Chapter 3: Learning about the fish symbol used to represent Christianity: Ichthus
(continued into the next chapter)

 

(Note: Using a fish symbol to represent Christianity is more popular in the Global North/Minority World than in the Global South/Majority World)

Lesson 1: The letter theta

• It is pronounced like "th" in "think," not like the "th" in "the."

Greek	Small	Capital
Theta	θ	Θ

Lesson 2: Now you have "ichthus"

• ἰχθύς
• Pronounced like this: ick-thoose (like moose or goose with a "th").
• Notice it has a smooth breathing mark at the front and an accent on the second syllable.

Lesson 3: The letter alpha

• It is a vowel.
• Pronounced like the "a" in "father."

Greek	Small	Capital
Alpha	α	Α

Lesson 4: The letter omega

• It is a vowel.
• It is pronounced like a long "o."

Greek	Small	Capital
Omega	ω	Ω

Lesson 5: A simple word you can form using a letter you have learned so far

• ἢ means or.
  • It has an accent and a smooth breathing mark.

Lesson 6: Another word you can form using letters you have learned so far: son

• υἱός
  • This can be confusing because it has three vowels together. The first two form a diphthong so that the word is divided like this: υἱ-ός
  • Pronounced: ui (like in suite)-os ("o" like in "sock").
  • Notice it has a smooth breathing mark and an accent.

What you have learned so far

1. Alphabet

Greek small	Greek capital	English name	Sound
α	Α	alpha	short a
η	Η	eta	ay
θ	Θ	theta	th
ι	Ι	iota	i/ee
ο	Ο	omicron	o
ρ	Ρ	rho	r
σ ς	Σ	sigma	s
τ	Τ	tau	t
υ	Υ	upsilon	u
χ	Χ	chi	ch
ω	Ω	omega	long o

2. Breathing marks and "h" sound: week 2

3. Accents: week 2

4. Diphthongs from letters we have covered so far: week 2

• οι ου υι
• You can memorize them if you want. Or you can wait and I will tell you if each new word has a diphthong or not.

6. Vocabulary (this will always be in alphabetical order)

ἢ	or
Ἰησοῦς	Jesus
ἰχθύς	fish
υἱός	son
Χριστὀς	Christ