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Greek alphabet
Αα Alpha Νν Nu
Ββ Beta Ξξ Xi
Γγ Gamma Οο Omicron
Δδ Delta Ππ Pi
Εε Epsilon Ρρ Rho
Ζζ Zeta Σσς Sigma
Ηη Eta Ττ Tau
Θθ Theta Υυ Upsilon
Ιι Iota Φφ Phi
Κκ Kappa Χχ Chi
Λλ Lambda Ψψ Psi
Μμ Mu Ωω Omega
History
Ϝ Digamma Ͱ Heta
Ϻ San Ϙ Koppa
Ͷ
Ͳ Sampi
Diacritics and other symbols
Related topics

The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since about the 9th century B.C.. It was the first true alphabet and is the oldest alphabet in use today. The letters are also used to represent numbers—Greek numerals—in the same sorts of contexts as Roman numerals. Besides writing modern Greek, today its letters are used as mathematical symbols, as names of stars, in the names of fraternities and sororities, in the naming of supernumerary tropical cyclones, and for other purposes. The Greek alphabet originated as a modification of the Phoenician alphabet and in turn gave rise to the Latin, Cyrillic, and other alphabets, as documented in History of the alphabet. The Greek alphabet is unrelated to Linear B, an earlier writing system for Greek.

Main table

The Greek letters and their derivations are as follows (pronunciations transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet):

Letter Name Pronunciation2 Corresponding
Phoenician
letter 		Transliteration3
Greek English ancient modern ancient modern
Α α ἄλφα Alpha [a] [aː] [[Open front unrounded vowel|[a]]] Aleph 'Aleph a a
Β β βῆτα Beta [b] [[Voiced labiodental fricative|[v]]] Beth Beth b v
Γ γ γάμμα Gamma [g] [[Voiced palatal fricative|[ʝ]]] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]]; [[Voiced velar fricative|[ɣ]]] otherwise Gimel Gimel g g
Δ δ δέλτα Delta [d] [[Voiced dental fricative|[ð]]] Daleth Daleth d d
Ε ε ἒ ψιλόν Epsilon [e] [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] He He e e
F 1 (Ϝ ϝ) Ϝαυ ? Digamma [w] - Waw Waw w -
Ζ ζ ζῆτα Zeta [zd], later [zː] [[Voiced alveolar fricative|[z]]] Zayin Zayin z z
Η η ἦτα Eta [ɛː] ([h]) [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]] Heth Heth e i
Θ θ θῆτα Theta [tʰ] [[Voiceless dental fricative|[θ]]] Teth Teth th th
Ι ι ἰῶτα Iota [i] [iː] [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]], [[Palatal approximant|[j]]] Yodh Yodh i i
Κ κ κάππα Kappa [k] [[Voiceless palatal plosive|[c]]] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]]; [[Voiceless velar plosive|[k]]] otherwise Kaph Kaph k, c k
Λ λ λάμβδα Lambda [l] [[Alveolar lateral approximant|[l]]] Lamedh Lamedh l l
Μ μ μῦ Mu [m] [[Bilabial nasal|[m]]] Mem Mem m m
Ν ν νῦ Nu [n] [[Alveolar nasal|[n]]] Nun Nun n n
Ξ ξ ξῖ Xi [ks] [ks] Samekh Samekh x x
Ο ο ὄ μικρόν Omicron [o] [[Close-mid back rounded vowel#Mid back rounded vowel|[o̞]]] Ayin 'Ayin o o
Π π πῖ Pi [p] [[Voiceless bilabial plosive|[p]]] Pe Pe p p
M 1 (Ϻ ϻ)   San ([z]) - Sade Tsade s -
Q 1 (Ϟ ϙ)   Qoppa ([k]) - Qoph Qoph q -
Ρ ρ ῥῶ Rho [r], [r̥] [[Alveolar flap|[ɾ]]] Res Resh r (ῥ: rh) r
Σ σ
ς (final) 		σῖγμα Sigma [s] [[Voiceless alveolar fricative|[s]]] Sin Shin s, ss (between vowels) s
Τ τ ταῦ Tau [t] [[Voiceless alveolar plosive|[t]]] Taw Taw t t
Υ υ ὒ ψιλόν Upsilon ([u]) [y] [yː] [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]] from Waw Waw u, y (between consonants) y, v, f
Φ φ φῖ Phi [pʰ] [[Voiceless labiodental fricative|[f]]] origin disputed (see text) ph f
Χ χ χῖ Chi [kʰ] ([ks]) [[Voiceless palatal fricative|[ç]]] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]]; [[Voiceless velar fricative|[x]]] otherwise ch ch
Ψ ψ ψῖ Psi [ps] [ps] ps ps
Ω ω ὦ μέγα Omega [ɔː] [[Close-mid back rounded vowel#Mid back rounded vowel|[o̞]]] o, ô o
Ϡ ϡ 1   Sampi ([ss] [ks]) - ss, x -

(1): Letter removed from the alphabet in early times, before the period that is now called "classical". Only majuscules were written; the minuscule forms are a medieval development of the uncial script.
(2): Archaic pronunciations (before the classical period) are shown between parentheses.
(3): For details and different transliteration systems see Transliteration of Greek into English.

Letter combinations and diphthongs

Letters Pronunciation Latin transliteration
archaic classical modern
[[Iota subscript|ᾳ]] [aːɪ] [aː] [[Open front unrounded vowel|[a]]] a
αι   [aɪ] [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] ae
ει [eɪ] [eː] [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]] i
[[Iota subscript|ῃ]] [eːɪ] [eː] [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]] e
οι   [oɪ] [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]] oe, i (final)
υι   [yɪ] [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]] ui
[[Iota subscript|ῳ]] [ɔːɪ] [ɔː] [[Close-mid back rounded vowel#Mid back rounded vowel|[o̞]]] o
αυ   [aʊ] [av] before vowel or voiced consonant;
[af] before voiceless sound		 au, av
ευ   [eʊ] [e̞v] before vowel or voiced consonant;
[e̞f] before voiceless sound		 eu, ev
ηυ   [ɛːʊ] [iv] before vowel or voiced consonant;
[if] before voiceless sound		 eu
ου [oʊ]
[oː]		 [uː] [[Close back rounded vowel|[u]]] u, ou
γγ*   [ŋg] [ŋg] in formal speech (palatalised to [ŋɟ] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]]), but often reduced to [[Voiced velar plosive|[g]]] (palatalised to [[Voiced palatal plosive|[ɟ]]] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]]);
also pronounced [ŋɣ] in some contexts (palatalised to [ŋʝ] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]])		 ng
γκ*   [ŋk] [g] at the beginning of a word (palatalised to [[Voiced palatal plosive|[ɟ]]] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]]);
[ŋg] otherwise (palatalised to [ŋɟ] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]]), but often reduced to [[Voiced velar plosive|[g]]] (palatalised to [[Voiced palatal plosive|[ɟ]]] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]])		 nc, nk
γξ*   [ŋks] [ŋks] nx, nks
γχ*   [ŋx] [ŋç] before [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel|[e̞]]] or [[Close front unrounded vowel|[i]]];
[ŋx] otherwise		 nch, nkh
μπ - - [[Voiced bilabial plosive|[b]]] at the beginning of a word;
[mb] otherwise, but often reduced to [[Voiced bilabial plosive|[b]]]		 mp
ντ - - [[Voiced alveolar plosive|[d]]] at the beginning of a word;
[nd] otherwise, but often reduced to [[Voiced alveolar plosive|[d]]]		 nt
  • Some scholars see [[Velar nasal|[ŋ]]] (agma) as a phoneme in its own right.

Ligatures

Before the days of printing, scribes made use of a number of ligatures to save space, in Greek as in other languages. The ligature for ου — resembling a V above an O — is still sometimes seen. For a modern use of this in the Latin alphabet, see Ou (letter)

Greek in Unicode

There are 2 main blocks of Greek characters in Unicode. The first is "Greek and Coptic" (U+0370 — U+03FF). This block is based on ISO 8859-7 and is sufficient to write Modern Greek. There are also some archaic letters and Greek-based technical symbols.

This block also supports the Coptic language. Formerly most Coptic letters shared codepoints with similar-looking Greek letters; but in many scholarly works, both scripts occur, with quite different letter shapes, so as of Unicode 4.1, Coptic and Greek were disunified. Those Coptic letters with no Greek equivalents still remain in this block.

To write polytonic Greek (Old Greek or Katharevousa), one may use combining diacritical marks. However, Unicode also includes a full set of precomposed characters in the "Greek Extended" block (U+1F00 – U+1FFF).

Greek and Coptic

    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
370   Ͱ ͱ Ͳ ͳ ʹ ͵ Ͷ ͷ ͸ ͹ ͺ ͻ ͼ ͽ ; Ϳ
380   ΀ ΁ ΂ ΃ ΄ ΅ Ά · Έ Ή Ί ΋ Ό ΍ Ύ Ώ
390   ΐ Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο
3A0   Π Ρ ΢ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω Ϊ Ϋ ά έ ή ί
3B0   ΰ α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο
3C0   π ρ ς σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω ϊ ϋ ό ύ ώ Ϗ
3D0   ϐ ϑ ϒ ϓ ϔ ϕ ϖ ϗ Ϙ ϙ Ϛ ϛ Ϝ ϝ Ϟ ϟ
3E0   Ϡ ϡ Ϣ ϣ Ϥ ϥ Ϧ ϧ Ϩ ϩ Ϫ ϫ Ϭ ϭ Ϯ ϯ
3F0   ϰ ϱ ϲ ϳ ϴ ϵ ϶ Ϸ ϸ Ϲ Ϻ ϻ ϼ Ͻ Ͼ Ͽ

Greek Extended (precomposed polytonic Greek)

  0123456789ABCDEF
1F00 ἀἁἂἃἄἅἆἇἈἉἊἋἌἍἎἏ
1F10 ἐἑἒἓἔἕ἖἗ἘἙἚἛἜἝ἞἟
1F20 ἠἡἢἣἤἥἦἧἨἩἪἫἬἭἮἯ
1F30 ἰἱἲἳἴἵἶἷἸἹἺἻἼἽἾἿ
1F40 ὀὁὂὃὄὅ὆὇ὈὉὊὋὌὍ὎὏
1F50 ὐὑὒὓὔὕὖὗ὘Ὑ὚Ὓ὜Ὕ὞Ὗ
1F60 ὠὡὢὣὤὥὦὧὨὩὪὫὬὭὮὯ
1F70 ὰάὲέὴήὶίὸόὺύὼώ὾὿
1F80 ᾀᾁᾂᾃᾄᾅᾆᾇᾈᾉᾊᾋᾌᾍᾎᾏ
1F90 ᾐᾑᾒᾓᾔᾕᾖᾗᾘᾙᾚᾛᾜᾝᾞᾟ
1FA0 ᾠᾡᾢᾣᾤᾥᾦᾧᾨᾩᾪᾫᾬᾭᾮᾯ
1FB0 ᾰᾱᾲᾳᾴ᾵ᾶᾷᾸᾹᾺΆᾼ᾽ι᾿
1FC0 ῀῁ῂῃῄ῅ῆῇῈΈῊΉῌ῍῎῏
1FD0 ῐῑῒΐ῔῕ῖῗῘῙῚΊ῜῝῞῟
1FE0 ῠῡῢΰῤῥῦῧῨῩῪΎῬ῭΅`
1FF0 ῰῱ῲῳῴ῵ῶῷῸΌῺΏῼ´῾῿

Combining and letter-free diacritics

Combining and spacing (letter-free) diacritical marks pertaining to Greek language are:

combining spacing sample description
U+0300 U+0060 (  ̀ ) "varia / grave accent"
U+0301 U+00B4, U+0384 (  ́ ) "oxia / tonos / acute accent"
U+0304 U+00AF (  ̄ ) "macron"
U+0306 U+02D8 (  ̆ ) "vrachy / breve"
U+0308 U+00A8 (  ̈ ) "dialytika / diaeresis"
U+0313 (  ̓ ) "psili / comma above" (spiritus lenis)
U+0314 (  ̔ ) "dasia / reversed comma above" (spiritus asper)
U+0342 (  ͂ ) "perispomeni" (circumflex)
U+0343 (  ̓ ) "koronis" (= U+0313)
U+0344 U+0385 (  ̈́ ) "dialytika tonos" (deprecated, = U+0308 U+0301)
U+0345 U+037A (  ͅ ) "ypogegrammeni / iota subscript".

History

History of the alphabet

The most notable change, compared to its predecessor, the Phoenician alphabet, is the introduction of written vowels, without which Greek — unlike Phoenician — would be unintelligible. In fact most alphabets that contain vowels are derived ultimately from Greek, although there are exceptions (Hangul, Orkhon script, Ethiopic alphabet, Indic alphabets, and Old Hungarian script). The first vowels were alpha, epsilon, iota, omicron, and upsilon (copied from waw), modifications of either glides or breathing marks, which were mostly superfluous in Greek. In eastern Greek, which lacked breaths entirely, the letter eta was also used for a long e, and eventually the letter omega was introduced for a long o. Vowels were originally not used in Semitic alphabets, but even in the very old Ugaritic alphabet matres lectionis were used, i.e. consonant signs were used to denote vowels.

Greek also introduced three new consonants, appended to the end of the alphabet as they were developed. The consonants were to mainly to make up for the lack of aspirates in Phoenician. In west Greek, actually, chi was used for /ks/ and psi for /kʰ/ — hence the value of our letter x, derived from chi. Over the middle ages these aspirates disappeared, so now theta, phi, and chi stand for /θ/, /f/, and /x/. The origin of those letters is disputed.

The letter san was used at variance with sigma, and by classical times the latter won out, san disappearing from the alphabet. The letters waw (later called digamma) and qoppa disappeared, too, the former only needed for the western dialects and the latter never really needed at all. These lived on in the Ionic numeral system, however, which consisted of writing a series letters with precise numerical values. Sampi (apparently in a rare local glyph form from Ionia) was introduced at the end - to stand for 900. Thousands were written using a mark at the upper left ('A for 1000, etc).

Originally there were several variants of the Greek alphabet, most importantly western (Chalcidian) and eastern (Ionic) Greek; the former gave rise to the Old Italic alphabet and thence to the Latin alphabet. Athens took the Ionic script to be its standard in 403 BC, and shortly thereafter the other versions disappeared. By then Greek was always written left to right, but originally it had been written right to left (with asymmetrical characters flipped), and in-between written either way - or, most likely, boustrophedon, so that the lines alternate direction.

During the Middle ages, the Greek scripts underwent changes paralleling those of the Roman alphabet: while the old forms were retained as a monumental script, uncial and eventually minuscule hands came to dominate. The letter σ is even written ς at the ends of words, paralleling the use of the long and short s at the time. Aristophanes of Byzantium also introduced the process of accenting Greek letters for easier pronunciation.

Because Greek minuscules arose at a (much) later date, no historic minuscule actually exists for san. Minuscule forms for the other letters were only used numerically. For number 6, modern Greeks use an old digraph called stigma (Ϛ, ϛ) instead of digamma or use στ if it is not available. For 90 they use modern z-shaped qoppa forms: Ϟ, ϟ (Note that some web browser/font combinations will show the other qoppa here).

Additional information

For extended discussion of problematic Greek letter forms see: Greek Unicode Issues

For a clear presentation of the Greek letters with pronunciation suggestions for Modern and Classical Greek, see The Greek Alphabet at Greek-language.com

For a table of 14 different Greek character encodings that have been used in IT systems see RFC 1947 - Greek Character Encoding for Electronic Mail Messages

For learning the Greek alphabet online, see The Greek Script Online Trainer.

A catchy tune that may be readily adapted to learning to recite and remember the Greek alphabet is the theme song from the 1970s police drama Hawaii Five-O.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greek alphabet.

Special characters

This article contains special characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.
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