Pronouncing Greek

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Greek alphabet

Greek is spelt exactly as it sounds. The only difficulty may occur with letters which have the same sound, e.g. υ, η, ι or ει, οι and with double consonants. The names of the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet are given below:

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			sound
α, A	άλφα	alfa	ah
β, B	βήτα	veeta	v
γ, Γ	γάμα	ghama	gh
δ, ∆	δέλτα	dhelta	dh
ε, E	έψιλον	epseelon	eh
ζ, Z	ζήτα	zeeta	z
η, H	ήτα	eeta	ee
θ, Θ	θήτα	theeta	th
ι, I	γιώτα	yota	ee
κ, K	κάπα	kapa	k
λ, Λ	λάμδα	lamdha	l
μ, M	μι	mee	m
ν, N	νι	nee	n
ξ, Ξ	ξι	ksee	ks
ο, O	όμικρον	omeekron	oh
π, Π	πι	pee	p
ρ, P	ρο	ro	r
σ, ς, Σ	σίγμα	seeghma	s
τ, T	ταυ	taf	t
υ, Y	ύψιλον	eepseelon	ee
φ, Φ	φι	fee	f
χ, X	χι	khee	kh
ψ, Ψ	ψι	psee	ps
ω, Ω	ωμέγα	omegha	oh

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In the pronunciation system used here, Greek sounds are represented by spellings of the nearest possible sounds in English. When you read the pronunciation guide, pronounce the letters as if reading English. The bold shows where the stress falls in the word (in the Greek script it is marked with an accent).

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	remarks	example	pronunciation
gh	like r at back of throat	γάλα	ghala
	where γ is followed by ι or ε, it’s	για	(ya)
dh	like th in this	δάχτυλο	dhakhteelo
th	like th in thin	θέατρο	theatro
ks	like x in fox	ξένος	ksenos
r	slightly trilled r	ρόδα	rodha
kh	like ch in loch	χάνω	khano
	or like a rough h	χέρι	kheree

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Here are a few tricky letter combinations:

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αι	e	met	γυναίκα	yeeneka
αυ	af	café	αυτό	afto
	av	or have	αύριο	avreeo
ει	ee	meet	είκοσι	eekosee
ευ	ef	effect	∆ευτέρα	dheftera
	ev	or every	Eυρώπη	evropee
γγ	ng	hang	Αγγλία	angleea
γκ	g	get	γκάζι	gazee
	ng	hang	άγκυρα	angeera
ντ	nd	hand	αντίο	andeeo
	d	dog	ντομάτα	domata
μπ	b	bag	μπλούζα	blooza
οι	ee	meet	πλοίο	pleeo
ου	oo	moon	ούζο	oozo

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The letters η, ι, υ, οι, and ει have the same sound ee and αι and ε have the same sound e (as in met). You should also note that the Greek question mark is a semi-colon, i.e. ;.