Greek alphabet

The Greek language is written in the Greek alphabet, developed in classical times (ca 9th century B.C.) and passed down to the present. It is the world's oldest alphabet in use today. In ancient Greece its letters were also used to represent numbers, called Greek numerals, analogous to Roman numerals. Besides writing modern Greek, today its letters are used as mathematical symbols, as names of stars and fraternities and sororities, and for other purposes, such as names of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, should the given name list be used up (although as of October, 2005 this has never happened).

Letter combinations and diphthongs

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Letters

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Pronunciation

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Latin transliteration

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archaic

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classical

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modern

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Iota subscript

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Open front unrounded vowel

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a

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αι

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Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel

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ae

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ει

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Close front unrounded vowel

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i

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Iota subscript

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Close front unrounded vowel

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e

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οι

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Close front unrounded vowel

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oe, i (final)

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υι

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Close front unrounded vowel

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ui

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Iota subscript

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Close-mid back rounded vowel#Mid back rounded vowel

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o

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αυ

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before vowel or voiced consonant; before voiceless sound

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au, av

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ευ

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before vowel or voiced consonant; before voiceless sound

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eu, ev

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ηυ

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before vowel or voiced consonant; before voiceless sound

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eu

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ου

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Close back rounded vowel

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u, ou

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γγ*

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in formal speech (palatalised to before Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel or Close front unrounded vowel), but often reduced to Voiced velar plosive (palatalised to Voiced palatal plosive before Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel or Close front unrounded vowel);also pronounced in some contexts (palatalised to before Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel)

Related Topics:
Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel - Close front unrounded vowel - Voiced velar plosive - Voiced palatal plosive

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ng

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γκ*

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at the beginning of a word (palatalised to Voiced palatal plosive before Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel or Close front unrounded vowel); otherwise (palatalised to before Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel or Close front unrounded vowel), but often reduced to Voiced velar plosive (palatalised to Voiced palatal plosive before Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel or Close front unrounded vowel)

Related Topics:
Voiced palatal plosive - Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel - Close front unrounded vowel - Voiced velar plosive

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nc, nk

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γξ*

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nx, nks

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γχ*

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before Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel or Close front unrounded vowel; otherwise

Related Topics:
Close-mid front unrounded vowel#Mid front unrounded vowel - Close front unrounded vowel

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nch, nkh

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μπ

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-

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-

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Voiced bilabial plosive at the beginning of a word; otherwise, but often reduced to Voiced bilabial plosive

Related Topics:
Voiced bilabial plosive

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mp

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ντ

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-

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Voiced alveolar plosive at the beginning of a word; otherwise, but often reduced to Voiced alveolar plosive

Related Topics:
Voiced alveolar plosive

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nt

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• Some scholars see Velar nasal (agma) as a phoneme in its own right.