For your first set of consonants, you will learn the consonants that come
in a nice series of four variations: voiced, unvoiced, aspirated, and compounded
with s. | |
|
For your first set of consonants, you will learn the consonants that come
in a nice series of four variations: voiced, unvoiced, aspirated, and compounded
with s.
It is important to understand the relationship between these consonants, since you will see that in different situations, these letters will alternate with one another. Here is a table to give you an overview of these relationships:
| voiced | voiceless | aspirated | plus s |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
(missing) |
Some basic notes are provided here - but just click on the big blue letter if you want to learn more!
Tip on practicing consonant pronunciation. When you practice the vowels, put a simple "ah" sound with them: so when you practice "beta" say "bah bah bah", and when you practice gamma say "gah gah dah" and when you practice "delta" say "dah dah dah", etc. Then, after you know the letters of the alphabet, you can practice sounding out real words.
Of course you can pick any vowel sound you want to combine with the consonants, so if you prefer to say "boh boh boh" or "bi bi bi", that's fine - pick the vowel sound that is the most appealing to you.
 |
Beta. The beta looks basically like the English "b" so you won't have any trouble recognizing it. Beta is pronounced like the "b" sound in "big". |
 |
 |
Pi. The pi is probably familiar to you from math class! It does not look anything like the English letter "p" so make sure you practice this one! Pi is pronounced like the "p" sound in "play". |
 |
 |
Phi. The phi is probably not familiar to you, and it is easy to confuse lower-case phi with lower-case psi (see below). So make sure you practice this letter carefully. Phi can be pronounced in two ways. Many people just pronounce it like the "f" sound in "fall" (or like in the Greek derivative "phone"). However, if you want to really aspirate the phi (and it is an aspirated letter), you can pronounced it like the "p h" in the phrase "top hat" (pay attention to what happens to the p sound in your mouth: can you get a sense of the aspiration?). Most people choose to pronounce the phi like "f". In some cases, however, the phi is really just a pi that has been aspirated, and you might prefer to pronounce it as "p-h". It's easier to recognize the relationship between pi and phi when you pronounce it as a true aspirate. |
 |
 |
Psi. The psi is a hard letter to get used to, and it is very easy to confuse the lower-case psi with lower-case phi. Make sure you get used to the difference forms of these letters! Psi is pronounced like the "ps" sound in "caps". (Notice that in Greek "ps" can come at the beginning of a word too, even though in English we do not do that! So if you want to show off your Greek you can start going around saying "p-sychology" and "p-sychic"...!) |
 |
 |
Gamma. The gamma is also not an easy letter to get used to, and the upper- and lower-case forms are quite different. Make sure you practice this letter! Gamma is pronounced like the "g" in "go". |
 |
 |
Kappa. The kappa looks basically like the English "k" so you won't have any trouble recognizing it. Kappa is pronounced like the "k" in "kite". |
 |
 |
Chi. The chi looks like the English letter "x" - but it does not sound like the English letter "x" ... so be careful! Chi is pronounced like the "k h" in the phrase "look hard" (pay attention to what happens to the k sound in your mouth: can you get a sense of the aspiration?). |
 |
 |
Xi (pronounced ksi). The xi is a very pretty letter, but it takes some practice to learn how to write it properly. Make sure you practice this one a lot! It often takes a long time to get used to it. Xi is pronounced like the "x" in "box". |
 |
 |
Delta. The delta resembles the English letter "d" so it should not be too hard to get used to it. You may already know delta from its use in physics. Delta is pronounced like the "d" in "day". |
 |
 |
Tau. The tau looks basically like the English "t" so you won't have any trouble recognizing it. Tau is pronounced like the "t" in "time". |
 |
 |
Theta. Theta is an easy letter to learn to recognize (I think it is pretty!) Theta can be pronounced in two ways. Many people just pronounce it like the "th" sound in "thing" (or like in the Greek derivative "theory"). However, if you want to really aspirate the theta (and it is an aspirated letter), you can pronounced it like the "t h" in the phrase "cat house" (pay attention to what happens to the t sound in your mouth: can you get a sense of the aspiration?). Most people choose to pronounce the theta like "th". In some cases, however, the theta is really just a tau that has been aspirated, and you might prefer to pronounce it as "t-h". It's easier to recognize the relationship between tau and theta when you pronounce it as a true aspirate. |
 |
Okay: now you are ready to practice these consonants! Here are some flashcards and games at QUIA that will help you to do that! (There are three different font sets used here, so you can get used to some different styles of Greek writing.)
 |
Consonants: Set 2 |
Consonants: Set 3 |
|
|
Biblical Greek Online. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. Page last updated: April 9, 2005 8:06 PM |
