Modern Greek/Lesson 5x

This is the fifth lesson and second-to-last lesson teaching you how to read, write and pronounce Greek.

The first new letter you'll learn is Phi:

Φ φ

Neither of the letters has any resemblance to English letters. The pronunciation is familiar though: it's just like an English F (IPA [f]). If English derived a word containing Phi from Greek, it is typically spelled with ph instead of simply f - just like in the letter name "Phi" itself. Practise using the following Greek words:

φιλοσοφία φιλμ φεμινισμός φαρμακείο ελέφαντας Φίλιπ Αφρική Σαν Φρανσίσκο

The next letter is easier again. This is Zeta:

Ζ ζ

The capital Zeta looks like a Z and the small Zeta looks like a more curvy version of it. It's pronounced as an English Z (IPA [z]), too. Easy, isn't it? Example words:

ντίζελ Βραζιλία Τερέζα Βενεζουέλα Ζάμπια Ζιμπάμπουε Καζακστάν Νέα Ζηλανδία

An interesting combination in Greek is Tau-Zeta:

Τζ τζ

This is pronounced as a combination of the sounds of Tau and Zeta (IPA [dz]). Although "j" is a letter in the English alphabet, there is no such letter in Greek. Instead, we use τζ, whose combined sounds make the "j" sound. τζ is not a letter in the Greek alphabet. It is what the previous statement says, just a sound coming from a combination of letters. In words derived from English, this combination is sometimes used to replace the j sound as in "journalist" or the g sound as in "general", because there is no sound [dʒ] in Greek. Practise reading the following words:

ατζέντα έιτζ Φίτζι Τζορτζ Μπους Αζερμπαϊτζάν Ρίο ντε Τζανέιρο Τζακάρτα Καμπότζη

Now you're going to learn another very important Greek letter: Gamma.

Γ γ

This is equivalent of G in Greek, except that it isn't pronounced as a regular English G. When Gamma is followed by a 'light' vowel sound such as E or I, it is pronounced like the English Y in "year" (IPA [ʝ]). When it is followed by a 'dark' vowel sound such as A, O or U, it is pronounced in a way that doesn't exist in English, kind of like the ch in "Bach" or the lake "Loch Ness" in Scotland, with the difference that vocal chords should be vibrated when pronouncing it (IPA ). (Listen to a [[media:voiced velar fricative.ogg|sound sample]].) This letter comes up very often in Greek, so you'll have lots of opportunities to practise.

Πορτογαλία φιγούρα Γερμανία Βουλγαρία βιολογία Βέλγιο γεωλογία πρόγραμμα γραφικά Αργεντινή Πράγα Νορβηγία Αλγερία Αφγανιστάν Γεωργία Γουατεμάλα Γουινέα Γρενάδα Μαδαγασκάρη

A variation occurs when there are two Gammas in a row:

γγ

This combination is pronounced like the ng in the English word "ring" (IPA: [ŋg]). Examples:

Ουγγαρία Αγγλία Μογγολία άγγελος

Finally, how to spell the actual [g] sound as in "garden"? For that, you need two letters again: Gamma and Kappa.

Γκ γκ

Sometimes when this combination is at the middle of words then it represents the sound ng in the English word "ring" (like γγ), but when the word is a foreign loanword and the intention is to have a [g] sound, then it is pronounced as [g]. Though, this detail is not very significant for the pronunciation and it is not wrong to always pronounce γκ as a [g] sound. Greek words you already know that include this combination are:

γκαράζ γκέτο Γκάνα Αγκόλα γκάλοπ γκαλερί Σανγκάη Κογκό Μπανγκλαντές

That's it for this lesson! If you didn't have trouble reading the example words, you're ready to continue with lesson 6!

Solutions