Introducing Ancient Greek

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The Sounds of Ancient Greek

Select the Greek words to hear the pronunciation. You can use the '+' and '-' buttons to increase and decrease the volume.

The Alphabet

Letter	Name	Vowel or consonant	Sound	Example words
Α α	alpha	v	a as in ‘cap’ or ‘rather’	ἀκούω, I hear ἄνθρωπος, man
Β β	beta	c	b	βαίνω, I go βάρβαρος, barbarian
Γ γ	gamma	c	g as in ‘get’	γεωργός, farmer γῆ, barbarian
Δ δ	delta	c	d	δεσπότης, master δεῦρο, here
Ε ε	epsilon	v	short e as in ‘jet’	ἐλεύθερος, free ἐν, in
Ζ ζ	zeta	c	z as in ‘zebra’ sd as in ‘wisdom’	Ζεύς, Zeus ζητέω, I look for
Η η	eta	v	ē as in ‘air’ or ‘pear’	ἤδη, already ἡδέως, sweetly
Θ θ	theta	c	th as in ‘thin’	θάλαττα, sea θεά, goddess
Ι ι	iota	v	i as in ‘sin’ or ‘seed’	ἴσως, perhaps ἵππος, horse
Κ κ	kappa	c	k	καί, and καλός, beautiful
Λ λ	lambda	c	l	λέγω, I say λόγος, story
Μ μ	mu	c	m	μένω, I wait μῶρος, stupid
Ν ν	nu	c	n	ναί, yes ναύτης, sailor
Ξ ξ	xi	c	x as in ‘box’	ξένος, foreigner ξύλον, wood
Ο ο	omicron	v	o as in ‘box’	ὀρθός, straight ὁράω, Ι see
Π π	pi	c	p as in ‘box’	περί, about ποιέω, I make, do
Ρ ρ	rho	c	r	ῥίπτω, Ι throw ῥᾴδιος, easy
Σ σ ς	sigma	c	s	σαφῶς, clearly σῶος, safe
Τ τ	tau	c	t	τέχνη, skill τίς, who?
Υ υ	upsilon	v	oo as in ‘shoe’	ὕβρις, aggression ὑμεῖς, you (pl.)
Φ φ	phi	c	ph/f as in ‘feel’.	φεύγω, I flee φίλος, friend
Χ χ	khi	c	kh	χωρέω, I go χρηστός, fine
Ψ ψ	psi	c	ps	ψευδῶς, falsely ψυχή, soul
Ω ω	omega	v	long o as in ‘bought’	ὤν, being ὥσπερ, like

σ and ς are distinguished by their position in a word. If the letter comes at the beginning or within a word, σ form is used; if it comes at the end of a word, ς is used – e.g. στάσις.

Diphthongs

A diphthong is a combination of two vowels pronounced as one sound (like the letters ‘ou’ in the word ‘pronounced’). The Greek diphthongs are set out in the following table.

Diphthong	Sound	Example words
αι	as in ‘high’	αἰτία, reason βαίνω, I go
αυ	as in ‘now’	αὖθις, again ναύτης, sailor
ει	as in ‘fiancée’	εἰς, into ὑμεῖς, you (pl.)
ευ	(pronounce both elements separately, starting with ‘e’, as in ‘bed’, and ending with ‘ou’, as in ‘should’)	εὐχή, prayer δεῦρο, here
οι	as in ‘boy’	οἶδα, I know ποιέω, I make, do
ου	as in ‘too’	οὐδέν, nothing ἀκούω, I hear

Consonantal combinations with γ (gamma)

γ + consonant	Sound
γγ	‘ng’ as in ἄγγελος, angelos, messenger
γκ	‘nk’ as in ἄγκυρα, ankura, anchor
γξ	‘nx’ as in σφίγξ, sphinx

Iota subscript

Iota (ι) after a lower case η (eta) or ω (omega) is written underneath the letter – ῃ, ῳ. It is also written thus if it follows a long α (alpha) – ᾳ (i.e. when alpha is pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘father’ rather than ‘cap’). This represents the trace of an original iota sound attached to some words, which eventually became so weak that it was retained only in the spelling; for example:

• ἐν τῇ γῇ, on the land
• λέγω τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, I speak to the man
• ὁρᾷ, he sees.

Breathings

Every word beginning with a vowel (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω) or a rho (ρ) has a mark above it called a ‘breathing’. A ‘rough’ breathing ( ῾ ) indicates that the word is pronounced with an initial ‘h’ sound, whereas a ‘smooth’ breathing ( ᾽ ) indicates the absence of an ‘h’ sound. Thus:

• ἡδέως, sweetly
• ὁράω, I see; cf. ἤδη, already
• ὄνομα, name.

When the initial letter is a capital, the breathing appears to the left of the letter rather than above it:

• Ἀθῆναι, Athens
• Ἕλλην, Greek.

If a word starts with a diphthong (i.e. two vowels pronounced as one sound), the breathing appears above the second letter:

• οἰκία, house
• αἱρέω, take, capture.

Note that words beginning with upsilon (υ) or rho (ρ) always take a rough breathing:

• ῥᾷδιος, easy
• ὕβρις, violence.