Introduction to Greek & the Alphabet
A Companion Work to Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek
Introduction
While I was teaching Greek a few years back, I generated quite a number of worksheets to help my students grasp the finer points of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. It was also a way for me to put to paper my own personal hints and tricks to understand Greek and the art of translation better.
As such, I have decided—after much contemplation—to publish these worksheets to SubStack in order to help others learn or teach Greek, while also expanding the collection. Creating these takes a lot of time and effort, especially when I have designed my own Greek examples. These translation exercises take so much time because I adapt actual Greek texts into easy to translate nuggets that are appropriate for the student’s level of understanding.
The textbook I used in college and teaching high school Greek was Athenaze—2nd ed. learning, 3rd rev. ed. for teaching. Unfortunately, the 2nd ed. is now out of print, and students are forced to use the unstable third revised edition—unstable because they reformatted the layout and included some additional material. In turn, they redid the typesetting, and there are a plethora of errors, many concerning accentuation. Be that as it may, it is a very accessible text, and I will be following its general outline when publishing these worksheets.
If the textbook you are using is not Athenaze, I am sure the points will still be helpful. When learning Greek, you will eventually have to tackle all of these concepts, so it just might be out of order. One place that may be most obviously different will be on rules of accentuation. I agree with Athenaze’s approach to introduce these points slowly over time, and my worksheets follow this method.
As for learning Greek, I believe if you are going to attempt to tackle the language, you should start with classical. If one attempts only to learn Koine—to be overly simplistic, New Testament—Greek, you are doing a serious disservice to yourself. It is much more difficult to climb the mountain of ancient literature starting with the simpler form of the language. Sticking with a classical Greek textbook is best, specifically Attic, and then learning the differences of each dialect (Ionic, Epic, Koine, etc.). You will learn all the grammar necessary to read any text, and Attic is the most prevalent dialect (e.g., Plato, Euripides, Aristophanes, Thucydides).
Lastly, being a teacher means you are a bit of a liar, perhaps just a truth-bender. When reading through a textbook or these worksheets, you may find language that implies I or other authors are not telling you the full truth, and that would be accurate. To teach means to simplify and explain at the student’s current level. This should be kept in mind when reading through such documents. If ever there seems to be a contradiction between an earlier document and a later one, there probably is one because more information is required in order to explain the concept adequately.
Even when times are tough, though, and something may not make sense or a sentence might have you down, just remember the words of the renowned football coach Kirby Smart,1
διάμενε σχίζων ξύλα | Diamene schizо̄n ksula.
Keep choppin’ wood.
Work on your Greek daily no matter what, and you'll be surprised how much progress you can make. Do flashcards. Read a bit of grammar. Translate a sentence. Every little bit helps. Keep. Chopping. Wood.
And this phrase should be a mantra for any area of study in which you are interested. I attempt to read something daily in the field of New Testament just to keep up with trends or just to learn something new. New Testament Studies is a vast field, so there is certainly a plethora of texts to read, both primary and secondary. No matter what, remember to review your Greek daily.
Repetitio mater discendi.
“Repetition is the mother of learning.”
The Alphabet (Alpha-Beta, ‘Aleph-Bet | αβ, אב)
There are 23 letters in the Greek alphabet, and they are relatively stable in pronunciation. If you learn the basics of how these letters are pronounced independently and in groups, you should be able to sound out any and every Greek word you might encounter. A helpful tip: if you know the Greek letter’s name, you more or less know how the letter will be pronounced. There are exceptions and nuance, but this should help considerably.
Memorizing the letters in order is also critical because it will help when using a lexicon. Even though most word searches can be done electronically, rendering this nearly superfluous, you never know when it might come in handy.
As for the alphabet, I chose to use IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for pronunciation because it is a standard way to represent speech sounds accurately. This will be presented in brackets [ ]. I will also supply an example word in order to make it abundantly clear. The order of the columns is letter name; Greek letter, upper and lower case; transliteration of the letter; pronunciation, IPA & example word.
Now, let us explore some important aspects of the alphabet and pronunciation. We will cover some general pronunciation and orthographic particularities that will be important in the immediate future, but some will be of more service later in developing your Greek skills.
Diacritical Marks
A diacritical mark is something that appears over a letter, such as an umlaut in German: Bär (bear).
For instructional purposes, sometimes short vowels are designated with a breve (˘), and long vowels with a macron (−). The macron will be employed to indicate when an α, ι, or υ is long; otherwise, it should be assumed these vowels are short.
Accents
Accentuation will appear on nearly every word you will read in Greek, which does not mark stress. Rather, Greek was tonal, meaning the voice would go up or down—pitch—when speaking, which is similar to Chinese, but far less significant for meaning.2 There are three types of accents:
Acute: ά—the pitch for this syllable would be higher
Grave: ὰ—the pitch for this syllable would be lower
Circumflex: ᾶ—the pitch for this syllable would rise and fall
Eventually, these markings would no longer be used for pitch; they would eventually indicate which syllable should be stressed.
A final note: these markings will not appear if all letters are capitalized, such as in titles of books, e.g., πρὸς Τιμόθεον Α > ΠΡΟΣ ΤΙΜΟΘΕΟΝ Α
Breathing Marks
It may seem curious that there was no [h] sound listed above, as in “hand.” All words that begin with a vowel, diphthong, and digraph will have a diacritical mark that will indicate if there is aspiration—rough breathing sound, [h]—before the vowel is pronounced. Note the differences between the two marks:
Rough Breathing Mark: ἁ pronounced, “ha”; as in ἥλιος (hēlios), “sun”
Smooth Breathing Mark: ἀ pronounced, “a”; as in ἄνθρώπος (anthrо̄pos), “man”
There is one consonant that will take a breathing mark: rho, ρ, but it will always be rough, ῥῆμα, “word.”
Long & Short Vowels, Diphthongs & Digraphs
Syllabification will be discussed in a later worksheet, but for now, we must first establish the value—or length—of each vowel and vowel cluster.
Long and Short Vowels
There are both short and long vowels in Greek.
Short Vowels: Αα, Εε, Ιι, Οο, Υυ
Short Vowels that can be long: ᾱ, ῑ, ῡ
Long Vowels: Ηη, Ωω
Note: eta is just a long epsilon or alpha; omega is a long omicron—both are always long. Also, when a short vowel is long, it will be marked in the textbook. Epsilon and omicron are always short.
Diphthongs
From Greek δίφθογγος (diphthoggos), meaning “two sounds”; a diphthong is when two vowels are pronounced independently, but the first glides into the second. The result is both vowel sounds are made within one syllable, e.g., coin. There are 6 diphthongs in Greek,
αι — [ɑɪ] as in “aisle”; Latin ae
αυ — [ɑʊ] as in “bow”
ευ — [εu] as in “euphoria”
ηυ — [æu] η and υ are pronounced as a single syllable; a good equivalent is lacking
οι — [ɔɪ] as in “coin”
υι — [uɪ] υ and ι are pronounced as a single syllable; a good equivalent is lacking
Digraphs
From Greek δίς (dis) “double” and γράφω (graphо̄) “write,” a digraph is when two vowels are written together, representing a singular sound. So, in contrast to a diphthong, they are not independently spoken in one syllable, but rather, the letters are pronounced as one sound. There are two digraphs in Greek:
ει — [eɪ] as in “pay”
ου — [u:] as in “food”
The Iota Subscript
A common element that will be left unpronounced is the iota subscript. This will be seen below certain vowels: ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ. These iotas were once voiced, but they were not accentuated and eventually dropped off from pronunciation in post-classical Greek. They have been retained in texts, though, and they are incredibly helpful when analyzing morphology. We will discuss this more in later worksheets.
Sigma, Σ σ ς
Sigma is pronounced as an [s] in most contexts, but before β, γ, δ, or μ, it is pronounced [z], as in “zebra.” This may not make much sense upon reading this, but consider what these consonants have in common. They are all voiced, meaning your throat “hums” or makes a sound when they are made.
Say each speech sound out loud: [b], [g], [d], and [m]. Notice the vibration? In contrast, say [p], [k], and [t]. These last three are voiceless, meaning that vibration is not present. In turn, it is natural for a voiceless spirant like sigma [s] to become voiced [z] in this environment. This is not the case, necessarily, in English: sap and smore. But, this phenomenon does happen, e.g., Asgard.
One final note, there are three forms for sigma:
Capital: Σ
Medial: σ
Final: ς
Inscriptions and earlier Greek manuscripts (mss) would be written with all letters capitalized with no spacing. Time progressed, and it was more efficient to write in a cursive-like style—this significantly impacted mss traditions in Christianity. Eventually, the sigma would evolve into looking like a c, called a lunate sigma, which is essentially the final sigma without the little tail.

In Greek publications today, all three of these forms will appear, so you should know the difference. The medial sigma appears only at the start of a word or in the middle. The final sigma will only appear at the end.
Paired Consonants
Paired consonants are those that are written in succession, one after the other. There are two groupings that should be pronounced differently. The first includes,
λλ, μμ, ππ, ττ
These consonants should be each pronounced separately, and they will be divided as syllables—syllabification will be a later worksheet—such as γάμ-μα, gam-ma.
The second group is different because they are pronounced separately like above, but the pairings alter how the first letter is pronounced. These groupings include,
γγ, γκ, γξ, γχ
The first gamma will not be pronounced as [g], but rather like [ŋ], as in “monkey,” “angst,” or “anger.” Some examples include, ἅγγελος, “messenger,” pronounced ang-ge-los; ἄγκῦρα, “anchor,” pronounced ang-ku-ra.
Double Consonants
Three letters in Greek represent two consonants that have been combined. These include
ζ > σ + δ
ξ > κ + σ; γ + σ; χ + σ
ψ > π + σ; β + σ; φ + σ
Although it may seem superfluous to know that these three letters actually are a combination of two others, it will play a significant role in learning morphology later. This need not be committed to memory quite yet, but it is critical to be aware of this. Store it in the back of your mind attic, but know that you will need to access this information soon.
Aspirated Consonants
In English, we do not distinguish between a letter that is aspirated or not when written. You never probably think about when you say a p, for example, if it is aspirated—air comes out when you say the letter—or if it is a stop—no air comes out. Say the word “pop.” Notice the first p is aspirated, [ph], but the final p is not, [p]. You do not say [phoph]; rather, [phop]. Try also “tot.” Notice how you say the two consonants differently [thot]?
Greek, on the other hand, orthographically distinguishes these sounds. There are three aspirated consonants in Greek; below they are displayed with their counterparts:
θ is an aspirated τ
φ is an aspirated π
χ is an aspirated κ
Although this may seem like a completely unnecessary aspect of the language to discuss, it will play a role in how Greek words will interact with each other in a text.
Punctuation
In Greek, punctuation is maddeningly different, yet sometimes the same as English. The period (.) is a period. The comma (,) is a comma.
A question mark (?), though, will be represented by a semicolon (;), a semicolon (;) with a dot above the line (·).
Conclusion
Something that should be simple has become rather complicated. A student should not burden him or herself with learning all aspects of this worksheet at one time. It will become more understandable as we progress through Athenaze, but it is important to have a place to reference these phonetic rules. I encourage the beginner to read through these rules frequently, though, because it will help you considerably in the long run, if you master the phonetics and orthography of Greek. Remember,
Repetitio mater discendi.
“Repetition is the mother of learning.”
--
διάμενε σχίζων ξύλα | Diamene schizо̄n ksula.
Keep choppin’ wood.
If you wish to learn more about Greek and the New Testament, would you kindly subscribe?
I created this slogan—obviously—as a motivator for teaching. A full break down of how I created the phrase:
LSJ διαμένω
A. ...continue the same, be permanent, Alex.34; “χρῶμα διαμένον” Nicol.1.28, cf. Antiph.232.2: c. part., “δ. λέγων” D.8.71"
So, imp. + part.
“Continue—idiomatic ‘keep’—chopping wood”
2nd, pl, aor, act. imp.: διαμείνατε
2nd, sg, pres, act. ind.: διάμενε
“to chop”
σχίσας (aor act sg masc nom), “splitting”
In gen 22:3, σχίσας ξύλα εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν
Babrius 38, Δρυτόμοι τινὲς σχίσαντες ἀγρίην πεύκην
There are times when accentuation determines the meaning of the word, but this is rare.