AUDIO STUDY RESOURCE

The Greek Alphabet
Pronunciation

Vowels, Consonants, Diphthongs

For fuller explanation, see Let's Study Greek, Lesson 1

General Instructions for the Audio
 Clicking on the appropriate letter below will "download" and "play" the linked MP3 files in your default Media Player. 

You may get a "prompt" window regarding downloading the audio file when you click on the letter or vowel. If so, choose the option to OPEN rather than to SAVE the file. If this prompt appears for each letter, you can turn it off by deselecting the check mark in the box regarding prompting. Once the file is "played" the first time it will be stored in your "cache" directory and can be replayed repeatedly by clicking on the letter again. 

LEARNING THE GREEK ALPHABET

The first step in the study of Greek is to learn the alphabet. Learning  the names, the order, and the sounds of the Greek letters will help to remove the barrier of strangeness between you and Greek. Being able to see the words and also to hear the sounds of the letters and words will aid learning, especially given the number of sounds and words from Greek that have been borrowed into English.

Note that there is not unanimous agreement among scholars about how Greek should be pronounced, including how ancient Greek was pronounced and whether or not students of the New Testament should use modern Greek pronunciation. The pronunciations given here are those in common use in classical Greek studies since the Renaissance.

THE GREEK ALPHABET

Click on the letter below to hear the pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet.

Letters Names Sounds Capitals
a alpha palm, father A
b beta big B
g gamma graphic (but before g, k, c as angle, anchor, ink) G
d delta delta D
e epsilon end E
z zeta zoology Z
h eta chaos, late H
q theta theater Q
i iota political I
k kappa keep K
l lambda logical L
m mu monologue M
n nu autonomy N
x xi exit X
o omicron cosmos O
p pi apostle P
r rho prophet, martyr R
s, " sigma synthesis, stoic S
t tau martyr T
u upsilon physical, martyr U
f phi philosphy F
c chi chronology C
y psi cups Y
w omega ego, telophone W

THE DIPHTHONGS

Diphthongs (Greek: double sound) are combinations of two vowels that are pronounced together or in rapid succession forming one vowel sound or syllable.

Click on the diphthongs below to hear their pronunciation:

Diphthong Sound
ai aisle
au sauerkraut
ei eight
oi toil
ou through
ui week
eu e (in let) + oo (in soon) = e-oo
hu a (in late) + oo (in soon) = a-oo

THE IMPROPER DIPHTHONGS

The socalled "improper diphthongs" consist of the vowels a, h, or w with the letter iota written underneath (iota subscript). The improper diphthongs are pronounced exactly like their respective long vowels without the iota:

a/ h/ w/

 BREATHING MARK EXAMPLES

Every word beginning with a vowel has a smooth or rough breathing mark to indicate how this initial vowel is pronounced. Smooth breathing (   j) indicates no change in the sound; rough breathing (    J ) is pronounced like the aspirated h in English:

Click below for examples:

Smooth Breathing
ajgavph ajdelfov" oijkiva

 

Rough Breathing
o{ti euJrivskw hJmevra