Classical Greek

Greek, like any language, is ever-changing, and is spread across many dialects. The notes in this article relate specifically to the Attic Greek dialect of the 400s-300s BCE, typical of scholars such as Plato, Lysias, Xenophon, Demosthenes, and Thucydides.

The Attic Alphabet

Consonants Name IPA Ancient Modern Example English approximation kappa c κ κιόλας skew kappa k κ, ξ κατά, ξένος scar chi kʰ χ χάρτης car chi x χ similar to strongly aspirated hat, Scottish English loch, German Bach chi ç χέρι hue iota j ι εἴη toy yacht gamma ʝ γ γη similar to yes gamma ɣ γάλα Spanish amigo gamma ɡ γ again gamma γκ γγ εγκώμιο gamma ɟ άγγελος argue pi p π, ψ πέτρα, ψυχή spy phi pʰ φ φως paint phi f φ four beta v β, υ βέλος vet beta b β about beta μπ μπαμπάς upsilon w υ παύω well tau t τ τάφος stay theta tʰ θ θεός take theta θ θ thought delta ð δ δούλη the delta d δ today delta ντ εντάξει spiritus asper h ῾◌ ἥρως hat lambda l λ λόγος look lambda ʎ λ ελιά million mu m μ μοίρα mole nu n ν ναι no nu ɲ ν νιότη onion gamma ŋ γ άγχος sing rho r ρ ώρα similar to American English autumn or Scottish rule rho r̥ ῥ ῥίζα similar to train sigma s σ, ς ξ, ψ σοφός, ψυχή, ξένος between sip and ship (retracted) zeta z ζ, σ κόσμος, ζωή between zone and genre (retracted) t͡s τσ τσάι between cats and catch (retracted) zeta d͡z ζ τζ τζάκι between buds and budge (retracted)

Vowels Monophthongs Name IPA Ancient Modern Example English approximation alpha a ᾰ α άρτος Australian English father alpha aː ᾱ χώρᾱ father epsilon ɛː η ψυχή bed epsilon e ε θεός bet ei eː ει εἰμί similar to bay but without the glide iota i ῐ ι ίδιος like neat iota iː ῑ πίνω like need omega ɔː ω ἐγώ talk (Irish or South African English) omicron o ω similar to note (American English) omicron ο οδός upsilon uː ου μου similar to mood upsilon u ου pool upsilon y ῠ φύσις similar to few, French tu upsilon yː ῡ ψυχή similar to fume, French juge Diphthongs Name IPA Ancient Modern Example English approximation alpha iota ai̯ αι αἴτιος, πάλαι, ψῡχαί tie alpha iota αϊ γαϊδούρι alpha upsilon au̯ αυ αὐτός how alpha upsilon αου Νικολάου epsilon iota ei̯ ει εἴη hey epsilon iota έι epsilon upsilon eu̯ ευ εὖ Italian and Spanish neutro epsilon upsilon εου Θέουτα omicron iota oi̯ οι οἶδα, λόγοι toy omicron iota όι κορόιδο upsilon iota yi̯ υι υἱός No English equivalent aːi̯ ᾳ ᾄδω, χώρᾳ No English equivalent ɛːi̯ ῃ ᾖς, ψυχῇ No English equivalent ɔːi̯ ῳ ᾠδή, λόγῳ No English equivalent Suprasegmentals IPA Ancient Modern Example Explanation ◌́ ´ γάλα [ɡála] high tone ◌̌ ´ ἐγώ [eɡɔ̌ː] rising tone ◌ ` μὲν [men] mid tone ◌̂ ῀ γῆ [ɡɛ̂ː] falling tone ˈ ΄ άλλος [ˈa.los] stress . syllable break

Suprasegmental features in phonetics refer to aspects of speech that extend over more than one sound segment (i.e., consonants and vowels). These include tone, stress, and syllable breaks, which are not properties of individual phonetic segments but of larger units such as syllables, words, or sentences. In Ancient Greek, as in many languages, these features played a significant role in distinguishing word meaning and grammatical forms.

Punctuation and Capitalization

Greek utilizes the same comma and period symbols as modern English; there is no distinction between the colon and semi-colon, which is represented by a dot floating above the base line. This symbol is called the άνω τελεία (ánō teleía; roughly 'upper period') represented as: ·

Πήγα στο κατάστημα· δεν αγόρασα τίποτα.

I went to the store; but I didn't buy anything.

Relatedly, the word for comma is κόμμα (kómma), and the word for period/full stop is τελεία (teleía). The question mark in Greek is represented by what we call the semi-colon in English; ερωτηματικό (erotimatikó, question mark).

As in English, proper nouns are capitalized, as are the first words of paragraphs and quotations, but the first words of sentences are not. Generally, Greeks did not use quotation-marks.

Ancient Greek used a pitch accent system, where the accent of a word was determined by the pitch or tone - high, low, rising / falling - rather than by stress (loudness or length) as in English. There were three main accents in Ancient Greek:

• Acute (ὀξεῖα): indicated a rise in pitch on the accented syllable.
• Grave (βαρεῖα): used only in specific syntactical contexts, indicating a lower pitch.
• Circumflex (περισπωμένη): indicated a rise and then a fall in pitch within the same syllable.

The placement of the accent was subject to various rules: no matter how many syllables a word may have, the accent can appear only over one of the last three syllables, for example. The final syllable was called the ultima, abbreviated 'u'. The penultimate syllable is called the penult, abbreviated 'p'. The third-from-last syllable is called the antepenult, abbreviated 'a'.

• Grave accents:
  • can appear only over the ultima.
  • can appear over short vowels, long vowels, or diphthongs.
  • must replace an acute accent over the ultima when another word follows without a pause.
• Circumflex accents:
  • can appear only over the ultima and the penult.
  • can appear only over long vowels or diphthongs.
  • must appear over the penult when it is accented and contains a long vowel or diphthong, and the ultima contains a short vowel.
  • cannot appear over the penult when the ultimate contains a long vowel or diphthong.