clas22Syllabus

Lesson 1

The Greek Alphabet

Characters	Names	Sounds	English transliteration
Α, α	alpha	father	a
Β, β	beta	boy	b
Γ, γ	gamma	go	g (sometimes n)
Δ, δ	delta	do	d
Ε, ε	epsilon	men	e
Ζ, ζ	zeta	adze	z
Η, η	eta	hate	e, a (both as long vowels)
Θ, θ	theta	thick	th
Ι, ι	iota	ravine	i
Κ, κ	kappa	ski	c, k
Λ, λ	lambda	leave	l
Μ, μ	mu	move	m
Ν, ν	nu	no	n
Ξ, ξ	xi	wax	x
Ο, ο	omicron	horse	o
Π, π	pi	part	p
Ρ, ρ	rho	red	r
Σ, σ, ς (ϲ)	sigma	song	s
Τ, τ	tau	take	t
Υ. υ	upsilon	like French u *	y, sometimes u, and sometimes v
Φ, φ	phi	phone	ph, sometimes f
Χ, χ	chi	key	ch
Ψ, ψ	psi	caps	ps
Ω, ω	omega	vote	o
*To make a French u, round your lips while trying to say a long e.

Letters already obsolete in ancient Greek

Ϙ, ϙ

koppa

obsolete letter used for numbers in ancient Greek
became q in Roman alphabet: sounded like /k/

sampi

obsolete letter used for numbers in ancient Greek
sounded like /ss/

Ϝ, ϝ

digamma

obsolete letter: sounded like /w/
Greek ϝεργ- > erg, energy, which is a cognate of work

DIPHTHONGS (δι- di- "two" + φθογγος phthongos "sound")

A "diphthong" is composed of two vowels, but it only creates one syllable in words.
In sound, it glides from one vowel into another.

The Greek diphthongs
Greek spelling	English transliteration	English pronunciation
αι	ae, æ, e (long e)	he
ει	ei, i	high, bye
οι	oe, œ, e (long e)	economy
αυ	au	auto
ευ	eu	you
ου	ou, u	loop

NOTES:

When gamma (γ) comes before itself or -κ, -χ, or -ξ, it is transliterated n: -γγ- > -ng-, -γκ- > -nk-, -γχ- > -nch-, -γξ- > -nx-

ἄγγελος is transliterated angelos (> angel).
ἄγκυρα is transliterated ankyra (> anchor: what is unusual about this transliteration? it's a "hypercorrection")
παρέγχυμα is transliterated parenchyma
φάρυγξ is transliterated pharynx
-κ, -χ, or -ξ are called "palatal" or "velar," because the sounds they represent use the palate (the hard part of the roof of the mouth) or the velum (the soft part of the roof of the mouth)

Sigma has two versions:

Two-formed version (used in most Greek texts): in this version, sigma is σ at the start of or within a word (so-called 'initial' or 'medial' positions), but ς in final position (at the end of a word).
"Lunate sigma" is ϲ in any position (used in papyri, for example).

Our letter aitch (H or h) is not a letter in the Greek alphabet: it is represented by a "rough breathing" (aka "spiritus asper") above an initial vowel or diphthong. The rough breathing mark looks like a backwards apostrophe.

ἁ, ἑ, ἡ, ἱ, ὁ, ὡ, ὑ
αὑ, αἱ, οὑ, εὑ, οἱ, etc. (which are diphthongs)

Rho always has a rough breathing in initial position (at the start of a word). When rho starts a syllable in the middle of a word, it is doubled, and the second rho has a rough breathing.

ῥυθμός (> rhythm)
κατάῤῥους (> catarrh)
Now you know how to spell logorrhea, rhight?

Every Greek word that begins with a vowel has a breathing mark: to mark the presence of /h/, a "rough" breathing is used (aka "spiritus asper"), while to mark the absence of /h/, a "smoothe" breathing mark is used (aka "spiritus lenis"). It looks like an apostrophe.

ἀ-, ἐ-, ἠ-, ἰ-, ὀ-, ὠ-, ὐ-
αὐ-, αἰ-, οὐ-, οἰ-, εὐ-, etc. (diphthongs: note that the breathing mark goes on the second vowel of a diphthong)

Most Greek words have accents, which are the diacritics above the vowels

The acute (΄) marks a rising tone (but most modern folks pronounce it as a stress mark).
The grave (`) marks a falling tone (but moderns can safely ignore it in pronunciation).
And the circumflex (῀) marks yet another tonal pattern (which English speakers make regularly but don't know how to make consciously).

Upsilon very occasionally becomes v, as in the diphthong ευ (usually eu) in evangelist and evzone (etymologically "well-girdled"), and the soup avgolemono (etymologically "egg lemon", from Modern Greek αυγολέμονο).

EXERCISES

1. Write in Roman letters the Greek words in the following list. All are English words (you may have to change them slightly to get the English word). Look up their meaning in English too, if you don't know it already.

γνῶσις gnosis
ἀμοιβή amoeba
σῦριγξ syrinx (panpipe: cf. syringe)
διατριβή diatribe
ψυχή psyche
λάρυγξ larynx
διαῤῥοῖα diarrhea
δίφθογγος diphthong(os)
παρέγχυμα parenchyma

φοῖνιξ phoenix
ἄγκυρα ankyra (anchor)
φύσις physis
νόμος nomos
λόγος logos
θεσμοθέτης thesmothete (cf. nomothete)
φαρμακεία pharmakeia
ἀνακολούθον anakolouthon
πάθος pathos

2. Write in Roman letters the following Greek names

Ἀλκιβιάδης Alcibiades
Ἡρακλῆς Heracles
Ὑάκινθος Hyakinthos
ΔΗΜΟΣΘΕΝΗΣ Demosthenes
ΣΑΛΑΜΙΣ Salamis

ΘΕΡΜΟΠΥΛΑΙ Thermopylai
Ὠρίων Orion
Ζεύς Zeus
Ἑλένη Helena
Ἀριστοτέλης Aristoteles

3. Write the following names and English words in Greek letters (don't try to look up the Greek originals until after you try to transliterate them)

Oedipus Οἰδίπους
Medea Μήδεια
Alexander ἀλέξανδρος
syringe σῦριγξ / -ιγγος
phalanx φάλαγξ
hoplite ὁπλίτης (cf. panoply or hoplophoneus [a "murderous armed" sabertooth cat genus])
politeia πολιτεία

Clytaemnestra κλυταιμνήστρα
Agamemnon ἀγάμεμνον
Electra ἠλέκτρα
tragedy τραγῳδία
comedy κωμῳδία
drama δράμα
stigmata στίγματα

3. Look up words that begin with leuk- and leuc- in the OED. The OED gives the most prevalent spelling as the headword. In what century are the citations for headwords beginning with leuk-? what about headwords beginnning with leuc-? What pattern do you notice and why do you think that pattern arose?

In mid-20th century, the k became more and more used for new words. The c starts appearing around 1700.

4. Give the meaning and etymology of the following English words:

alpha, first in a series, particles/rays, dominant, first in order (chemistry, stars, etc.)
beta, particles/rays, second in order (chemistry, stars, etc.)
gamma, photo/TV contrast/brightness, magnetic intensity unit, gamma rays, microgram, third in order (chemistry, stars, etc.)
delta, various triangular technical things (electrical coil arrangement, e.g.), change (physics/math), fourth in order (chemical, stars, etc.)
epsilon, an arbitrarily small positive quantity in math
iota, an infinitesimal amount (ordinary usage)
lambda, 1/1000th of a cubic centimeter, junction in cranial bones, a subatomic particle
omega, the last, an ending, an elementary particle, chemical uses (omega-3 and omega 6 fatty acids)
chi-rho, a Christian monogram, symbol of Christ
pi, ratio of circumference of a circle to its diameter
jot, a tiny amount
zed, the letter z

cedilla, little zeta
sigmoid, shaped like sigma
deltoid, shaped like a capital delta
hypsiloid, looks like a capital upsilon
lambdodont: should be zalambdodont (very-lambda-toothed: insectivorous mammals including tenrecs and some sort of mole)
sigmodont, used of rodents--having bituberculate molars
etapteris: paleozoic ferns (pteris means fern)
deltiocephalus, a leafhopper insect (google search works)
agammaglobulinemia, blood condition
gamut: from Medieval Latin : gamma is lowest note on the Guidonian scale (a basic tool of music pedagogy in middle ages), and ut is the lowest note of each hexachord of the Guidonian scale: indicates a whole range.
chiastic/chiasmus: arranged like an x: series abba.

5. More Greek words that are simply transliterations of Greek words: fill in the middle column.

Greek Word	English Transliteration	Greek Meaning
ἀνεμώνη	anemone	windflower
ἄνθραξ	anthrax	hot coal
μάρτυρ	martyr	witness
σφίγξ	sphinx	sphinx
φαινόμενον	phainomenon	thing shown
χαρακτήρ	character	engraver
βάθος	bathos	depth
τέλος	telos	goal

matching:

alpha	1. sphinx
beta	2. Heracles
μάρτυρ	3. Electra
σ	4. diphthong
jot	5. ἄνθραξ
chi-rho	6. second
windflower	7. phalanx
σφίγξ	8. cedilla
δίφθογγος	9. Hyacinth
hot coal	10. martyr
deltoid	11. ἄγγελος
χαρακτήρ	12. psyche
ἠλέκτρα	13. character
zed	14. first
φάλαγξ	15. ς
Ἡρακλῆς	16. shaped like Δ
a gamma that is pronounced as /n/	17. pharmacy
Ὑάκινθος	18. Christ
φαρμακεία	19. ἀνεμώνη
ψυχή	20. iota