Orthography
The writing system used by Modern Greek is an alphabet with 24 letters.
| Letter | Greek Name | English Name | Phonemic Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Α α | άλφα | alpha | /a/ |
| Β β | βήτα | beta | /v/ |
| Γ γ | γάμμα | gamma | /ɣ/ |
| Δ δ | δέλτα | delta | /ð/ |
| Ε ε | έψιλον | epsilon | /e/ |
| Ζ ζ | ζήτα | zeta | /z/ |
| Η η | ήτα | eta | /i/ |
| Θ θ | θήτα | theta | /θ/ |
| Ι ι | ιώτα | iota | /i/ |
| Κ κ | κάππα | kappa | /k/ |
| Λ λ | λάμδα | lambda | /l/ |
| Μ μ | μυ | mu | /m/ |
| Ν ν | νυ | nu | /n/ |
| Ξ ξ | ξι | xi | /ks/ |
| Ο ο | όμικρον | omicron | /o/ |
| Π π | πι | pi | /p/ |
| Ρ ρ | ρο | rho | /ɾ/ |
| Σ σ ς | σίγμα | sigma | /s/ |
| Τ τ | ταυ | tau | /t/ |
| Υ υ | ύψιλον | upsilon | /i/ |
| Χ χ | χι | chi | /x/ |
| Ψ ψ | ψι | psi | /ps/ |
| Ω ω | ωμέγα | omega | /o/ |
The letter sigma is written as σ in the middle of words and as ς at the end of words.
Diagraphs
There is a set of letter combinations, known as digraphs which are used to represent sounds other than what their constituent letters usually would.
| Digraph | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ΑΙ, αι | /e/ | αίμα [ˈe.ma] (blood) |
| ΕΙ, ει | /i/ | ειρήνη [iˈri.ni] (peace) |
| ΟΙ, οι | οικογένεια [i.koˈʝe.ni.a] (family) | |
| ΥΙ, υι | υιός [iˈos] (son) | |
| ΑΥ, αυ | /av/ before a vowel or voiced consonant | αυγό [avˈɣo] (egg) |
| /af/ otherwise | αυτός [afˈtos] (he) | |
| ΕΥ, ευ | /ev/ before a vowel or voiced consonant | Ευρώπη [evˈro.pi] (Europe) |
| /ef/ otherwise | ευχαριστώ [ef.xa.riˈsto] (thank you) | |
| ΗΥ, ηυ | /iv/ before a vowel or voiced consonant | ηύρα [ˈiv.ra] (he/she found) |
| /if/ otherwise | ηύξησε [ˈif.ksi.se] (he/she increased) | |
| ΟΥ, ου | /u/ | ουρανός [u.raˈnos] (sky) |
| ΓΓ, γγ | [ŋɟ] but often reduced to [ɡ] in informal speech | άγγελος [ˈaɲ.ɟe.los] (angel) |
| ΓΚ, γκ | [ɡ] word-initially and in some loanwords | γκρεμός [ɡreˈmos] (cliff) |
| [ŋɡ] otherwise, but often reduced to [ɡ] in informal speech | αγκώνας [aŋˈɡo.nas] (elbow) | |
| ΓΞ, γξ | [ŋks] | σφίγξ [sfiŋks] (sphinx) |
| ΓΧ, γχ | [ŋx] before /a/, /o/, /u/ | έλεγχος [ˈe.leŋ.xos] (check, control) |
| [ɲç] before /e/, /i/ | σύγχυση [ˈsiɲ.çi.si] (confusion) | |
| Μπ, μπ | [b] word-initially and in loanwords | μπάλα [ˈba.la] (ball) |
| [mb] otherwise, but often reduced to [b] in informal speech | λάμπα [ˈlam.ba] (lamp) | |
| Ντ, ντ | [d] word-initially and in loanwords | ντομάτα [doˈma.ta] (tomato) |
| [nd] otherwise, but often reduced to [d] in informal speech | πάντα [ˈpan.da] (always) | |
| ΤΖ, τζ | [d͡z] | τζάκι [ˈd͡za.ci] (fireplace) |
Sometimes, the letter combinations αι, ει, οι, υι, αυ, ευ, ηυ, ου are not meant to be treated as digraphs and their letters are supposed to be pronounced separately. This is indicated by placing a diaeresis (¨) on the second letter. If the stress falls on the first letter of such a combination, then the acute accent is written on it and the diaeresis (¨) is omitted (e.g. “τσάι” and not “τσάϊ”).
Accent Marks
The acute accent ´ is used to mark accented syllables in polysyllabic words and is placed on the vowel of said syllables. If the vowel is an uppercase letter, then the accent is placed up and to the left of it. If the letter is lowercase, then the accent is placed on top of it. In digraphs, the second letter takes the accent.
Example: Acute Accent for Stress
είμαι /‘i.me̞/
αύριο /‘av.ɾi.o/
The acute accent can also appear in monosyllabic words to distinguish between words which would otherwise be written in the same way.
Example: Acute Accent as Distinguisher
πώς (how?, what?) ←> πως (that)
ή (or) ←> η (the)
The diaeresis ¨ is used to indicate that two consecutive letters should not be treated as a digraph. It is placed on the second letter.
Phonology
Vowels
Modern Greek has five vowel phonemes.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | /i/ η, ι, υ, ει, οι, υι | /u/ ου | |
| Mid | /e/ ε, αι | /o/ ο, ω | |
| Open | /a/ α |
The vowel phonemes are actualized by the following phones:
- /a/ as the near-open central vowel [ɐ];
- /i/ as the close front unrounded vowel [i];
- /u/ as the close back rounded vowel [u];
- /e/ as the mid front unrounded vowel [e̞];
- /o/ as the mid back rounded vowel [o̞].
There is no distinction between long and short vowels.
The phoneme /u/ is actualized as the non-syllabic consonant allophone [w] when simultaneously unstressed and preceded by a vowel.
The phoneme /i/ also has a few consonantal allophones which occur when it is unstressed.
- The allophone [j] occurs when an unstressed /i/ is preceded by a vowel: λέει [lej] (“it says”), αϊτός [aj.‘tos] (“eagle”);
- The allophone [ʝ] occurs when an unstressed /i/ is preceded by a voiced consonant: δυο [ðʝo] (“two”), παιδιά [pe.‘ðʝa] (“children”).
- The allophone [ç] occurs when an unstressed /i/ is preceded by a voiceless consonant: φωτιά [fo.ˈtça] (“fire”), ελάφια [eˈlaf.ça] (“deer”);
- The allophone [ɲ] occurs when an unstressed /i/ is preceded by the consonant /m/: μια [mɲa] (“one”).
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | /m/ μ | /n/ ν | ||||
| Plosive | /p/ π /b/ μπ | /t/ τ /d/ ντ | /k/ κ /g/ γκ | |||
| Fricative | /f/ φ /v/ β | /θ/ θ /ð/ δ | /s/ σ, ς /z/ ζ | /x/ χ /ɣ/ γ | ||
| Affricate | /ts/ τσ /dz/ τζ | |||||
| Tap | /ɾ/ ρ | |||||
| Lateral Approximant | /l/ λ |
Info: Phonetic Changes before /e/ and /i/
The following phonemes change their actualization when followed by the Vowels /e/ and /i/:
- /k/ is actualized as [c];
- /g/ is actualized as [ɟ];
- /x/ is actualized as [ç];
- /ɣ/ is actualized as [ʝ].
This is true both within the bounds of individual words as well as across word boundaries.
Example: Phonetic Changes before /e/ and /i/
κερί [ce’ri] (“candle”)
άγγελος [ˈaŋ.ɟe.los] (“angel”, “messenger”)
χέρι [ˈçe.ɾi] (“hand”)
γέρος [ˈʝeɾos] (“old man”)
→ [z]
→ [mb], [n t] → [nd], [n k] → [ŋg]
Across word boundaries, the phoneme combinations [n p], [n t] and [n k] change to [nd], [n k] and [ŋg[, respectively.
Example
τον πόνο /tom.‘bo.no/
τον τόνο /ton.‘do.no/
την καρδιά /tiŋ.gaɾ.‘ðia/
Accent
Similarly to English, Modern Greek has a stress accent system in which every word has a syllable pronounced slightly louder and longer than the others. This syllable is marked by an acute accent.
Important: The Antepenultimate Rule
The stress of a word can only be in one of three possible positions:
- oxytone - on the ultima (last syllable);
- paroxytone - on the penult (second-to-last syllable);
- proparoxytone - on the antepenult (third-to-last syllable).
This rule is never broken. It is so strong that it can force the stress to move in inflected forms of the same word, lest it is broken.
Info: Derived Stress
In certain situations, a single word may have two accented syllables:
If a noun / adjective / adverb / verb / preposition has a proparoxytone accent and is followed by a weak personal pronoun or a possessive pronoun, then a second accent occurs on the ultima.
EXAMPLE
ο γείτονάς μας [o ˈʝi.to.‘nas mas] (“our neighbor”)
φύλαξέ το [ˈfi.laks.‘e to] (“keep it”)
απέναντí μας [a.‘pe.nand.‘i mas] (“opposite us”)
If an imperative verb has a paroxytone accent and is followed by two weak personal pronouns, then the one closest to it also has an accent.
EXAMPLE
δώσε τού το [‘ðo.se ‘tu to] (“give it to him”)
φέρε μού τα [ˈfe.re ‘mu ta] (“bring them to me”)
This secondary stress is also marked by an acute accent.