Alphabet

Αλφάβητο

The Greek alphabet has 24 letters. Some have no real English counterpart, and several have misleading English names, like β which is called "beta" in English but is actually pronounced "vita." Several Greek letters are equivalent to two-letter English combinations.

The Greek name for every letter begins with that letter. The ~English column shows the nearest equivalent – don’t take it as gospel.

Upper Lower Greek name IPA ~ English English name
Α   α άλφα a a in father alpha
Β   β βήτα v v in veto beta
Γ   γ γάμμα ʝ
ɣ		 *
y in yes		 gamma
Δ   δ δέλτα ð th in then delta
Ε   ε έψιλον ɛ e in bed epsilon
Ζ   ζ ζήτα z z in zeal zeta
Η   η ήτα i ea in eat eta
Θ   θ θήτα θ th in thank theta
Ι   ι ιώτα i
ʝ		 ea in eat
y in yet		 iota
Κ   κ κάππα k k in keg kappa
Λ   λ λάμβδα l l in lot lambda
Μ   μ μυ m m in me mu
Ν   ν νυ n n in neat nu
Ξ   ξ ξι ks ks in yaks xi
Ο   ο όμικρον o o in owe omicron
Π   π πι p p in peel pi
Ρ   ρ ρω r rolled r ** rho
Σ   σ
ς ***		 σίγμα s s in signal sigma
Τ   τ ταυ t t in tough tau
Υ   υ ύψιλον i ea in eat upsilon
Φ   φ φι f f in fee phi
Χ   χ χι x **** chi
Ψ   ψ ψι ps ps in tips psi
Ω   ω ωμέγα o o in owe omega

* Similar to the French r apical.

** Similar to the Spanish rolled r

*** ς is only for the end of a word; σ is used everywhere else

**** Pronounced in the back of the mouth, but not the throat. Like a harsh "h."
 

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