Greek Alphabet Translations and Pronunciations

Greek Letters, Symbols, English Alphabet Equivalents and Pronunciation

This article identifies and summarises the many Greek letters that have entered the English language.

History and evolution of the Greek language

Just like Ancient Greek culture, science and philosophy have all influenced the modern world, the Greek language has as played a substantial role in contemporary languages. In fact, the Greek alphabet is thousands of years old. The image below gives an indication of where it lies in the context of an Indo-European language evolution phylogeny:

Language Tree

There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. The table below gives an overview of these, in addition to how they are pronounced. When examining this table, it becomes evident that many words in the English language have Greek origins. For example, the word 'alphabet' derives from the first two letters, alpha and beta. Greek symbols are also used frequently in mathematics, such as the π (pi) sign (for the mathematical value 3.142) or mu, the micro symbol (µ).

Whilst some of the symbols and letters that stem from classical Greek origin still play a significant role today, others have now become redundant due to their identical sound, e.g. the three ‘i’ letters - eta, iota and upsilon which sound like “ee” or the two 'o' sounding letters omicron and omega.

Table of the Greek Alphabet, symbols, pronunciation and English equivalent

Greek name of letter	Upper Case Symbol	Lower Case Symbol	English equivalent	Pronunciation
Alpha	Α	α	A	A as in smart
Beta	Β	β	B	V as in very
Gamma	Γ	γ	G	Between Y as in yes and G as in go, but with no hard 'G' sound - more of a soft 'H' followed by the 'Y' sound in yes
Delta	Δ	δ	D	Th as in the
Epsilon	Ε	ε	E	E as in very
Zeta	Ζ	ζ	Z	Z as in zoo
Eta	Η	η	E	Ee as in bee
Theta	Θ	θ	Th	Th as in think
Iota	Ι	ι	I	Ee as in bee or I as in bitter or sit
Kappa	Κ	κ	K	K as in look
Lambda	Λ	λ	L	L as in log
Mu	Μ	μ	M	M as in man
Nu	Ν	ν	N	N as in not
Xi	Ξ	ξ	X	X as in box
Omicron	Ο	ο	O	O as in box
Pi	Π	π	P	P as in top, but softer and close to 'B'
Rho	Ρ	ρ	R, Rh	a rolled R
Sigma	Σ	σ	S	S as in sap with a hint of Sh as in sugar
Tau	Τ	τ	T	T as in lot, but softer and close to 'D'
Upsilon	Υ	υ	U	Same as eta - Ee as in bee
Phi	Φ	φ	Ph	Ph as in photo
Chi	Χ	χ	Kh	Ch as in the scottish 'loch' but softer - not a hard sound
Psi	Ψ	ψ	Ps	Ps as in upside
Omega	Ω	ω	M	like omicron - O as in box - or longer 'O' sound like the vowel sound in oar

Crucially, as with most languages, pronunciation varies according to regional dialect and many of these sounds can only be reliably produced by natural and fluent Greek-speaking people. Lastly, it is also important to note that there is a variation between the ancient Greek pronunciation and that of the modern Greek language.

The Greek Alphabet

Greek Letters, Symbols, English Alphabet Equivalents and Pronunciation

History and evolution of the Greek language

Table of the Greek Alphabet, symbols, pronunciation and English equivalent

See also