Basic Rules of Modern Greek – The Alphabet

Basic Rules of Modern Greek – The Alphabet

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This is one in a series of cheatsheets. Full list here.

Alphabet

Α-α Άλφα Alpha A as in Ant
Β-β Βήτα Veeta V as in Vase
Γ-γ Γάμμα (Γάμα) Gama g as in Good, or y as in Yellow
Δ-δ Δέλτα Delta TH as in THe
Ε-ε Εψίλον Epsilon E as in Element
Ζ-ζ Ζήτα Ζeeta Z as in Zoo
Η-η* Ήτα Eeta EE as in sEE
Θ-θ Θήτα theta th as in Thing
Ι-ι* Ιώτα (γιώτα) Iota EE as in sEE
Κ-κ Κάππα (κάπα) Kapa K as in Kitten
Λ-λ Λάμδα Lambda L as in Lemon
Μ-μ Μυ (μι) Mee M as in Mother
Ν-ν Νυ (Νι) Nee N as in North
Ξ-ξ Ξει (Ξι) Ksee X as in foX
Ο-ο* Όμικρον Omicron O as in Organ
Π-π Πει (Πι) Pee P as in Pet
Ρ-ρ Ρω (ρο) Row R as in Rhapsody
Σ-σ/ς* Σίγμα Sigma S as in Sit
Τ-τ Ταυ Taf T as in Table
Υ-υ* Ύψιλον Ypsilon EE as in sEE
Φ-φ Φει (φι) Fee F as in Fun
Χ-χ Χει (Χι) Chee / Hee H as in Hurry
Ψ-ψ ψει (ψι) Psee PS as in liPStick
Ω-ω* Ωμέγα Omega O as in Organ

 

Η-η, Ι-ι and Υ-υ have the same pronunciation (“ee”)

Ο-ο and Ω-ω have the same pronunciation (“o”)

Sigma has 2 types in lower case: Start of or inside word = σ, but end of word = ς

 

Diphthongs

ΑΙ αι sounds like E-ε, or “eh” as in element
ΕΙ ει sounds like Η-η, Ι-ι, Υ-υ or like ee
ΟΙ οι sounds like Η-η, Ι-ι, Υ-υ or like ee
ΥΙ υι sounds like Η-η, Ι-ι, Υ-υ or like ee
ΑΥ αυ sounds like “av” or “af”
ΕΥ ευ sounds like “ev” or “ef”
ΟΥ ου sounds like “u” as in “soup” .

 

Double consonants

ΜΠ μπ sounds like b
ΝΤ ντ sounds like d
ΓΚ γκ sounds like g
ΓΓ γγ sounds like ng
ΤΣ τσ sounds like ts
ΤΖ τζ sounds like tz

 

Accents

Modern Greek has only ONE accent.

It is placed above the accented vowels, like this: ά, έ, ή, ί, ό, ύ, ώ.

The accent goes on one of the three last syllables.

Accents help you give emphasis to the right syllable.

E.g. “βιβλίο” (veevLEEo), ”μιλώ” (meeLO) etc.

 

Punctuation Marks

The Period, or full stop, the comma and the exclamation mark are the same as English.

The Greek question mark looks just like the English semi colon ;

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