The 24 letters and their names
Table
- Α α — Alpha
- Β β — Beta
- Γ γ — Gamma
- Δ δ — Delta
- Ε ε — Epsilon
- Ζ ζ — Zeta
- Η η — Eta
- Θ θ — Theta
- Ι ι — Iota
- Κ κ — Kappa
- Λ λ — Lambda
- Μ μ — Mu
- Ν ν — Nu
- Ξ ξ — Xi
- Ο ο — Omicron
- Π π — Pi
- Ρ ρ — Rho
- Σ σ/ς — Sigma (with ς used only at the end of a word)
- Τ τ — Tau
- Υ υ — Upsilon
- Φ φ — Phi
- Χ χ — Chi
- Ψ ψ — Psi
- Ω ω — Omega
Where it came from
The Greek alphabet comes from Phoenician script, around the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. The Phoenicians used a system mainly for consonants. The Greeks kept the order and many of the names of the letters: Aleph became Alpha, Beth became Beta. But they added what Greek needed most: vowels. That step made the Greek alphabet one of the first full alphabetic systems in the Mediterranean.
From Greek writing came the Latin alphabet, through the Etruscans, and later the Cyrillic alphabet, built on Greek letters with additions for Slavic sounds. In other words, the Greek alphabet stands behind a large part of Europe's written tradition.
Ancient and modern pronunciation
- Β: in antiquity it was pronounced like "b"; today it is pronounced "v". That is why the modern Greek "b" sound is written with the digraph μπ.
- Η, Ι, Υ, ΕΙ, ΟΙ, ΥΙ: in antiquity they represented different sounds. Today they are all pronounced as "i". This is the well-known iotacism.
- Θ: in antiquity it was an aspirated "t"; today it is the familiar "th" sound.
- Φ: in antiquity it was an aspirated "p"; today it is pronounced "f".
- Χ: in antiquity it was an aspirated "k"; today it is the Greek "ch" sound.
- Ζ: in antiquity it was probably a double consonant of some kind; today it is a simple "z".
- The rough breathing, the old "h" sound, had already disappeared by the Hellenistic period.
Erasmian pronunciation
- In the 16th century, Erasmus proposed a reconstruction of the pronunciation of the classical period.
- That is why in many universities outside Greece, students read Plato with Erasmian pronunciation.
- In that system, eta is read as a long "e", beta as "b", and the rough breathing as an "h" sound.
- It is a philological reconstruction, not a living pronunciation.
- In Greece, ancient Greek is usually read with modern Greek pronunciation.
When letters were numbers
Letters as numerals
In antiquity and Byzantium, letters also served as numbers: αʹ = 1, βʹ = 2, γʹ = 3, and so on, with a mark above them.
Stigma
For the number 6, Greek used an old letter called stigma (ϛ).
Koppa and sampi
The number 90 used koppa (ϟ), and 900 used sampi (ϡ).
Science and mathematics
Greek letters still survive in mathematics and science: π, σ, λ, μ, Ω, Δ, and Σ are familiar examples.
From the polytonic to the monotonic
- Ancient Greek used three accents, acute, grave, and circumflex, together with two breathings.
- In 1982, Greece officially adopted the monotonic system, with only one accent mark for the stressed syllable.
- The diaeresis (¨) shows that two vowels are pronounced separately, as in words like Maios.
- The polytonic system still survives in the Church and in some literary editions.
📊 At a glance
24 letters
Fewer than the English alphabet, which has 26.
~9th c. BCE
The Greek alphabet was adapted from Phoenician script.
3000+ years
Of continuous use, making it one of the oldest alphabets still written today.
Source of Latin and Cyrillic
The Greek alphabet shaped the main alphabetic scripts of Europe.
Letters that disappeared
- Digamma (Ϝ): the old "w" sound. It appeared in early dialects and disappeared in the classical period.
- Koppa (Ϙ): an ancestor of the Latin Q. It vanished from ordinary writing but survived as the numeral 90.
- Sampi (Ϡ): also survived as a numeral, representing 900.
- San (Ϻ): an old form of "s" that was eventually replaced by sigma.
How it passed into the world
- The Euboean variant to Latin: settlers from Euboea carried a Greek alphabet westward to the Etruscans, and from there it passed to the Romans.
- The Ionic variant as standard: Athens officially adopted the Ionic alphabet in 403/2 BCE. From it comes the familiar set of 24 letters.
- Cyrillic: Cyril and Methodius created the Glagolitic script in the 9th century, and their students later adapted Greek letter forms for Slavic sounds.
- Coptic: the Christian writing of Egypt used Greek letters together with a few Egyptian signs for sounds Greek did not have.
Modern issues
- Greeklish: Greek written with Latin characters in SMS and chat. It was once practical necessity and is now mostly habit.
- Unicode: the Greek alphabet is fully supported digitally.
- Keyboards: Greek layouts are available on every major operating system.
- Orthographic reform: spelling reforms are occasionally discussed, but they are culturally sensitive because Greek spelling preserves much of the language's history.
🎯 FAQ
Are ancient and modern Greek the same language?
They belong to the same continuous linguistic tradition, but pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary have changed a great deal. A modern Greek reads classical texts with effort, just as a modern English speaker reads Shakespeare or Chaucer with effort.
Why is beta pronounced as "v" and not "b"?
The change happened gradually in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In modern Greek, the "b" sound is usually written with the digraph μπ.
Why are there so many different letters for the same "i" sound?
Greek spelling keeps the history of the word visible. Eta, iota, and upsilon often point to different origins, and that helps preserve etymology and distinguish similar words.
When did lowercase letters appear?
Capital letters came first. Lowercase forms were developed in the Byzantine period, around the 9th century CE, as a faster way of writing on parchment.
Is the Greek alphabet the oldest still in use?
It is one of the oldest alphabetic systems still used today. Older writing systems exist, such as Chinese logographs, but they belong to different types of script.
What is each letter called in Greek?
The table above gives all the names: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and so on. Some names are interpreted through later Greek usage, such as Epsilon, Omicron, Omega, and Upsilon.
Sources:
— Kathy
