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SOUNDS OF GREEK Intern.Phonetic.Alphabet
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TABLE of GREEK VOWELS |
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GREEK VOWELS |
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IPA phonetic symbol |
as in the word... (english or other) |
description |
Greek Script CAP-small in Modern-Standard |
VOWELS: a e i o u ♪ (no variations in modern greek) |
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a |
-- (english) amo (latin) ami (french) |
open front unrounded |
A α |
/e/ is [ɛ] (more open) |
ten |
open-mid front unrounded |
E ε AI αι AI αí |
i |
see |
close front unrounded |
I ι H η Y υ EI ει EI εí OI oι OI oí YI υι in erasmic only: I |
o is [ɔ] (more open) |
got |
open-mid back rounded |
O o Ω ω in erasmic only: O |
u |
zoo |
close back rounded |
OY oυ |
TABLE of GREEK CONSONANTS and COMBINATIONS b d δ f g γ k l m n p r s t θ v x z |
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CONSONANT |
combinations |
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IPA phonetic symbol |
as in the word... (english or other) |
description |
Greek Script CAP-small in Modern-Standard |
IPA phonetic symbol |
as in the word... (english or other) |
description |
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b |
boat |
voiced bilabial plosive |
MΠ μπ Never [mb] at the beginning of a greek word. in ancient Greek: B β |
mb |
ambitious |
MΠ μπ Always [mb] in the middle of a greek word, but not a foreign word or a loanword. |
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d |
day |
voiced alveolar plosive |
NT ντ Never [nd] at the beginning of a word. in erasmic: Δ δ |
nd |
end |
NT ντ Always [nd] in the middle of a greek word. |
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Note the difference between [ d ] and [ ð ] ♪ |
Also check coubld consonant dz |
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ð |
this but not thin |
voiced dental fricative |
Δ δ |
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Note the difference between [ d ] and [ ð ] ♪ |
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f |
foot |
voiceless labiodental fricative |
Φ φ and sometimes:AY EY HY |
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ɡ (simplified: like letter g) |
go |
voiced velar plosive |
ΓK γκ Never [ng] at the beginning of a greek word. in erasmic: Γ γ |
could be written as ng |
anger |
ΓK γκ ΓΓ γγ Always [ŋg] in the middle of word. |
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Note the difference between [ g ] and [ ŋg ] ♪ |
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could be written as g^ |
gift |
voiced palatal plosive |
could be written as ng^ |
ΓK γκ Never [ŋɟ] at beginning of a greek word. |
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Note the difference between [ g ] and [ ɟ ] ♪ |
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ɣ |
close to gh no english sound |
voiced velar fricative |
Γ γ |
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Note the difference between [ ʝ ] and [ ɣ ] ♪ |
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ʝ |
yes |
palatal approximant |
no special symbol exists check j (jot) hypothetical symbol The sound occurs sometimes written as I (iota) see [ia, ie...] or Γ gamma+[i] or +[e] |
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Note the difference between [ ʝ ] and [ ɣ ] ♪ |
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k |
cool |
voiceless velar plosive |
K κ KK κκ |
Also, check double consonant ks sound |
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c could be written as k^ |
cute |
voiceless palatal plosive before [i] or [e] |
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Note the difference between [ k] and [ c ] ♪ |
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l |
love |
alveolar lateral approximant |
Λ λ ΛΛ λλ |
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could be written as l^ |
tagliatelle |
palatal lateral approximant before [i] |
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Note the difference between [ l ] and [ ʎ ] ♪ |
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m |
mother |
bilabial nasal |
M μ MM μμ |
mɲ |
μια greek: =one(fem.) |
occurs sometimes before [i] sound |
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mp |
imperium (latin) |
MΠ μπ [mp] only for non greek words. |
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mb |
ambitious |
MΠ μπ Never [mb] at beginning of a greek word. Always [mb] in the middle of greek word. |
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could be written as superscript m... |
labiodental nasal |
very rare it may occur in modern greek, when M [m] is followed by [f] or [v] |
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n |
no |
alveolar nasal |
N ν NN νν |
nd |
end |
NT ντ Always [nd] in the middle of a greek word. CHECK /d/. |
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ndz |
- |
NTZ ντζ Always [ndz] in the middle of a word. CHECK /d/. and CHECK /dz/ |
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could be written as n^ |
new |
palatal nasal (rare) |
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Note the difference between [ n ] and [ ɲ ] ♪ |
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sing |
velar nasal (rare) |
rare sound called «άγμα» [ˈaɣma] no particular symbol exists Gamma plays its role. Occurs at these ΓK γκ ΓΓ γγ ΓΞ γξ ΓX γχ combinations. |
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p |
pool |
voiceless bilabial plosive NOT aspirated |
Π π ΠΠ ππ |
pç |
Occurs sometimes when /p/ is followed by /ia, ie, io, iu/ |
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Also check double consonant ps |
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ɾ voiced alveolar flap |
arrow similar to the spanishtap r |
alveolar trill |
P ρ PP ρρ |
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s |
sex |
voiceless alveolar fricative |
Σ σ (ς) ΣΣ σσ |
In greek, there is no ʃ ♪ postalveolar sound as in shop |
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t |
tool |
voiceless alveolar plosive NOT aspirated |
T τ TT ττ |
Also check double consonant ts |
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θ |
thin but not this |
voiceless dental fricative |
Θ θ |
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v |
vote |
voiced labiodental fricative |
B β BB ββ and binary (αυ, ευ, ηυ) |
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x |
scottish Lokh |
voiceless velar fricative |
X χ |
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ç could be written as x^ |
similar to he |
voiceless palatal fricative |
X χ before [i] and [e] and sometimes I ι |
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Note the difference between [ x ] and [ ç ] ♪ |
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z |
zoo |
voiced alveolar fricative |
Z ζ Σ σ before [v,γ,δ,m] |
NOTE that in greek, there is no ♪ postalveolar sound as in french je |
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Also check double consonant dz |
TABLE of GREEK BINARY UTTERANCES (CONSONANTS) |
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IPA phonetic symbol |
as in the word... (english or other) |
Greek Script CAP-small in Modern-Standard and erasmic, if different |
consonants: binary sounds a) written with monogrammes |
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ks |
sex |
Ξ ξ κσ in the middle of compound words |
ps |
lips |
Ψ ψ |
[ ks ps ♪ ] |
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consonants: binary sounds b) written with digrammes |
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t͡s |
nuts |
TΣ τσ τς NOTE that in greek there is no tʃ sound as in church |
d͡z |
dads |
TZ τζ in erasmic: zeta Z NOTE that in greek there is no d ♪ sound as in judge |
[ t͡s d͡z ♪ ] |
TABLE of GREEK BINARY UTTERANCES (2 VOWELS pronounced fast) At webtopos we underline them. |
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DIPHTHONGS (vowels) (two vowel sounds) |
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IPA phonetic symbol |
as in the word... (english or other) |
Greek Script CAP-small in Modern-Standard and erasmic, if different |
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separate ia `ia i`a together i`a = ˈi̯a |
IA ια EIA εια
IA ιά EIA ειά In some cases, pronounced [ʝa, ça, ɲa] but not always. sometimes, pronounced [i a] |
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i`e |
IE ιέ EIE ειέ IE is also pronounced [ʝe] but not always. sometimes, pronounced [ˈi̯e] |
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io i`o ˈi̯o |
IO ιo EIO ειo IO ιó EIO ειό IO is also pronounced [ʝo, ço] but not always. sometimes pronounced [ˈi̯o] |
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iu i`u ˈi̯u |
IOY ιoυ EIOY ειoυ OIOY oιoυ IOY ιoύ EIOY ειoύ OIOY oιoύ IO is also pronounced [ʝu, çu] but not always. sometimes pronounced [ˈi̯u] |
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ai `ai |
[a] [i] |
AÏ αϊ AH αη AI άι AH άη but not always. sometimes, pronounced as one syllable [ˈai̯] (ice) |
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ei |
[e] [i] |
'EI έι EÏ εϊ but not always. sometimes, pronounced as one syllable [ˈei̯] (mail) |
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oi `oi |
[o] [i] |
OÏ oϊ OI όι but not always. sometimes, pronounced as one syllale [ˈoi̯] (point) |
NON-GREEK VOWELS for reference |
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IPA phonetic symbol |
as in the word... (english or other) |
description |
non-greek allophones |
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æ |
cat |
almost open front unrounded |
schwa |
ago ['gυ] |
almost close-mid central unrounded |
α |
arm |
open back unrounded |
ʌ |
cut |
open-mid back unrounded |
ε |
père (french) resembles erasmic pronunciation of ancient greek ETA |
open-mid front unrounded |
ı i with no dot |
sit |
almost close front unrounded |
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saw |
open-mid back rounded |
ʊ |
put |
almost close back rounded |
y |
tu (french) exists in erasmic pronunciation of ancient greek UPSILON |
close front rounded |
non-greek semiphone |
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w |
wet |
approximant |
see the early, abandoned greek letter digamma |