Table of Contents
Alphabet
Greek | Latin | ||
---|---|---|---|
α | ἄλφα | a | álpha |
β | βῆτα | b | bē̂ta |
γ | γάμμα | g | gámma |
δ | δέλτα | d | délta |
ε | ἒψιλόν (εἶ) | e | èpsilón (ī̂) |
(Ϝ) | (δίγαμμα) | (—) | (dígamma) |
ζ | ζῆτα | z | zē̂ta |
η | ἦτα | é | ē̂ta |
θ | θῆτα | th | thē̂ta |
ι | ἰῶτα | i | íō̂ta |
κ | κάππα | c | cáppa |
λ | λάμβδα | l | lámbda |
μ | μῦ | m | mŷ |
ν | νῦ | n | nŷ |
ξ | ξεῖ | x | xī̂ |
ο | ὂμικρόν | o | òmicrón |
π | πεῖ | p | pī̂ |
(ϻ) | (σάν) | (s) | (sán) |
(ϙ/ϟ) | (κόππα) | (c) | (cóppa) |
ρ | ῥῶ | r | rhō̂ |
σ/ς | σῖγμα | s | sîgma |
τ | ταῦ | t | taû |
υ | ὖψιλόν (ὑ) | y | ŷpsilón (hy) |
φ | φεῖ | ph | phī̂ |
χ | χεῖ | ch | chī̂ |
ψ | ψεῖ | ps | psī̂ |
ω | ὦμέγα | ó | ō̂méga |
(ϡ) | (σαμπί) | (—) | (sampí) |
It should be known that the use of the macron (◌̄) above e & o for η & ω is a contemporary, not traditional, practice. The traditional custom was to translate them as é & ó, which can be problematic if we intend to translate the tones. So, when translating names from Greek, I use the acute mark, but when translating words with tones, I use the macron.
Further, the following digraphs are translated thus:
Greek | Latin |
---|---|
αι | æ |
αυ | au |
γγ | ng |
γκ | nc |
γξ | nx |
γχ | nch |
ει | ī |
ευ | eu |
ηυ | ēu |
οι | œ |
ου | u |
υι | ui |
ωυ | ōu |
When translating names from Greek into Latin, -οc is translated as -us, -ια as -y, -ρος as -er, and -ων as -ó, or, if not a person, -um.
When translating certain sounds into Greek which it naturally doesn’t have, i.e. gi & sh, put τζ & τσ respectively.
Tones
If diacritics are unavailable on a keyboard, the grave accent may be
either omitted or replaced with \
after the letter, the acute, with
'
or /
after, and the circumflex, either with ~
, '
, or \
after, or omitted. This can also be useful on a keyboard with
diacritics but unable to put more than one on a letter.
Here is a website that can impose more diacritics on a letter.
Ligatures
There are a number of ligatures, e.g. ϗ for καί, ȣ for ου, and ϛ for στ. More which don’t have digital characters yet:

Pronounciation
See the pronunciation chart on the previous page for how to read the English letters.
Letter | Sound |
---|---|
α | á |
αυ | áv/áf |
β | v |
γ | g |
γγ, γκ, γξ, γχ | g/ng, c/ng, cs/ngs |
δ | ð |
ε, αι | e |
ευ | ev/ef |
(Ϝ) | (—) |
ζ | sð |
η, ι, ει, οι, υ, υι | í |
θ | þ |
κ (ϙ/ϟ) | c |
λ | l |
μ | m |
μπ | b, mb |
ν | n |
ντ | d, nd |
ξ | cs |
ο, ω | ó |
ου | ú |
π | p |
ρ | r |
σ/ς (ϻ) | s |
τ | t |
τζ | dsð |
φ | f |
χ | h |
ψ | ps |
(ϡ) | (—) |
The pairs αυ & ευ are pronounced áf & ef when the following letter is unvoiced—e.g θ, τ—but áv & ev when voiced—e.g. β.
Punctuation
Greek | Latin | Name |
---|---|---|
, | , | cómma |
. | . | telī́a |
· | ; | ánō telī́a |
: | : | ánō cátō telī́a |
; | ? | erōtēmatikó |
! | ! | thaymastikó |
’ | ' | apóstrophos |
‿ | - | henōticón |
Coptic
The Copts (Ægyptians) adopted the Greek alphabet for writing, but added seven letters:
Coptic | Translation | Pronounciation |
---|---|---|
ϣ | sh | sh |
ϥ | ph | f |
ϧ | ch | h |
ϩ | ch | h |
ϫ | dj | gi |
ϭ | tj | tsh |
ϯ | ti | s |