The Greek Alphabet for Dummies
Trip Start
Jun 14, 2008
1
26
Trip End
Jul 01, 2008
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada
Monday, October 20, 2008
The most important thing to remember -- the golden key that unlocks the secret of reading Greek -- is:
Many letters do NOT mean the same as they do in English.
Р for example, means R. Π means P. (That's "pi." Just think 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884 etc., etc., etc. as you read. See? I told you this was easy.)
γ means g, not y
A block of text
. υ means y. Sometimes. μ means m.
ω doesn't mean w, it means o. But o means o too.
χ does not mean x. ξ means x. χ means a sound like the start of hawking up a big gob.
δ does mean d, but pronounced as if your tongue can't quite make it up to your pallet because it's labouring under the weight of several ouzos.
β may look a lot like B, but it means v. υ also sometimes means v.
ν means n, but only in lower case. In upper case, it means l, but only when upside-down.
N in upper case means N, but η in lower case means "ee". H in upper case means the same as η in lower case, i.e. "ee."
So do ι, ε, ει, οι, in certain cases, υ and possibly others scientists have not yet identified. Why modern Greek has approximately thirteen different ways of spelling "ee" is a unsolved mystery. We suspect it has something to do with the ancients, because they invented philosophy, which is equally baffling, though it defies logic when they also invented logic. However, considering that English has at least four and possibly seventeen ways of pronouncing "ough," we really can't complain
Another block of text
.You would expect Greek always to use the same letter to mean s. You would be wrong. It's σ in the middle of a word and ς at the end. Except in upper case when it's always Σ.
If this all seems excessively cryptic, remember that a speed limit sign in Greece that says "100" actually means "180 if you're driving a Mercedes, Audi or BMW." It's a Greek thing.
Finally, there are several completely weird letters that I haven't yet mentioned, such as Γ, Δ, θ, Ξ, Φ, Ψ, Ω and ζ. Some of them don't show up that often and so you can kind of fudge them by pretending to clear your throat when they come up. ζ you'll remember forever if you but memorize this Greek word: ούζο. That's the stuff your tongue's labouring under when you pronounce δ.
Learn the rest through Google.
There! You've got it!
This is a deed to a house
Hard, you say? Consider that you have it much easier than people in classical times, who had yet to invent spaces, lower case or punctuation
SOTHATALLTHEIRTEXT
LOOKEDLIKETHISAND
WASEQUALLYEASYTOREAD
When they created a block of text, they weren't kidding.
So quit griping and remember, this will all be on the exam.
P.S. Alexander fans, if you're wondering what his name looks like in modern Greek: Αλέξανδρος.
