This document is adapted from the opening chapters of a forthcoming textbook by Dr. Bradley McLean.

MODERN GREEK PRONUNCIATION

1. The Greek Alphabet and Pronunciation

Whereas the English alphabet consists of twenty-six letters, the Greek alphabet has only twenty-four characters. Many of
these letters are similar to the English (i.e., Latin) characters that you already know. Since modern editions of the Greek
New Testament employ mostly lower-case letters, it is suggested that you begin by learning the lower case letters first.

letter name pronunciation phonic symbol examples listen to audio

A a alfa ha [a] `E| a,
P veeta vat [v] sa.a.|
l , ghama go, or yellow [g] or [y]

e e ,e,
e ,.,e|.|
^ e dhelta the [] et` aueu
E . epseelon bet [e] `E| a,
Z , zeeta zoo [z] ,.
H eeta feet [iy] |
O theeta think [] :e, e| .e|
I t yota feet [iy] et` aueu
K s kappa keep [k] sat
A lamdha letter [l] e e,e,
\ mee moon [m] a:.ca.|e,
N | nee noon [n] `E| a,
- ksee ox [ks] .eucta|
0 e omeekron dog [o] e e,e,
E : pee put [p] :e, e| .e|
P rho r (trilled)
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[r / rh]
2
`E| a,
at
L c / ,
3
seegma sing (or zero) [s] or [z]
4
a:.ca.|e,
se ceu
T taf top [t] :e, e| .e|
Y u eepseelon feet [iy] auta|
1 | fee find [f] e |.,
X , khee loch
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[kh] `E| a,
T psee hips [ps] u.c.|, u.|at
. . omegha dog [o] ,., e |.,

1
Like trilled French r.
2
Rh when the first letter of a word.
3
Initial or internal sigma is written as c. This sigma is known as medial sigma. But as the last letter of a word, sigma is formed as ,.
This sigma is known as final sigma.
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In most cases, sigma is pronounced like English s as in sing. However, before a voiced consonant (i.e., , !, ", #, $, %), c is is
pronounced like ,. For example, &'*#+, (koz-mos), -*%/02 (iyz-ra-iyl). The same transformation takes place even when * is the last
letter of a word (-,) and the next word starts with a voiced consonant: e.g., e sece, eu (o-koz-moz-mu), eu, eue (tuz- iy-o).
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Rough gutteral or aspirated sound; ch as in Scottish loch, or German Buch.
2. Pronouncing Vowels

a [a] a:e (a-po)
. [e] .:t, (el-piys)
t [iy] tce, (iy-sos)
e [o] e|ea (o-no-ma)
[iy] (miy)
u [iy] sute, (kiy-riy-os)
. [o] |., (fos)

Notice that , u and t are all pronounced the same way: [iy] as in feet.

3. Pronouncing Diphthongs
Certain two-vowel combinations produce a single distinct sound. These two-letter combinations are known as
diphthongs. They are pronounced as follows:

diphthong pronunciation guide phonic symbol

at bet [e] sat = ke
.t feet [iy] aua|.t| = af-xa-niyn
et feet [iy] a|.:et = AN-thro-piy
ut feet [iy] ute, = hiy-OSS
eu pool [u] eu e, = oo-toss
au like af before :, s, (unvoiced stops), [af] aueu = af-too
|, ,, (voiced fricatives), c, , (sibilants)
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aua|.t| = af-xa-niyn
but like av elsewhere (as in avenue) [av] .:aute| = e-pav-riy-on
auac, = thav-ma-siys
.u like ef before :, s, (unvoiced stops), [ef] :tc.uc.ct| = piys-tef-so-sin
|, ,, (voiced fricatives), c, , (sibilants) .uu|a. = ef-thiy-na-te
but like ev elsewhere. [ev] :tc.ueuct| = piys-ev-oo-sin
.utcs.t = ev-riys-kiy
u like iyf before :, s, (unvoiced stops), [iyf] uc.| = iyf-xiy-sen
|, ,, (voiced fricatives), c, , (sibilants) :ecu,.e. = pros-iyf-khe-to
but like iyv elsewhere. [iyv] uca.| = iyv-liy-sa-men
utcse| = iyv-riys-kon
Notes:

.t, et, and ut are pronounced the same as , u, and t, namely as [iy] (feet). But at is pronounced like . (bet).

When two vowels occur together but not in one of the above combinations, pronounce each vowel separately.

Examples: .e, auta| .eucta| .:aute| A.uta, `Aaa
the-os mar-tiy-riy-an ex-oo-siy-an e-pav-riy-on lev-iy-tas a-bra-am


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You will notice that these consonants all have one thing in common: they are aspirated. If you hold up your hand to your mouth
when you say these sounds, you will feel a puff of air.
4. Pronouncing Stops and Fricatives

Labials: :, , |
: like p in page: e.g., :et, (po-liys) :e, e| .e|, a:.ca.|e,
like v in van: e.g., tte| (viv-li-on) sa.a.|, at
| like f in fact: e.g., |te, (fiy-los) e |.,, .|, |.|
Dentals: , e,
like t in top: e.g., e:e, (to-pos) :e, e| .e|, eue,
e like th in the []: e.g., eeue, (u-los) et` aueu, .e.s.|
like th think []: e.g., a|ae, (qa-na-tos) :e, e| .e|, a|.:.|

Velars: s, ,, ,

s like k in keen: e.g., sute, (kiy-riy-os) sat, cseta
, before and all [e] and [i] sounds .,.|.e, e ,.,e|.|
(namely, ., , t, u, at, .t, et, ut) .,.t, ,.|.cat
like y in yet: e.g., ,u| (yiy-niy), ,.|.a (ye-ne-a),
, (yiy), ,t|.cs. (yiy-no-sko)

, before a, e, eu, ., consonants, like e e ,e,, e ,. ,e|.|
hard g as in get: e.g., ,ae, (ga-mos) .,|., .,., .,.|

, like ch in Scottish loch: e.g., ,aa (kha-ra) `E| a,, ,.t,, .,e.|e|
5. Pronouncing Special Groups of Consonant Clusters
When , is followed by another ,, ,, or , the nasal sound [ng] is produced (like the final consonants in the English sing):


,, / ,s finger [ng-g] a,,.e, (ang-ge-los)
[ng-g] a,sa (ang-ga-liy)
,, [ng-kh] ..,,. (e-leng-kho)
, banks [ng-ks] ..,t, (e-leng-ksis)

Similarly when : follows , and follows |, in the middle of a word, they become mb and nd sounds respectively (i.e.,
a real English b and d sound results):
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: [mb]
8
.:es (em-blo-kiy)
| [nd]
9
a|t (an-diy)


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Similarly, when a word ends in -|, and the following word starts with :, the -| is pronounced [m] and the : is pronounced [b]: e|
:e|e| (tom-bo-non).
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But : at the beginning of a word is simply pronounced [b].
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Similarly, if a word ends in -|, and the following word starts with , the is pronounced [d]: e.g., e| e|e| (ton-do-non). If a word
ends in -|, the following word starts with s, the s is pronounced [g]: e.g., | se| (tiyn-go-riyn). So watch for combinations of the
accusative articles, e| and |, followed by words beginning with :, , and s.
6. The Iota Subscript

A small t is sometimes written under the vowels a, , or ., especially when they are final. This iota-subscriptdoes not
affect pronunciation: vowels with an iota-subscript are pronounced the same as the corresponding vowel without an iota-
subscript. Later, they will help you distinguish different grammatic forms of nouns, adjectives and verbs.

a pronounced like a [a] cset a
pronounced like [iy] `E| a,
. pronounced like . [o] .| At,u:.
7. Breathing Marks

Every Greek word beginning with a vowel carries a so-called breathing mark above the vowel.
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These marks have the
appearance of an English single quotation mark. Diphthongs receive their breathing mark on the second vowel. There are
two types of breathing marks:

rough breathing mark (e.g., a) e e,e,, ,., eue,
smooth breathing mark (e.g., a) `E| a,, au.

Modern Greek pronunciation does not add any sound with either of these marks. Nonetheless, you should be able to
recognize these editorial marks because they can be important for philological reasons.

8. Greek Accents
Three different accents appear in the Greek New Testament: acute a -- grave a -- circumflex a

The only effect of any accent is to indicate the stressed syllable; they all have the same effect on pronunciation.

Notes: Diphthongs always receive their accent on the second letter: for example, sat not sat.
Words beginning with a vowel or diphthong may have both an accent and a breathing mark on the first syllable.
Examples: eue, | .| a|.:e,

9. The Diaeresis
The diaeresis mark ( ) looks like a German umlaut. It often appears in words of foreign derivation (e.g., Hebrew and
Latin loan words). It is actually an editorial mark used to indicate that the two vowels, which could be construed as a
diphthong, are actually two separate vowels. The diaeresis always appears over the second of the two vowels.
Examples: Pcatea (Biy-sa-iy-a) = Bethsaida; \.uc, (Mo-iy-siys) = Moses

10. Pronunciation Practice

Listen to and practice reading aloud this short passage from the Gospel of John. Also practice writing it out by hand.

John 1:1-8
`E| a, | e e,e,, sat e e,e, | :e, e| .e|, sat .e, | e e,e,.
2
eue, | .| a,
:e, e| .e |.
3
:a|a et` aueu .,.|.e, sat ,.t, aueu .,.|.e eue. .|. e ,.,e|.|
4
.| au. ,. |,
sat ,. | e |., .| a|.:.|
5
sat e |., .| cseta |at|.t, sat cseta aue
eu sa.a.|.
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`E,.|.e a|.:e,, a:.ca.|e, :aa .eu, e|ea au. `I.a||,
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eue, .|
.t, auta| t|a auc :.t eu |.e,, t|a :a|., :tc.uc.ct| et` aueu.
8
eus | .s.t|e, e |.,,
a` t|a auc :.t eu |.e,

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The letter rho () also always has a rough breathing mark.