Orthography
Ancient Greek was written using an alphabet consisting of 24 letters.
| Letter | English Name | Greek Name | Phonemic Value | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Α α | alpha | ἄλφα | /a/, /aː/ | a |
| Β β | beta | βῆτα | /b/ | b |
| Γ γ | gamma | γάμμα | /g/ | g |
| Δ δ | delta | δέλτα | /d/ | d |
| Ε ε | epsilon | ἒ ψιλόν | /e/ | e |
| Ζ ζ | zeta | ζῆτα | /zd/ | z |
| Η η | eta | ἦτα | /ɛː/ | ē |
| Θ θ | theta | θῆτα | /tʰ/ | th |
| Ι ι | iota | ἰῶτα | /i/, /iː/ | i |
| Κ κ | kappa | κάππα | /k/ | k |
| Λ λ | lambda | λάμβδα | /l/ | l |
| Μ μ | mu | μῦ | /m/ | m |
| Ν ν | nu | νῦ | /n/ | n |
| Ξ ξ | xi | ξῖ | /ks/ | x |
| Ο ο | omicron | ὄ μικρόν | /o/ | o |
| Π π | pi | πῖ | /p/ | p |
| Ρ ρ | rho | ῥῶ | /r/ | r |
| Σ σ ς | sigma | σίγμα | /s/ | s |
| Τ τ | tau | ταῦ | /t/ | t |
| Υ υ | upsilon | ὔ ψιλόν | /y/ | y |
| Φ φ | phi | φῖ | /pʰ/ | ph |
| Χ χ | chi | χῖ | /kʰ/ | ch |
| Ψ ψ | psi | ψῖ | /ps/ | ps |
| Ω ω | omega | ὦ μέγα | /ɔː/ | ō |
When sigma is the final letter of a word, it is written as ς. The other form is used in all other situations.
For the most part, each letter always represents the same sound with the following exceptions:
- The letters α, ι and υ can indicate either a short or a long vowel. Although this was not done in Ancient Greece, today a diacritic may be placed on top of these letters to indicate whether the pronounced vowel is short or long: a breve (ᾰ, ῐ, ῠ) indicates a short vowel; a macron (ᾱ, ῑ, ῡ) indicates a long vowel.
- When γ is followed by γ, κ, χ, or ξ, it is pronounced as [ŋ].
Certain combinations of letters, known as digraphs are used to represent different sounds and diphthongs.
| Digraph | Phonemic Value |
|---|---|
| αι | /ai/ |
| ει | /eː/ |
| οι | /oi/ |
| υι | /yj/ |
| αυ | /au/ |
| ευ | /eu/ |
| ου | /oː/ |
| ηυ | /εːu/ |
| ωυ | /ɔːu/ |
When two letters which usually form digraph are supposed to be treated separately, a diaeresis (◌̈) is placed on the second letter: Ἠσαΐας.
Iota Subscript
The long diphthongs /aːi/, /εːi/, /ɔːi/ were rarely written as αι, ηι and ωι, respectively. Instead, the iota was usually written as a subscript under the first letter: ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ.
Accent Marks
Three accent marks are used to indicate the accent in a word:
- The acute accent (◌́) can occur on any vowel or diphthong. When used on a diphthong, it is always placed on the second letter of the respective digraph. If placed on a long vowel or a long diphthong, it indicates that the pitch begins low at the start of the syllable and rises until its end.
- The circumflex accent (◌̃ or ◌̑) can only occur on diphthongs and long vowels. It indicates that the pitch begins high at the start of the syllable and drops until its end.
- The grave accent (◌̀) is used to replace the acute (◌́) when an oxytone accent is reduced.
Breathings
A breathing mark is placed on the first letter of words beginning with a vowel or the letter rho to indicate pronunciation:
- The rough breathing (◌̔) on a vowel indicates that the vowel should be preceded by a voiceless glottal fricative [h]. For example, ὑπέρ is pronounced [hy.pér]. When placed on rho, it probably indicated that the letter should be voiceless.
- The smooth breathing (◌̓) indicates the absence of a voiceless glottal fricative [h] before the vowel.
The letters rho and upsilon always take the rough breathing. If the word begins with a capital letter, the breathing is placed before it: Ὠ, Ὡ. If the word starts with a digraph, the breathing is placed on the second letter: αἰτέω. If the stress also falls on the initial vowel, then the breathing and the accent are combined - ὤ, ὢ, ὦ, ὥ, ὣ, ὧ, Ὤ, Ὢ, Ὦ, Ὥ, Ὣ, Ὧ.
Phonology
Consonants
Ancient Greek had the following consonant phonemes:
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | /p/ π | /t/ τ | /k/ κ | |
| /b/ β | /d/ δ | /g/ γ | ||
| /pʰ/ φ | /tʰ/ θ | /kʰ/ χ | ||
| Nasal | /m/ μ | /n/ ν | [ŋ] | |
| Fricative | /s/ σ,ς | /h/ ◌̔ | ||
| Affricate | /dz/ ζ | |||
| Lateral | /l/ λ | |||
| Trill | /r/ ρ |
Vowels
Ancient Greek had the following vowel phonemes:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | /i(ː)/ ι, /y(ː)/ υ | ||
| Mid | /e/ ε, /eː/ ει | /o/ ο, /oː/ ου | |
| Open-Mid | /ɛː/ η | /ɔː/ ω | |
| Open | /a(ː)/ α |
Ancient Greek also had the following diphthongs:
- The short diphthongs /ai/, /oi/, /yj/, /au/ and /eu/;
- The long diphthongs /aːi/, /εːi/, /ɔːi/, /aːu/, /εːu/ and /ɔːu/.
Syllabification
Syllabification in Ancient Greek follows relatively consistent rules, primarily based on the principle that consonants tend to begin new syllables whenever possible:
- Every syllable must contain exactly one vowel or diphthong. Digraphs always remain within a single syllable, as they represent a single vowel sound or a diphthong (e.g., οἶ-κος, εὔ-χο-μαι). The iota subscript (ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ) does not form a separate syllable and is treated as part of the main vowel for syllabification.
- A single consonant between two vowels generally forms the onset of the following syllable (λό-γος, ἔ-χω).
- When two consonants occur together, they are usually divided, with the first closing the preceding syllable and the second opening the following syllable (e.g., γράμ-μα, ἀρ-χή). If the first consonant is a stop (π, β, φ, τ, δ, θ, κ, γ, χ) and the second is a liquid (λ, ρ), they generally stay together and begin the second syllable (πα-τρός, ἄ-θλη-μα).
- When three or more consonants occur together, the first consonant typically closes the preceding syllable, and the remaining consonants (if they form a permissible cluster) begin the following syllable (ἔν-δει-ξις, ἄν-θρω-πος).
- In compound words or words with prefixes, syllabification usually respects morpheme boundaries (συν-ά-γω, ἀπ-έ-χω). This means a prefix often forms its own syllable or completes the preceding one, rather than having its final consonant move to the next syllable’s onset.
Definition: Short and Long Syllables
A syllable is:
- short if it contains a short vowel;
- long if it contains a long vowel or any diphthong.
Accent
Ancient Greek had a pitch accent system. The accented syllable in a word was pronounced with a higher pitch than the rest of the syllables and in writing is indicated by one of three different accent marks. There are two possible patterns of accentuation for syllables which contain a long vowel or a long diphthong - the pitch can initially begin low and rise until the end of the syllable (indicated by the acute accent ◌́) or it can begin high and then drop until the end of the syllable (indicated by the circumflex accent ◌̃ or ◌̑).
Important: The Rule of Limitation
The accent can only fall on one of the last three syllables and there are only five possible ways to place it in a given word:
oxytone [σ.σ.σ́]: an acute accent (◌́) on the last syllable - “ὀξύς”, “τιθείς”, “ἀγαγών”, “οὐδείς”;
paroxytone [σ.σ́.σ]: an acute accent (◌́) on the second-to-last syllable - “τύχη”, “παρθένος”, “λελειμμένος”, “νθάδε”;
proparoxytone [σ́.σ.σ]: an acute accent (◌́) on the third-to-last syllable - “ὅσιος”, “βασίλεια”, “μακρότερος”;
perispomenon [σ.σ.σ̃]: a circumflex accent (◌̃ or ◌̑) on the last syllable - “τιμῶ”, “ἀργυροῦς”, “ποιεῖν”, “ἐμαυτῷ”;
properispomenon [σ.σ̃.σ]: a circumflex accent (◌̃ or ◌̑) on the second-to-last syllable - “σῆμα”, “πολῖται”, “ἀπῆγε”, “ἐμαυτῷ”, “δηλοῦμεν”.
If the last syllable is long (except when it contains one of the diphthongs /ai/ or /oi/), then the accent can only be oxytone, paroxytone or perispomenon.
Important: The σωτῆρᾰ-Rule
If the last syllable is short (or contains one of the diphthongs /ai/ or /oi/) and the second-to-last syllable is long, then the accent cannot be paroxytone.
In certain situations, an oxytone accent may be reduced to only a small rise in pitch or no rise at all. This is indicated by changing the acute accent (◌́) to a grave accent (◌̀).
Elision
A short vowel at the end of a word can often be dropped if the next words begins with a vowel or diphthong. This is know as elision and is reflected in writing using an apostrophe in place of the vowel. If π, κ or τ precedes the dropped vowel and the next word starts with a rough breathing, the π, κ or τ becomes aspirated (turns into φ, χ, θ, respectively).
Example: Elision
ἀπ᾽αὐτοῦ = ἀπ(ὸ) αὐτοῦ (“from him”)
ἀφ᾽ οὗ = ἀπ(ὸ) οὗ
Crasis
When the final syllable of a mono- or disyllabic word ends in a vowel or diphthong and the following word also starts with a vowel or diphthong, the two may blend together into a single syllable.