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| B | b | Beta | As B in Boy |
| G | g | Gamma | As G in God, never J as in manGe. BUT: As NG (siNG) when before G K C X |
| D | d | De;ta | as D in Day |
| Z | z | Zeta | As SD in wiSDom |
| Q | q | Theta | Aspirated T as in THistle. Never as in THat |
| K | k | Kappa | As K in Kite |
| L | l | Lambda | As L in Lake |
| M | m | Mu | As M in Mother |
| N | n | Nu | As N in No |
| C | c | Xi | As KS, similar to the x sound is aXe, or asKS, but also as GS in leGS |
| P | p | Pi | As P in Pie |
| R | r | Rho | A softly trilled R (not as trilled as in Spanish) |
| S | s/j | Sigma | As S in Sing. As Z if before B G D M. Note the second lowercase for ends of words |
| T | t | Tau | As T in Time |
| F | f | Phi | Aspirated P as in Pot. Not quite an F sound, but very close |
| X | x | Chi | Aspirated K, similar to the German KH sound |
| Y | y | Psi | As PS in liPS. Also as BS in suBS |
| A | a | Alpha | As A in fAther |
| E | e | Epsilon | As E in gEt |
| H | h | Eta | As long A in dAY |
| I | i | Iota | As I (when short) in sIt, as EE (when long) as in kEEn |
| O | o | Omicron | As O in gOt |
| U | u | Upsilon | As a German U with an umlaut: ü |
| W | w | Omega | As O in cOAt, but held longer |
| ai | As the long I sound in hIgh |
| au | As in cOW |
| ei | As the long A sound in thEY |
| eu | As a regular e and u, but in one quick syllable. Sounds similar to dOE. (thus zEUs, not zE+Us) |
| hu | As a regular h and u, but in one syllable. Sounds like grEW |
| oi | As in cOIn |
| ou | As in mOOd |
| ui | As a regular u and i, but in one syllable. Pronounced quickly, as in the French word oui |
Breathings
Breathings always occur over the first vowel sound of a word, and are either
hard or soft
| They are indicated by either a ' or a ` over the first vowel. The former (hard) indicated an aspirated vowel (in other words, pronounce the word as if it began with an English "h" sound. The latter (soft) means there is no "h" sound, and simply pronounce the word as written. |
Sources
| Athenaze; An Introduction to Ancient Greek. Book 1. By Balme, Maurice & gilbert Lawall. 2nd Edition. Oxcord University Press. ISBN 0-19-514956-4 |
| Ancient Greek, A Complete Course. By Betts, Gravin & Alan Henry. NTC Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8442-3786-8 |
| Ancient and Biblical Greek: An online course. http://viking.coe.uh.edu/grnl1/grnl1.gateway.htm |
| Maqoj: Ancient Greek for Beginners: An online course. http://www.lamp.ac.uk/classics/mathos/cont.htm |