Modern Greek/Lesson 01.2
This is the second section of lesson 1, on the modern Greek alphabet. The last section covered the 6 letters with the same form and pronunciation as Latin letters:
Α, α - alpha,
Ε, ε - epsilon,
Ι, ι - iota,
Κ, κ - kappa,
Ο, ο - omicron,
Τ, τ - tau
This section covers the 12 letters with sounds used in the Latin alphabet, but with different written forms in Greek.
| Letter | English Name | Greek Name | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Β β | beta | βήτα | /v/ as in victory |
| Ζ ζ | zeta | ζίτα | /z/ as in Zeus |
| Η η | eta | ήτα | /i/ as in pantheism |
| Λ λ | lambda | λάμδα | /l/ as in Lesbos |
| Μ μ | mu | μι | /m/ as in Mediterranean |
| Ν ν | nu | νι | /n/ as in nautical |
| Π π | pi | πι | /p/ as in paraphrase |
| Ρ ρ | rho | ρο | / r, ɾ / as in the Spanish word "pero or perro"• |
| Σ σ ς | sigma | σίγμα | /s/ as in soap |
| Υ υ | upsilon | ύψιλον | /i/ as in theology |
| Φ φ | phi | φι | /f/ as in feta |
| Ω ω | omega | ωμέγα | /o/ as in scope |
Notes: • Β,β is always a strong “V” sound. There is no single letter in Greek with the ‘b’ sound. The sound “b”, in Greek, is written with the diphthong ( two letters pronounced with a unique sound) μπ, which will be covered in a later section. • Ρ,ρ makes the sound of a "tapped or trilled r". Both are made by vibrating your tongue against the roof of your mouth along the back of your front teeth. A "tapped r" is made by doing this only one time while a "trilled r" is made by holding the vibration. In Greek there isn't a difference if you make a trilled or tapped r", the speaker can do either. There are some people that can't perform this sound due to genetic factors.
Readed the following Greek words that are the same or similar to common English words (ο, η, το, all mean “the”):
η μαμά, Η Κίνα, τρία, το άτομο, η μονοτονία, το μωβ, Ο Νίκος, η πέννα, το φύλλο, ο καφέ, η ταβέρνα, το βιβλίο, Η Ασία, ο παπά, το πάρκο, Η Μαρία, Η Άννα, Ο Κώστας, Ο Αλέκος, Η Αμερική
More Examples
| Ν ν | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Transliteration | English |
| ΝΑΤΟ | NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organisation |
| Άννα | Ánna | Anna |
| Ιράν | Irán | Iran |
| Κίνα | Kína | China |
| Τίρανα | Tírana | Tirana |
| Ανόι | Anói | Hanoi |
| Μ μ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Transliteration | English |
| μαμά | mamá | mom |
| Μαρόκο | Maróko | Morocco |
| Ομάν | Omán | Oman |
| Αμμάν | Ammán | Amman |
| Μαρκ | Mark | Mark |
| Μαρία | María | Μaria |
| Μόνικα | Mónika | Monika |
| αρμονία | armonía | harmony |
| άτομο | átomo | atom |
| μονοτονία | monotonía | monotony |
| Ε ε | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Transliteration | English |
| Αρμενία | Armenía | Armenia |
| Κορέα | Koréa | Korea |
| Κάρμεν | Kármen | Karmen |
| Κατερίνα | Katerína | Catherine |
| κέικ | kéik | cake |
| κρέμα | kréma | creme |
| κάμερα | kámera | camera |
| Λ λ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Transliteration | English |
| αλκοόλ | alkoól | alcohol |
| κιλό | kiló | kilo (kilogram) |
| Ιταλία | Italía | Italy |
| καραμέλα | karaméla | caramel |