The Greek alphabet
The 24 Greek letters, their names and pronunciation, and the common digraphs.
The 24 letters
The Greek alphabet has 24 letters, each with an upper- and lower-case form. Seven are vowels (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω) and seventeen are consonants. The IPA column gives the exact sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet — it is language-neutral, whereas a “sounds like” approximation differs from one language to the next.
Which group can spell the sound [i]?
The 24 letters
The Greek alphabet has 24 letters, each with an upper- and lower-case form. Seven are vowels (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω) and seventeen are consonants. The IPA column gives the exact sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet — it is language-neutral, whereas a “sounds like” approximation differs from one language to the next.
- Α α — ΑθήναAlpha — Athens
- Δ δ — δάσκαλοςDelta — teacher
- Ω ω — ώραOmega — hour
| Κεφ. | πεζό | όνομα | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Α | α | άλφα | [a] |
| Β | β | βήτα | [v] |
| Γ | γ | γάμα | [ɣ] / [ʝ] |
| Δ | δ | δέλτα | [ð] |
| Ε | ε | έψιλον | [e] |
| Ζ | ζ | ζήτα | [z] |
| Η | η | ήτα | [i] |
| Θ | θ | θήτα | [θ] |
| Ι | ι | γιώτα | [i] |
| Κ | κ | κάπα | [k] / [c] |
| Λ | λ | λάμδα | [l] |
| Μ | μ | μι | [m] |
| Ν | ν | νι | [n] |
| Ξ | ξ | ξι | [ks] |
| Ο | ο | όμικρον | [o] |
| Π | π | πι | [p] |
| Ρ | ρ | ρο | [r] |
| Σ | σ / ς | σίγμα | [s] |
| Τ | τ | ταυ | [t] |
| Υ | υ | ύψιλον | [i] |
| Φ | φ | φι | [f] |
| Χ | χ | χι | [x] / [ç] |
| Ψ | ψ | ψι | [ps] |
| Ω | ω | ωμέγα | [o] |
Six letters, three “i” sounds
Modern Greek writes the sound [i] in six ways: η, ι, υ, ει, οι, υι. Likewise ο and ω both give [o]. That is good news for reading — you always read it correctly — but spelling takes memory: it preserves the word’s history, not its present pronunciation.
- η μητέραthe mother — η and ι, same sound
- το παιδίthe child — αι reads [e]
Vowel digraphs
Some vowel pairs make a single sound. αυ and ευ are the exception: they are [af]/[ef] before a voiceless consonant (θ, κ, ξ, π, σ, τ, φ, χ, ψ) and [av]/[ev] everywhere else.
- αυτός [aftós]he — αυ sounds [af] before τ
- αύριο [ávrio]tomorrow — αυ sounds [av] before ρ
- ευχαριστώ [efharistó]thank you — ευ sounds [ef] before χ
- Ευρώπη [Evrópi]Europe — ευ sounds [ev] before ρ
| δίψηφο | IPA | παράδειγμα |
|---|---|---|
| αι | [e] | και, παιδί |
| ει | [i] | είναι, εκεί |
| οι | [i] | οικογένεια |
| υι | [i] | υιοθεσία |
| ου | [u] | ούζο, μουσική |
| αυ | [af] / [av] | αυτός / αύριο |
| ευ | [ef] / [ev] | ευχαριστώ / Ευρώπη |
Consonant clusters
Greek has no single letter for [b], [d] and [g]: it writes them with two letters. At the start of a word the sound is plain ([b], [d], [g]); inside a word it is often preceded by a light nasal ([mb], [nd], [ŋg]).
- μπαμπάς [babás]dad — μπ sounds [b]
- ντομάτα [domáta]tomato — ντ sounds [d]
- γκαρσόνι [garsóni]waiter — γκ sounds [g]
| δίψηφο | IPA | παράδειγμα |
|---|---|---|
| μπ | [b] / [mb] | μπύρα, λάμπα |
| ντ | [d] / [nd] | ντομάτα, πάντα |
| γκ / γγ | [g] / [ŋg] | γκολ, αγγλικά |
| τσ | [ts] | τσάι, κορίτσι |
| τζ | [dz] | τζατζίκι |
The four hard sounds: γ, δ, θ, χ
These four letters account for most beginner mistakes, because English either lacks them or spells them differently. Note too that β is never “b” and δ is never “d”: they are continuous consonants, not stops.
- γάλα [ˈɣala]milk — γ: a softened “g” made at the back of the throat
- δέκα [ˈðeka]ten — δ: the “th” of this
- θέατρο [ˈθeatro]theatre — θ: the “th” of think
- χέρι [ˈçeri]hand — χ: like the German “ch” in ich
Final sigma (ς)
Exactly one Greek letter changes shape by position: sigma is written σ everywhere, except at the end of a word where it becomes ς. The sound does not change — it is purely typographic, but getting it wrong is the most visible writing mistake.
- ο κόσμοςthe world — σ in the middle, ς at the end
- ΣωκράτηςSocrates — capital Σ, final ς
The accent and the diaeresis
Every word of two syllables or more carries a written accent (τόνος) on the stressed vowel: it tells you where to stress, and it is compulsory. The diaeresis (διαλυτικά) does the opposite of a digraph: it splits two vowels that would otherwise be read together.
- πότε / ποτέwhen? / never — only the accent tells them apart
- παϊδάκιαlamb chops — the diaeresis splits α and ι
Greek punctuation
Two marks catch people out. The semicolon “;” is the Greek question mark — a sentence ending in ; is a question. And the raised dot “·” (άνω τελεία) does the job of our semicolon.
- Τι κάνεις;How are you? — the ; is a question mark
- Ήρθε ο Νίκος· η Μαρία έμεινε σπίτι.Nikos came; Maria stayed at home. — the · works as a semicolon
- Έφυγε ο Νίκος; Ναι, έφυγε.Has Nikos left? Yes, he has. — only the ; marks the question
Your first words
Once the table sinks in you can already decode hundreds of words: Greek supplied much of English’s scientific and technical vocabulary, and those words read almost identically. Try them aloud.
- μουσικήmusic
- θέατροtheatre
- ταξίtaxi
- φωτογραφίαphotograph
- πρόβλημαproblem