Chapter 7: The Rest of the Alphabet and New Words

 

Day 1: The letter pi

• It is a consonant.
• It is pronounced like "p."

Greek	Pi	Form
π	pi	small
Π	pi	capital

Day 2: The letter phi

• It is a consonant.
• It is pronounced like "ph."

Greek	Phi	Form
φ	phi	small
Φ	phi	capital

• The "tail" of the small letter goes below the line.

Day 3: The letter psi

• It is a consonant.
• It is pronounced like "ps" as in "taps."

Greek	Psi	Form
ψ	psi	small
Ψ	psi	capital

And you have completed the alphabet! Congratulations.

Day 4: New word: word

• λόγος, ὁ
• Pronounced like this: lo-gos
• Both the "o" sounds are short, like in "stop."
• New exercise: sound out the letters. Practice here and then look below: λ ο γ ο ς
• lambda-omicron-gamma-omicron-final sigma
  • Whenever you see ς call it the final sigma to separate it from σ.
• It is masculine and so uses the masculine definite article, ὁ
• Remember that this has a rough breathing mark (like an open single quotation mark) and so is pronounced like "h." This definite article is pronounced like "hot" with no "t": "ho" with a short "o."
• From John 1:1: In the beginning was ὁ λόγος

Day 5: New word: brother

• ἀδελφός, ὁ
• Pronounced like this: a-del-phos
• Short "a" then "del" like "dale" then "phos" like "phosphate" with a short "o."
• It has a smooth breathing mark (like a single closed quotation mark) and so makes no sound.
• Sound out the letters: α δ ε λ φ ο ς
• alpha-delta-epsilon-lambda-phi-omicron-final sigma
• It is also masculine and so uses the masculine definite article.

Day 6: New word: messenger, angel

• ἄγγελος, ὁ
• This word has a special pronunciation rule
  • Whenever you see a gamma γ followed by a gamma, kappa, chi, or xi (γ, κ, χ, ξ) the gamma is pronounced like an "n."
  • I will always tell you when this happens.
  • This word has that special rule in the second and third letters.
• It begins with a smooth breathing mark, and so it does not have an "h" sound.
• Pronounced like this: an-ge-los. The first gamma is pronounced like an "n."
• "an" with a short "a" then "ge" like "get" then "los" like on "Los Angelos."
• Sound out the letters: α γ γ ε λ ο ς
• alpha-gamma-gamma-epsilon-lambda-omicron-final sigma
• It is masculine.

Weekly exercises

Review the vocabulary list at the end of the document before trying these.

1. ἰχθύς ἢ λόγος
2. ὁ ἀδελφός ἢ ὁ υἱός
3. οὐ λόγος
4. οὐκ ἰχθύς
5. οὐχ ὁ ἰχθύς

Answers

1. A fish or a word. Remember, Greek does not have a word for "a." Therefore if you do not see the definite article (the) then you add "a."
2. The brother or the son
3. Not a word. This is the form of "not" you use before a consonant.
4. Not a fish. This is the form of "not" you use before a vowel with smooth breathing mark.
5. Not the fish. This is the form of "not" you use before a vowel with a rough breathing mark.

Questions/comments/confusion? Feel free to email me.

What you have learned so far

1. Alphabet

Greek small	Greek capital	English name	Sound
α	Α	alpha	short a
β	Β	beta	b
γ	Γ	gamma	g
δ	Δ	delta	d
ε	Ε	epsilon	short e
ζ	Ζ	zeta	z
η	Η	eta	ay
θ	Θ	theta	th
ι	Ι	iota	i/ee
κ	Κ	kappa	k
λ	Λ	lambda	l
μ	Μ	mu	m
ν	Ν	nu	n
ξ	Ξ	xi	x
ο	Ο	omicron	o
π	Π	pi	p
ρ	Ρ	rho	r
σ ς	Σ	sigma	s
τ	Τ	tau	t
υ	Υ	upsilon	u
φ	Φ	phi	ph
χ	Χ	chi	ch
ψ	Ψ	psi	ps
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.

5. Definite article

• ὁ This is the masculine definite article and will be in front of masculine nouns.
• ἡ This is the feminine definite article and will be in front of feminine nouns.
• τό This is the neuter definite article and will be in front of neuter nouns.

6. "A"

• Greek does not have a word for "a."

Vocabulary (this will always be in alphabetical order)

All the words you have learned so far are masculine.

ἀδελφός, ὁ	brother
ἄγγελος, ὁ	messenger, angel
ἢ	or
θεός, ὁ	God
Ἰησοῦς	Jesus
ἰχθύς, ὁ	fish
λόγος, ὁ	word
οὐ, οὐκ, οὐχ	not before a consonant, before smooth breathing, before rough breathing
σωτήρ, ὁ	savior
υἱός, ὁ	son
Χριστός, ὁ	Christ