The Greek Alphabet and Diphthongs: Full Pronunciation Guide
Hello everyone,
Today we’ll study the Greek alphabet and the Diphthongs. This way you’ll learn how to pronounce every Greek word!
If you are traveling to Greece, it’s very useful to know how to pronounce the Greek words. Imagine you are eating in a local Greek restaurant. It’s good to know how to read the menu written in Greek.
Or maybe you’re just walking around and want to read the road or shop signs.
If you’re a beginner Greek learner, then this is the first step you need to take – learn the Greek alphabet and the diphthongs.
One of the best things about learning the Greek language is that words are pronounced the way they are written. There are no silent letters.
If a letter is in the word, it’s pronounced. And letters are always pronounced the same way!
The Greek Alphabet
The Greek alphabet has 24 letters, 17 consonants and 7 vowels.
Here’s a short guide in pronouncing the Greek Alphabet.
For more details and examples, read this article “How Many Letters Are in The Greek Alphabet?”
A, α
called alpha
pronounced a
and an example is Άννα
Β, β
called vita
pronounced v
and an example is Βασίλης
Γ, γ
called gama
pronounced y when it comes before e, u, i;
otherwise like a soft gargle gh
and an example is Γιάννης
Δ, δ
called thelta
pronounced th as in “this”
and an example is Δημήτρης
Ε, ε
called epsilon
pronounced e as in “pen”
and an example is Ελένη
Ζ, ζ
called zita
pronounced z
and an example is Ζωή
Η, η
called ita
pronounced I
and an example is Ηλίας
Θ, θ
called thita
pronounced th as in “think”
and an example is Θανάσης
Ι, ι
called yiota
pronounced i
and an example is Ιόλη
Κ, κ
called kapa
pronounced k
and an example is Κατερίνα
Λ, λ
called lamtha
pronounced l
and an example is Λίζα
Μ, μ
called mi
pronounced m
and an example is Μάνος
Ν, ν
called ni
pronounced n
and an example is Νίκος
Ξ, ξ
called ksi
pronounced x as in “fox”
and an example is Ξένια
Ο, ο
called omicron
pronounced o
and an example is Όλγα
Π, π
called pi
pronounced p
and an example is Πέτρος
Ρ, ρ
called ro
pronounced a rolled r
and an example is Ρόζα
Σ, σ, ς
called sigma
pronounced s a
nd an example is Σωτήρης
Τ, τ
called taf
pronounced t
and an example is Τάσος
Υ, υ
called ipsilon
pronounced i
and an example is πολύ
Φ, φ
called fi
pronounced f
and an example is Φένια
Χ, χ
called chi
pronounced a strong h
and an example is όχι
Ψ, ψ
called psi
pronounced ps as in “shops”
and an example is ψωμί
Ω, ω
called omega
pronounced o
and an example is τώρα
The Greek Diphthongs or Combinations
Let’s now focus on the Greek Diphthongs or Combinations.
The Greek alphabet doesn’t include all the sounds like the English one. It’s not complete.
There are sounds in Greek, like the b, d, g, that aren’t formed by 1 Greek letter. In that case we’ll use a diphthong or combination of 2 letters.
If you want to create sounds not included in the alphabet, 2 letters are combined. A diphthong is a sound that is formed by the combination of 2 letters.
We’ll study 10 combinations.
Let’s see them one by one in detail.
The sound b
There is no b in the Greek alphabet.
So, if you want to make the b sound, you combine these two letters, μπ.
μπ = b
For example:
μπάνιο – banio – bathroom
μπαμπάς – babas – dad
The sound d
There is no d in the Greek alphabet.
So, if you want to make the d sound, you combine these two letters, ντ.
ντ = d
For example:
Ντίνα – Dina
νταντά – dada – nunny
The sound g (as in “game”)
There is no g in the Greek alphabet.
So, if you want to make the g sound, you combine these two letters, γκ.
γκ = g
For example:
άγκυρα – agira – anchor
γκολ – gol – goal
The g sound is also formed by this combination, γγ.
QUICK NOTE…
The sound g is formed by γκ or γγ.
γκ = g
γγ = g
It’s just a matter of spelling which combination we’ll use.
Some words use γκ and some other use γγ.
For example
άγκυρα (agira) and άγγελος (agelos)
Note that one γ is pronounced like in the alphabet (y when it comes before e, u, i; otherwise like a soft gargle gh), but with double γ the pronouncing will completely change to a g sound.
Check the difference here.
άγγελος – agelos
άγελος – ayelos
The sound i
There are 3 different letters (η, ι, υ) in the Greek alphabet which are all pronounced as i.
For example:
τυρί – tiri – cheese
ήταν – itan – it was
The truth is that there are totally 5 different ways to form the I sound in Greek.
It’s the 3 letters in the Greek alphabet (η, ι, υ) PLUS 2 combinations (ει and οι).
It’s just a matter of spelling which one we’ll use.
Let’s see them one by one
ει = i
For example:
εικόνα – ikona – picture
είκοσι – ikosi – twenty
οι = i
For example:
πολλοί – poli – many
καλοί – kali – good
So all the following will be pronounced in the same way.
η = ι = υ = ει = οι
The sound e (as in “pen”)
We saw the letter E, ε (epsilon) in the Greek alphabet. This letter is pronounced e as in “pen”.
There is one more way to produce this sound.
We’ll use the combination αι.
αι = ε = e as in “pen”
For example
καιρός – keros – weather
καινούριος – kenurios – new
The sound u
The sound u is made by the combination ου.
ου = u as in “put”
For example:
ουρανός – uranos – sky
πουλί – puli – bird
QUICK NOTE…
The Greek letter Υ, υ looks like Y, y or U, u in English. That might be confusing in the beginning. The letter Υ, υ is pronounced i and not u. The combination ου will form the u sound.
So
Υ υ – i
Ου, ου – u
TIP…
Diphthongs or Combinations are 2 letters that when combined together, they form one sound. For example, let’s take the combination αι. That (according to the greek alphabet rules) should be pronounced ai. But when α and ι are combined, then the sound is not ai but it’s i.
So we have 2 letters forming 1 sound.
For example
καιρός – keros – weather.
Although we see 2 letters, the sound is 1.
That’s all for today!
Until next time, keep exploring, leep learning.
Τα λέμε,
Θανάσης
Now you know how to pronounce all Greek words!
Congratulations!
Now you can read everything in Greek with no problems at all. Imagine you’re in Greece sitting at a café reading the menu in Greek.
How would that feel? Perfect!
Now that you’ve learned how to pronounce in Greek, the best thing you can do is head over and sign up for a lesson to practice!
Want to learn Greek, fast?
Download our free e-book, “Speak Greek at the Restaurant and the Cafe in Under a Day”, or join one of our Greek courses!
Thrilled to see bilingualism in action.