i] as well as ει = [ι] . Remember that "Γ-γ" is pronounced [j] when [i] sound is following http://www.sixtysymbols.com/videos/masstolight.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upsilon

Φι Φ-φ[Fi] [f]

Φαγητό : [fajitó] =food neutr. article noun το φαγητό

to fajitó Remember that η= [i]. Γ-γ is pronounced [j] when [i] is following http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi

Χι, Χ-χçi [x-ç]

Χαρτί: [xartí] = paper neutral article noun το χαρτί

to xartí Χέρι: [çéri] = hand neutral article noun το χέρι

to çériNotice that the letter "χ" is pronounced [ç] when [i/ e] is following http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_(letter)

Ψι Ψ-ψ[psi] [ps]

Notice that 'Ψ' Indicates the combination [p+s]= [ps]

ψωμί : [psomí] = bread neutral article noun το ψωμί

to psomí http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psi_(letter)

Ωμέγα Ω-ωOméγa [ο]

Ώρα- óra (time when we ask "what time is it? /hour) femin article noun η ώρα i óra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega

So, maybe you have already noticed that in some cases there is one letter to represent 2 sounds. For example : γ [γ/j], κ [k/ç] etc. Well, Greek people consider these sounds just as variations, not separate speech sounds.

Here you may find a more linguistic approach in regard with sound variations.

"Allophones are the linguistically non-significant variants of each phoneme. In other words a phoneme may be realised by more than one speech sound and the selection of each variant is usually conditioned by the phonetic environment of the phoneme. Occasionally allophone selection is not conditioned but may vary from person to person and occasion to occasion"

http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/phonology/phoneme/ "Greek linguists do not agree on which consonants to count as

phonemes in their own right, and which to count as conditional allophones"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Greek_phonology

Thanks for watching