Welcome to my Greek Language Site. This site is intended as a personal record of what I have learned, so far, in Greek. If you do happen to stumble across these pages, please excuse any errors you may find.

Initially, I will put all the content on this page but I will gradually build more pages and put things into a more logical order.

The Greek Alphabet

The Greek Alphabet has 24 letters, some of which look and sound familiar whilst others are completely different from the Latin characters in the English alphabet. Although learning a completely different alphabet may seem daunting it is less so if you try and draw on what you already know. For example:

• Some Greek letters may be familiar from maths or physics.
• Some Greek letters sound and look like their English equivalent.
• As in English, the Greek letters have upper and lower case.
• As in English, the name of the letter is more than just the sound that the letter makes.
• Unlike in English, the name of all Greek letters start with the sound of the letter itself.

Below is a very nice video from YouTube which takes you through the letters of the Greek alphabet. For each letter we are shown the upper and lower case, and we also hear the name of the letter and the sound it makes. The pronunciation in this video is very clear.

 

Greek Alphabet Table

The table below has been adapted from the Omniglot website which goes into a bit more detail. The Omniglot website also examines Ancient Greek and is probably, therefore, a bit advanced/complicated at this/any stage. The table shows each letter in upper and lower case, beneath which is the name of the letter in Greek, the translated name of the letter and finally the sound the letter makes.

Α α	Β β	Γ γ	Δ δ	Ε ε	Ζ ζ
άλφα	βήτα	γάμα	δέλτα	έψιλον	ζήτα
alfa	vita	gamma	thelta	epsilon	zita
a	v	g, y	dh	ē	z
Η η	Θ θ	Ι ι	Κ κ	Λ λ	Μ μ
ήτα	θήτα	γιώτα	κάπα	λάμδα	μι
ita	thita	yiota	kapa	lambtha	mi
ee	th	ee	k	l	m
Ν ν	Ξ ξ	Ο ο	Π π	Ρ ρ	Σ σ ς
νι	ξι	όμικρον	πι	ρο	σίγμα
ni	xi	omikron	pi	ro	sigma
n	ks, x	o	p	r, rh	s
Τ τ	Υ υ	Φ φ	Χ χ	Ψ ψ	Ω ω
taf	ipsilon	fi	hi	psi	omega
ταυ	ύψιλον	φι	χι	ψι	ωμέγα
t	ee	ph	kh, ch	ps	ō

The BBC Greek Language Website also has a good interactive explanation of the Greek Alphabet. The following video takes a bit longer and goes into a bit more detail. It also covers stress or intonation which may not be necessary at this stage of learning. This is quite comprehensive, although I’m not sure that ‘γ’ does sound like ‘w’ in woman. Apart from this the rest is quite useful.



Pronunciation 1

Now that we are starting to recognise the Greek Alphabet, it’s time to think about how the letters are pronounced in different combinations. The following clip demonstrates the vowel and consonant sounds. The repetitive pattern of the sounds in the clip means that you are quite quickly able to predict the sound made by the letters even before you hear them.

Although it is intended to be self-explanatory, perhaps some explanation will help you to get the most out of these exercises. The narrator first reads the vowel sounds  in turn, working down the first column. He continues to work down the column, combining each consonant with the vowel sounds. It may also be helpful to do the following:

• Watch and listen once through.
• Watch again and try to read/say the sounds out loud with the narrator. (You may need to repeat this many times)
• Try again, this time with the sound down.

 

The clip above plays best on Safari, iPad or on android and PC using chrome. If this does not work, try listening to the sound here and following down the columns in the tables below along with the audio.

	Κ, κ	Τ, τ	Μ, μ	Ν, ν	Θ, θ	Λ, λ	Π, π	Σ, σ, ς
Α, α	Κα	τα	Μα	να	θα	Λα	πα	σα
Ε, ε	ΚΕ	Τε	ΜΕ	Νε	ΘΕ	ΛΕ	ΠΕ	σες
Ι, ι	Κι	Τι	μι	νι	θι	λι	Πι	σις
Ο, ο	ΚΟ	ΤΟ	ΜΟ	ΝΟ	ΘΟ	ΛΟ	ΠΟ	ΣΟΣ
ΟΥ, ου	κου	ΤΟΥ	μου	ΝΟΥ	Θου	ΛΟΥ	ΠΟΥ	σου

Examples: Μαμά, καλά, θα, σαλάτα, ένα, στο, με λένε, ΠΛΑΚΑ, ΣΟΥΝΙΟ

	Β, β	Γ, γ	Δ, δ	Ζ, ζ	Ρ, ρ	Φ, φ	Χ, χ	Ξ, ξ	Ψ, ψ
Α, α	βα	γα	δα	ζα	ρα	φα	χα	ξα	ψα
Ε, ε	Βε	Γε	Δε	Ζε	Ρε	Φε	Χε	Ξε	Ψε
Ι, ι	βι	ΓΙ	δι	ΖΙ	ρι	φι	χι	ξι	Ψι
Ο, ο	ΒΟ	γο	ΔΟ	ζο	ΡΟ	φο	Χο	Ξο	ψο
ΟΥ, ου	βου	ΓΟΥ	δου	ΖΟΥ	ρου	ΦΟΥ	χου	ξου	ψου

Examples: Γάλα, ταξί, όχι, δεν, γιαγιά, γιατί, ούζο, κρασί, ΤΑΒΕΡΝΑ, ΑΕΡΟΔΡΟΜΙΟ, αεροπλάνο, Ελλάδα, λογαριασμός, πορτοκαλάδα, παρακαλώ

What is your name? How are you?

What is your name? (What do they call you?)

Pronunciation 2

The tables below show the different consonants being combined with a vowel sound. As you can see (and hear from the accompanying sound track) there is more than one way to make different vowel sounds. This meas that, although Greek becomes very easy to read, it is a bit more difficult to write. For example, both ε and the vowel combination αι make the e sound, as in egg, while ι, η, οι, and ει all make the ee sound, as in tree. Listen to the sound track and follow down each column.

	Κ, κ	Τ, τ	Μ, μ	Ν, ν	Θ, θ	Λ, λ	Π, π	Σ, σ, ς
Α, α	Κα	τα	Μα	να	θα	Λα	πα	σας
Ε, ε; ΑΙ, αι	ΚΕ	Ται	ΜΕ	Νε	ΘΑΙ	ΛΕ	παι	σες
Ι, ι; Η, η; Υ, υ; ΕΙ, ει; Οι, οι	Κι	Τη	μει	νι	θει	λη	ΠΗ	συ
Ο, ο; Ω, ω	ΚΟ	ΤΩ	μω	ΝΩ	θω	λω	πο	σω
ΟΥ, ου	κου	του	ΜΟΥ	νου	Θου	ΛΟΥ	Που	Σου

Μένω, μένεις, περιμένω, θέλω, θέλεις, κάνω, κάνεις, ΑΘΗΝΑ, είμαι, είσαι, είναι, είμαστε, είστε, είναι

Second group of consonants.

	Β, β	Γ, γ	Δ, δ	Ζ, ζ	Ρ, ρ	Φ, φ	Χ, χ	Ξ, ξ	Ψ, ψ
Α, α	βα	γα	δα	ζα	ρα	φα	χα	ξα	ψα
Ε, ε; ΑΙ, αι	Βε	Γαι	Δε	Ζαι	Ρε	Φαι	Χε	Ξε	Ψαι
Ι, ι; Η, η; Υ, υ; ΕΙ, ει; Οι, οι	βι	ΓΗ	δυ	ζει	ροι	φη	χυ	ξυ	Ψοι
Ο, ο; Ω, ω	ΒΟ	γω	ΔΟ	ζο	ΡΩ	φο	Χω	Ξο	ψω
ΟΥ, ου	βου	ΓΟΥ	δου	ΖΟΥ	ρου	ΦΟΥ	χου	ξου	ψου

Γάλα, ταξί, όχι, δεν, γιαγιά, γιατί, ούζο, κρασί, ΤΑΒΕΡΝΑ, ΑΕΡΟΔΡΟΜΙΟ, αεροπλάνο, Ελλάδα, λογαριασμός, πορτοκαλάδα, παρακαλώ

With sound below (again will only work on some browsers):

Pronunciation 3 (Double consonant sounds)

As in English, when some consonants are linked the sound produced changes. E.g. in English t and h combine to make the th sound and s and h combine to say sh. So it is with the double consonants below. Listen carefully as, in some cases, the sound made depends on the vowel the double consonants proceed. This seems complicated but it will be easier to learn and remember individual words.

	μπ	ντ	γκ	γγ	τσ	τζ
Α, α	μπα	ντα	γκα	γγα	τσα	τζα
Ε, ε; ΑΙ, αι	ΜΠΕ	ΝΤΑΙ	ΓΚΕ	ΓΓΑΙ	ΤΣΕ	ΤΖΕ
Ι, ι; Η, η; Υ, υ; ΟΙ, οι	μπι	ντη	γκυ	γγει	τσοι	τζυ
Ο, ο; Ω, ω	μπο	ντω	γκω	γγο	τσω	τζο
ΟΥ, ου	μπου	ντου	γκου	γγου	τσου	τζου

Μπαμπάς, μπύρα, ΜΠΑΡ, ΝΤΙΣΚΟ, ντομάτα, τζατζίκι, Αγγλικά, Μπάσκετ-μπωλ, κορίτσι, αντίο, Παγκράτι

Pronunciation 4 (αυ, ευ)

The vowels α and υ combine to make the af or av sound while the vowels ε and υ combine to make the ef or ev sound.

	αφ	αυτό, αυτοκίνητο
ΑΥ, αυ
	αβ	Αύριο, θαύμα
	εφ	ευχαριστώ
ΕΥ, ευ
	εβ	δουλεύω, ΕΥΡΩΠΗ

• Καλημέρα
• Μια σαλάτα, ένα τζατζίκι, νερό, και το λογαριασμό.
• Τι Κάνετα;
• Πω, πω! Αργησα!

Vowels which would normally combine are pronounced separately (as 2 syllables) when the normal (ά) accent is used on the first vowel of a pair or when the second vowel has a double dot (ϊ) accent above it. Examples:

άι, αϊ τσάι, Λαϊκή

όι, οϊ ρολοϊ

Stress/Intonation

From the example words above, you will have noticed an accent above one of the vowels in words of more than two syllables. This accent is a stress mark and lets you know which syllable to stress or emphasise. Although there is some potential for embarrassment since some words are spelled the same but stressed on different syllables, generally making mistakes with intonation or stress is not a huge issue. A good example of two words which are spelt the same but stressed on different syllables is γερός (strong) and γέρος (old man). You can see where this could be a problem, particularly if it was a very strong man you had just called old!