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1. The Greek alphabet has twenty-four letters.

FormNameEquivalentsSound
as in
Ααἄλφαalphaaă: aha; ā: father
Βββῆταbētabbeg
Γγγάμμαgammaggo
Δδδέλταdeltaddig
Εεεἶ, ἔ (ἒ ψι_λόν）ĕpsīlonĕmet
Ζζζῆταzētazdaze
ΗηἦταētaēFr. fête
Θθ, υθῆταthētaththin
Ιιἰῶταiōtaiĕ: meteor; ī: police
Κκκάππαkappac, kkin
Λλλάμβδαlambdallet
Μμμῦmummet
Νννῦnunnet
Ξξξεῖ (ξῖ）xixlax
Οοοὖ, ὄ (ὂ μι_κρόν）ŏmīcronŏobey
Πππεῖ (πῖ）pippet
Ρρῥῶrhorrun
Σς, ςσίγμαsigmassuch
Ττταῦtauttar
Υυὖ (ὖ ψι_λόν）üpsīlon（u) yŭ: Fr. tu; ū: Fr. sûr
Φφφεῖ (φῖ）phiphgraphic
Χχχεῖ (χῖ）chichGerm. machen
Ψψψεῖ (ψῖ）psipsgypsum
Ωωὦ (ὦ μέγα）ōmĕgaōnote

a. Sigma (not capital) at the end of a word is written ς, elsewhere ς1. Thus, σεισμός earthquake.

b. The names in parentheses, from which are derived those in current use, were given at a late period, some as late as the Middle Ages. Thus, epsilon means ‘simple e,’ upsilon ‘simple u,’ to distinguish these letters from αι, οι, which were sounded like ε and υ.

c. Labda is a better attested ancient name than lambda.

American Book Company, 1920.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

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hide References (2 total)
  • Cross-references to this page (2):
    • Raphael Kühner, Friedrich Blass, Ausführliche Grammatik der Griechischen Sprache, KG 1.1.1
    • Jeffrey A. Rydberg-Cox, Overview of Greek Syntax, Sources Cited
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