The Greek Alphabet

THE GREEK ALPHABET

Greek Letter	Letter Name	English Equivalent	Description

Α α	alpha	a	as in “arc”
Β β	beta	b
Γ γ	gamma	g	as in “graph,” or like “ng” before γ, κ, ξ or χ
Δ δ	delta	d
Ε ε	epsilon	e	short e, as in “epic”
Ζ ζ	zeta	dz	as in “adze”
Η η	eta	ē	long e, as in “hey”; looks like the English letter “h” but it’s not
Θ θ	theta	th	as in “three”
Ι ι	iota	i	as in “machine”
Κ κ	kappa	k
Λ λ	lambda	l
Μ μ	mu	m
Ν ν	nu	n
Ξ ξ	xi	x	as in “axe”
Ο ο	omicron	o	“small o”; as in “optic”
Π π	pi	p
Ρ ρ	rho	r	trilled
Σ σ, ς	sigma	s	ς at the end of a word
Τ τ	tau	t
Υ υ	upsilon	u	as in “flute”; often appears in English words as “y”
Φ φ	phi	ph	as in “phone”
Χ χ	chi	ch	as in “character,” or “loch”
Ψ ψ	psi	ps	as in “eclipse”
Ω ω	omega	ō	“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?

ακροπολις	acropolis		Ολυμπος	Olympus
Ζευς	Zeus		Σφιγξ	Sphinx

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