Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek refers to the stage in the history of the Greek language corresponding to Classical Antiquity, which normally applies on two ancient periods of Greek history: Archaic and Classic Greece. The Ancient era of Greek history normally includes also the Hellenistic (post-Classic) age, however that period formally composes its own stage in the Greek Language known as Hellenistic Greek. For information on the Greek language prior to the creation of the Greek alphabet, see articles Mycenaean Greek and Proto-Greek.

Sounds

Non-Greek scholars believe the pronunciation of Modern Greek has changed considerably from Ancient Greek, although the orthography still reflects features of the older language. See W. Sidney Allen, Vox Graeca – a guide to the pronunciation of Classical Greek. Cambridge University Press, 1974. ISBN 0-521-20626-X. Allen's "Vox Graeca" is refuted by Chrys C. Caragounis in "The error of Erasmus and un-greek pronunciations of Greek" which was published in Filologia Neotestamentaria 8 (1995), pp. 151-185.

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The examples below are intended to represent Attic Greek in the 5th century BC. Although ancient pronunciation can never be reconstructed with certainty, Greek in particular is very well documented from this period, and there is little disagreement among non-Greek scholars as to the general nature of the sounds that the letters represented. Greek scholars on the other hand prefer to use modern pronunciation.

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Vowels

Short vowels

The short e (ε in Greek orthography) is shown in the table as mid close vowel {{IPA|}} but it may have been nearer to {{IPA|}}.

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Front

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Back

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Close unrounded

Related Topics:
Close - Unrounded

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Close front unrounded vowel

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Close rounded

Related Topics:
Close - Rounded

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Close front rounded vowel

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Close-mid

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Close-mid front unrounded vowel

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Close-mid back rounded vowel

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Open

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Open front unrounded vowel

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Long Vowels

The (ου in Greek orthography) may still have been in the fifth century.

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Front

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Back

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Close unrounded

Related Topics:
Close - Unrounded

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Close front unrounded vowel

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Close rounded

Related Topics:
Close - Rounded

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Close front rounded vowel

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Close back rounded vowel

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Close-mid

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Close-mid front unrounded vowel

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Open-mid

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Open-mid front unrounded vowel

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Open back rounded vowel

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Open

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Open front unrounded vowel

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Consonants

Erasmian Model

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Note: was an allophone of , used before voiced consonants, and in particular in the combination written as zeta ( ζ ). The (voiceless r) written as rho with a rough breathing ( {{polytonic|ῥ}} ) was probably an allophone of .

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Greek philologists have challenged the Erasmian derivations since the 19th century and this has resulted in stalemate. The following Greek model is proposed for the Attic Greek consonants.

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Greek Model

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