Help:IPA/Greek

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|+ ConsonantsAncient Greek had geminate consonants, pronounced longer than single ones, which may be transcribed by a double consonant letter {{angbr IPA|ss}} or the length symbol {{angbr IPA|sː}}. Modern Standard Greek does not have geminate consonants, but some nonstandard dialects do.

! IPA !! {{abbr|AG|Ancient Greek orthography}} !! {{abbr|MG|Modern Greek orthography}} !! Example !! English approximation

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|κ}}

| {{lang|el|κιόλας}}In Modern Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|κ; γκ, γγ; γ; χ}}}} are pronounced as palatal {{IPA|[c, ɟ, ʝ, ç]}} before the front vowels {{IPA|[e i]}}, and velar {{IPA|[k, ɡ, ɣ, x]}} in other cases.

| skew

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|κ}}

| {{lang|el|κατά}}{{angbr|{{lang|grc|ζ}}}} represented the cluster {{IPA|[zd]}} in Classical Attic, but it represents {{IPA|[z]}} in Modern Greek. In both Ancient and Modern Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|σ}}}} is pronounced as voiced {{IPA|[z]}} before a voiced consonant.

| scar

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|χ}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|χάρτης}}

| car

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| style="text-align: center;" rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|χ}}

| Scottish English loch, German Bach

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| {{lang|el|χέρι}}

| hue

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ι}}

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| {{lang|el|εἴη}}In Ancient Greek, a diphthong before a vowel was realised as a vowel and a double semivowel sequence: {{IPA|[jj, ww]}}.

| toy yacht

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| style="text-align: center;" rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|γ}}

|{{lang|el|γη}}

| similar to yes

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| rowspan="2" |{{lang|el|γάλα}}

| Spanish amigo

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|γ}}

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| rowspan="2" | again

| style="text-align: center;" rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|γκ}}
{{lang|el|γγ}}

| {{lang|el|εγκώμιο}}In Modern Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|μπ, ντ, γκ, γγ}}}} are pronounced as prenasalised voiced stops {{IPA|[mb, nd, ɲɟ, ŋɡ]}} or voiced stops without nasalisation {{IPA|[b, d, ɟ, ɡ]}}.

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| {{lang|el|άγγελος}}

| argue

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|π}}

| {{lang|el|πέτρα}}

| spy

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|φ}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|φως}}

| paint

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|φ}}

| four

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|β, υ}}In Modern Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|υ}}}}, in {{angbr|{{lang|el|αυ ευ ηυ}}}}, is pronounced as {{IPA|[f]}} before a voiceless consonant or at the end of the word and {{IPA|[v]}} otherwise. In Ancient Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|αυ ευ ηυ}}}} were diphthongs {{IPA|[au̯ eu̯ ɛːu̯]}}.

| rowspan="2" |{{lang|el|βέλος}}

| vet

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|β}}

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| rowspan="2" | about

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|μπ}}

| {{lang|el|μπαμπάς}}

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|υ}}

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| {{lang|el|παύω}}

| well

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|τ}}

| {{lang|el|τάφος}}

| stay

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|θ}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|θεός}}

| take

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|θ}}

| thought

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|δ}}

| rowspan="2" |{{lang|el|δούλη}}

| the

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|δ}}

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| rowspan="2" | today

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ντ}}

| {{lang|el|εντάξει}}

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|῾◌}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|grc|ἥρως}}The rough breathing {{angbr|{{lang|grc|῾}}}} represented {{IPA|[h]}} before a vowel, and the smooth breathing {{angbr|{{lang|grc|᾿}}}} represented the absence of {{IPA|[h]}}.

| hat

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|λ}}

| {{lang|el|λόγος}}

| look

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|λ}}

| {{lang|el|ελιά}}

| million

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|μ}}

| {{lang|el|μοίρα}}

| mole

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|ν}}

| {{lang|el|ναι}}

| no

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ν}}

| {{lang|el|νιότη}}

| onion

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|γ}}

| {{lang|el|άγχος}}

| sing

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|ρ}}

| {{lang|el|ώρα}}

| similar to American English autumn or Scottish ruleIn Modern Greek, it is typically a tap {{IPAblink|ɾ̠}}, but may be an alveolar approximant {{IPAblink|ɹ}} between vowels, like English r, and is usually a trill {{IPAblink|r}} in clusters, trilled r like in Spanish, with two or three short cycles {{harvcol|Arvaniti|2007|p=15}}.

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ῥ}}

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| {{lang|grc|ῥίζα}}

| similar to train

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|σ, ς}}
{{lang|el|ξ, ψ}}

| {{lang|el|σοφός, ψυχή, ξένος}}

| between sip and ship (retracted)

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|ζ, σ}}

| {{lang|el|κόσμος, ζωή}}

| between zone and genre (retracted)

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|ξ}}

| {{lang|el|ξένος}}

| tax

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|ψ}}

| {{lang|el|ψυχή}}

| lapse

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|τσ}}

| {{lang|el|τσάι}}

| between cats and catch (retracted)

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ζ}}

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|τζ}}

| {{lang|el|τζάκι}}

| between buds and budge (retracted)

|+ Dialectal segments

! IPA !! English approximation

| rowspan="2" | ship

| rowspan="2" | genre

| rowspan="2" | catch

| rowspan="2" | budge

| cat

| marks a consonant produced twice as long

|+ Vowels

! colspan="5" | Monophthongs

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ᾰ}}

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|α}}

| {{lang|el|άρτος}}

| Australian English father

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ᾱ}}

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| {{lang|el|χώρᾱ}}

| father

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|η}}

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| {{lang|el|ψυχή}}

| bed

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | {{lang|el|ε}}In Modern Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|ε, αι}}}} represent {{IPA|[e]}}, and {{angbr|{{lang|el|ο, ω}}}} represent {{IPA|[o]}}. In Ancient Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|ε, ο}}}} represented {{IPA|[e, o]}}, {{angbr|{{lang|el|ω}}}} represented {{IPA|[ɔː]}} and {{angbr|{{lang|el|αι}}}} represented the diphthong {{IPA|[ai̯]}}.

| {{lang|el|θεός}}

| bet

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ει}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|el|εἰμί}}In archaic and some dialectal Greek ⟨ει⟩ represented the true diphthong [ei̯] but in inter alia Attic Greek, [ei̯] and [eː] later merged into the latter hence ⟨ει⟩ is a spurious diphthong, i.e. it actually represents the monophthong [eː].

| similar to bay but without the glide

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ῐ}}

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ι}}In Modern Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|el|η, ῃ, ει, ι, οι, υ, υι}}}} all represent {{IPA|[i]}}, but they were pronounced {{IPA|[ɛː, ɛːi̯, eː, ei̯, i(ː) oi̯, y(ː), yi̯]}} in Ancient Greek. The large number of vowel mergers into {{IPA|[i]}} is called iotacism.

| {{lang|el|ίδιος}}

| like neat

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ῑ}}

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| {{lang|el|πίνω}}

| like need

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ω}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|ἐγώ}}

| talk (Irish or South African English)

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ω}}

| rowspan="2" | chore

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ου}}

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| rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|μου}}

| pool (long)

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| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ου}}

| pool (short)

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ῠ}}

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| {{lang|el|φύσις}}

| similar to few, French tu

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ῡ}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|el|ψυχή}}

| similar to fume, French juge

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|αι}}

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| {{lang|grc|αἴτιος, πάλαι, ψῡχαί}}

| rowspan="2" | tie

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|αϊ}}Also ⟨άι⟩ and sometimes ⟨άϊ⟩.

|γαϊδούρι

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|αυ}}

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| {{lang|grc|αὐτός}}

| rowspan="2" | how

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|αου}}

|Νικολάου

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ει}}

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| {{lang|grc|εἴη}}

| rowspan="2" | hey

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|έι}}Also ⟨εϊ⟩ and sometimes ⟨έϊ⟩.

|

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ευ}}

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| {{lang|grc|εὖ}}

| rowspan="2" | Italian and Spanish neutro

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|εου}}

|Θέουτα

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|οι}}

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| {{lang|grc|οἶδα, λόγοι}}

| rowspan="2" | toy

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|όι}}Also ⟨οϊ⟩ and sometimes ⟨όϊ⟩.

|κορόιδο

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|υι}}

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| {{lang|grc|υἱός}}

| No English equivalent

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ᾳ}}

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| {{lang|grc|ᾄδω, χώρᾳ}}In early Ancient Greek, {{angbr|{{lang|grc|ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ}}}} were diphthongs, but the second element {{IPA|[i̯]}} was lost soon after the Classical period, and they merged with {{angbr|{{lang|grc|ᾱ, η, ω}}}}.

| No English equivalent

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ῃ}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|grc|ᾖς, ψυχῇ}}

| No English equivalent

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|ῳ}}

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| {{lang|grc|ᾠδή, λόγῳ}}

| No English equivalent

! colspan=5 | Suprasegmentals

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|grc|´}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|grc|γάλα}} {{IPA|[ɡála]}}

| high tone

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|grc|´}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|grc|ἐγώ}} {{IPA|[eɡɔ̌ː]}}

| rising tone

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|grc|`}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|grc|μὲν}} {{IPA|[men]}}

| mid tone

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|grc|῀}}

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| {{lang|grc|γῆ}} {{IPA|[ɡɛ̂ː]}}

| falling tone

| style="background-color: darkgray" |

| style="text-align: center;" | {{lang|el|΄}}

| rowspan="2" | {{lang|el|άλλος}} {{IPA|[ˈa.los]}}

| stress

| colspan="2" |

| syllable break