Greek | Wizard

Alphabet

Greek		Latin
α	ἄλφα	a	álpha
β	βῆτα	b	bē̂ta
γ	γάμμα	g	gámma
δ	δέλτα	d	délta
ε	ἒψιλόν (εἶ)	e	èpsilón (ī̂)
(Ϝ)	(δίγαμμα)	(—)	(dígamma)
ζ	ζῆτα	z	zē̂ta
η	ἦτα	é	ē̂ta
θ	θῆτα	th	thē̂ta
ι	ἰῶτα	i	íō̂ta
κ	κάππα	c	cáppa
λ	λάμβδα	l	lámbda
μ	μῦ	m	mŷ
ν	νῦ	n	nŷ
ξ	ξεῖ	x	xī̂
ο	ὂμικρόν	o	òmicrón
π	πεῖ	p	pī̂
(ϻ)	(σάν)	(s)	(sán)
(ϙ/ϟ)	(κόππα)	(c)	(cóppa)
ρ	ῥῶ	r	rhō̂
σ/ς	σῖγμα	s	sîgma
τ	ταῦ	t	taû
υ	ὖψιλόν (ὑ)	y	ŷpsilón (hy)
φ	φεῖ	ph	phī̂
χ	χεῖ	ch	chī̂
ψ	ψεῖ	ps	psī̂
ω	ὦμέγα	ó	ō̂méga
(ϡ)	(σαμπί)	(—)	(sampí)

It should be known that the use of the macron (◌̄) above e & o for η & ω is a contemporary practice. The traditional custom was to translate them as é & ó, which can be problematic if we intend to translate the tones. So, when translating names from Greek, I use the acute mark, but when translating words with tones, I use the macron.

Further, the following digraphs are translated thus:

Greek	Latin
αι	æ
αυ	au
γγ	ng
γκ	nc
γξ	nx
γχ	nch
ει	ī
ευ	eu
ηυ	ēu
οι	œ
ου	u
υι	ui
ωυ	ōu

When translating names from Greek into Latin, -οc is translated as -us, -ια as -y, -ρος as -er, & -ων as -ó, or, if not a person, -um.

When translating certain sounds into Greek which it naturally doesn’t have, i.e. gi & sh, put τζ & τσ respectively.

Ligatures

There are a number of ligatures, e.g. ϗ for καί, ȣ for ου, & ϛ for στ. More which haven’t digital characters yet:

Pronounciation

See the pronunciation chart on the previous page for how to read the English letters.

Letter	Sound
α	á
αυ	áv/áf
β	v
γ	g
γγ, γκ, γξ, γχ	g/ng, c/ng, cs/ngs
δ	ð
ε, αι	e
ευ	ev/ef
(Ϝ)	(—)
ζ	sð
η, ι, ει, οι, υ, υι	í
θ	þ
κ (ϙ/ϟ)	c
λ	l
μ	m
μπ	b, mb
ν	n
ντ	d, nd
ξ	cs
ο, ω	ó
ου	ú
π	p
ρ	r
σ/ς (ϻ)	s
τ	t
τζ	dsð
φ	f
χ	h
ψ	ps
(ϡ)	(—)

The pairs αυ & ευ are pronounced áf & ef when the following letter is unvoiced—e.g θ, τ—but áv & ev when voiced—e.g. β.

Punctuation

Greek	Latin	Name
.	.	telī́a
:	:	ánō cátō telī́a
·	;	ánō telī́a
,	,	cómma
;	?	erōtēmatikó
!	!	thaymastikó
’	'	apóstrophos
‿	-	henōticón

Coptic

The Copts (Ægyptians) adopted the Greek alphabet for writing, but added seven letters:

Coptic	Translation	Pronounciation
ϣ	sh	sh
ϥ	ph	f
ϧ	ch	h
ϩ	ch	h
ϫ	dj	gi
ϭ	tj	tsh
ϯ	ti	s