THE GREEK ALPHABET


Greek
Letter
Letter
Name
English
Equivalent
Description
 
Α αalphaaas in “arc”
Β βbetab
Γ γgammagas in “graph,” or like “ng” before γ, κ, ξ or χ
Δ δdeltad
Ε εepsiloneshort e, as in “epic”
Ζ ζzetadzas in “adze”
Η ηetaēlong e, as in “hey”; looks like the English letter “h” but it’s not
Θ θthetathas in “three”
Ι ιiotaias in “machine”
Κ κkappak
Λ λlambdal
Μ μmum
Ν νnun
Ξ ξxixas in “axe”
Ο οomicrono“small o”; as in “optic”
Π πpip
Ρ ρrhortrilled
  Σ σ, ςsigmas ς at the end of a word
Τ τtaut
Υ υupsilonuas in “flute”; often appears in English words as “y”
Φ φphiphas in “phone”
Χ χchichas in “character,” or “loch”
Ψ ψpsipsas in “eclipse”
Ω ωomegaō“big O”; as in “ocean”

You probably noticed that the word “alphabet” comes from “alpha-beta.”


These words are the same, or nearly so, in Greek and English.
Are they easy to read yet?

ακροπολιςacropolis   ΟλυμποςOlympus
ΖευςZeus ΣφιγξSphinx

Here are some more words you may recognize.
Practice reading them to become familiar with the alphabet.

αθλονprize   νικηvictory
αντιagainst οκτωeight
βιοςlife πολιςcity
γηearth πρωτονfirst
γραφωwrite πυρfire
δεκαten σοφιαwisdom
δυναμιςpower ταυροςbull
εγωI φοβοςfear
θερμοςhot φωνηsound
κλεπτωsteal χρονοςtime
λυρηlyre ψευδηςfalse
μεγαςlarge ψυχηsoul
μικροςsmall ωκεανοςocean