In the 8th century BC the Greeks adopted the alphabet of the Phoenicians, merchants from Lebanon, which marked only consonants. The great Greek innovation was using some signs for vowels: the first full alphabet was born, with a letter for every sound. Through the colonies of southern Italy the Greek alphabet passed to the Etruscans and Latins; centuries later the monks Cyril and Methodius derived from it the alphabet for the Slavic languages. The word alphabet itself comes from the first two letters, alpha and beta.
The 24 letters
| Capital | Small | Name | Modern pronunciation | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Α | α | alpha | a | a |
| Β | β | vita (beta) | v | v (b) |
| Γ | γ | gamma | soft gh; before e, i like "y" in "yes" | g, gh |
| Δ | δ | delta | like "th" in "this" | d, dh |
| Ε | ε | epsilon | e | e |
| Ζ | ζ | zita (zeta) | z | z |
| Η | η | ita (eta) | i (as in "machine") | i (e) |
| Θ | θ | thita (theta) | like "th" in "think" | th |
| Ι | ι | iota | i | i |
| Κ | κ | kappa | k | k |
| Λ | λ | lambda | l | l |
| Μ | μ | mi | m | m |
| Ν | ν | ni | n | n |
| Ξ | ξ | xi | ks | x, ks |
| Ο | ο | omicron | o | o |
| Π | π | pi | p | p |
| Ρ | ρ | ro | r (rolled) | r |
| Σ | σ, ς | sigma | s (ς is used at the end of a word) | s |
| Τ | τ | taf (tau) | t | t |
| Υ | υ | ipsilon | i | i, y |
| Φ | φ | fi | f | f, ph |
| Χ | χ | chi | like Scottish "loch" | ch, h |
| Ψ | ψ | psi | ps | ps |
| Ω | ω | omega | o | o |
Diphthongs and combinations
In Modern Greek some letter pairs have special sounds, and they are the key to reading signs:
| Letters | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| αι | e | και (ke, "and") |
| ει, οι, υι | i | είναι (ine, "is") |
| ου | u | ουζο (uzo, ouzo) |
| αυ, ευ | av/ev or af/ef | αυτό (aftó, "this") |
| μπ | b (m-b mid-word) | μπύρα (bira, beer) |
| ντ | d (n-d mid-word) | ντομάτα (domata, tomato) |
| γκ, γγ | g (n-g mid-word) | Αγγλία (Anglia, England) |
| τσ | ts | τσάι (tsai, tea) |
Ancient and modern pronunciation
In many Western schools ancient Greek is read with the Erasmian pronunciation, reconstructed by Erasmus in the 16th century: beta as "b", eta as a long "e". Greeks, however, read ancient texts with modern pronunciation too. So a Greek says "Omiros" and "Athina" for Homer and Athena.
Lost letters
The ancient alphabet had other letters that later disappeared, such as digamma (Ϝ), for the "w" sound, which became Latin F, koppa (Ϙ), source of Q, and sampi (ϡ). Some survived as numerals: the Greeks also used letters to write numbers.
The alphabet in science
Greek letters are everywhere in science: π for the ratio of circumference to diameter, Σ for summation, Δ for a change, α, β, γ for types of radiation, λ for wavelength, μ for micro, Ω for the ohm. A constellation's brightest stars are named alpha, beta, gamma: Alpha Centauri, for example.
See also the history of the Greek language and the phrasebook.