Beta Code

Learn about Beta Code

In order to type in Greek, you will need to learn Beta Code, which is a way of representing the Greek alphabet with Roman letters. (There are also ways to represent the breathing marks and accent marks in Beta Code as well, but you do not need to learn this now.) For this assignment, you will learn Beta Code, and in your next assignment you will use Beta Code to do some typing in Greek.

In Beta Code, each Greek letter is represented by a single Roman letter - so the Greek letter phi is represented by f rather than by ph. For the most part, the letters used are what you would expect - with a few exceptions. The letters you need to be especially aware of are highlighted here in yellow:

Upper- and lower- case. Beta Code does not distinguish between upper and lower-case letters. ADAM is the same as adam in Beta Code. To create an upper-case letter in Beta Code, put an asterisk in front of it.

Αδαμ = *adam, *Adam, *ADAM (all the same result)

Practice Beta Code

To practice Beta Code, write out in Beta Code the Greek names you see listed below. You can see the all the answers on the Answer Key, but you can also get a hint on this page - just use your mouse to highlight the table cell (or just double-click inside the cell) and you will be able to see the Beta Code.

And remember: make lots of noise while you do this exercise. You will learn so much more if you say the words out loud as you write them!

Beta Code Quiz

When you have mastered this material, take the Beta Code Quiz at Desire2Learn. You may take the quiz as often as you want, and the average score of all your attempts is what will be recorded in the Gradebook. The quiz will be available until Monday midnight, August 29.

Here is what you will be asked to do on the quiz:

Beta Code System : You will need to be able to identify transcribe in Beta Code a series of Greek names. There will be 10 Greek letter name questions, chosen at random = 100% of the quiz grade.