The Greek Alphabet (Ι–Π) | Beginning Greek for Christians
In the previous video, we introduced the first third of the Greek alphabet – letters Α–Θ.
The next portion of the Greek alphabet we will examine should be easy to memorize for a native
English speaker as, with the exception of one English and one Greek letter,
the flow of letters mirror that in the English alphabet: I,K,L,M,N,O
The next letter is one that will be easily recognizable for English speakers,
Ι/ι. As you may have guessed, Ι/ι is the equivalent of the English I. The symbols
of these two letters look very similar. There is, however, slight difference in their pronunciation.
Ι/ι makes sound that it akin to either a long E (as in, “police”) or a short I (as in,
“fit”). It doesn’t make a long I sound that the English letter does.
Like Ι/ι, Κ/κ is also bears a near identical resemblance to its English counterpart,
K/k. The sound is the same as the K in, “kiss.” The capital symbol is pretty much the same as in
English, and the lower case looks like a smaller, slightly stylized version of the capital.
Though its symbol looks different from what we’re used to with the English L/l,
Λ/λ functions in the same way. It corresponds to the L as in my name – Luke. Recognizing
this letter in the alphabet is easy given its proximity to Κ/κ, the same as K and L in English.
In the middle of a given text though, one should not confuse this letter with Δ/δ, particularly
as a capital. Where capital Δ is a triangle, capital Λ is a triangle with no bottom (or
an upside down V). The lower case of this letter looks like an upside down y or an upside down γ.
Μ/μ and Ν/ν occupy the same proximity to each other as the English M/m and N/n. They are the
same as their English counterparts in sound – M (as in, “man”) and N (as in, “no”) respectively.
Their capital forms are alike to English, however there are discrepancies with their lower case
forms. Depending on the style of handwriting, lower case can μ appear as either a lower case
u or m with a line dropping into the subtext at the front. The lower case ν can be easily mistaken
for a v when first learning to read Greek, so specific attention to this letter should be paid.
While this sequence has been relatively familiar up to this point, the next Greek letter,
Ξ/ξ doesn’t have one English equivalent. It roughly corresponds in sound to the English X,
as in, “fox.” One could also think of it as the, “ks,” sound in, “books.” Its form is unique, not
bearing any resemblance to the English alphabet. The lower case form looks somewhat like a lower
case ζ – the mistaken identity of one letter as the other is common to new readers of Greek.
Again, depending on one’s handwriting, it’s possible that the capital form of Ξ could have a
resemblance to capital Θ, both letters sharing the bowtie-like symbol in the middle in capital case.
We get back into sequence with the English alphabet next with Ο/ο. Just like how Greek
has two letters that correspond to the English E, it also has two letters that correspond to
the English O. Ο/ο is the first of these – it specifically mimics a short O sound, never a long
O (though it’s not uncommon for English speakers to conflate the sounds in vowel combinations).
Its symbol is also identical to O/o in both capital and lower cases.
The final letter we will examine in this video is one that you will be familiar
from your math classes – Π/π. Made obvious by its name, Π/π equivocates to the English P/p.
You will notice two of the most popular names from the New Testament begin with Π/π – Πετρος (Peter)
and Παυλος (Paul). Though it’s form is different from anything in English, most find this letter
easy to remember for these reasons, as well as it’s proximity to Ο/ο, like O and P in English.
You now know two thirds of the Greek alphabet. In the next video,
we will look at the final third of letters Ρ/ρ – Ω/ω.
For a further study of Greek, I recommend “Greek 101: Learning an Ancient Language”
from The Great Courses and “Basics of Biblical Greek”
by Zondervan Academic. You will find links to both of these courses in the description.