Biblical Greek is foundational for understanding the New Testament in its original language, and its study begins with learning the alphabet and its phonetic structure. The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each representing a unique sound. Greek vowels are essential to this system, consisting of seven letters: α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, and ω. These vowels can form diphthongs—combinations of two vowels producing a single sound—such as αι (pronounced like “ai” in aisle) and ει (like “ei” in vein). An essential aspect of Greek pronunciation is the breathing marks placed over vowels at the beginning of a word. These include the rough breathing (῾), which adds an “h” sound, and the smooth breathing (᾽), which indicates the absence of this sound. A mastery of these basics prepares the student for more complex grammatical and syntactical studies in Biblical Greek, allowing for a more accurate reading and interpretation of the New Testament texts.
Greek Alphabet
| Form of the Capital | Name | Form of the Lower case | Sound |
| Α | Alpha | α | a in father |
| Β | Beta | β | b in boy |
| Γ | Gamma | γ | g in go |
| Δ | Delta | δ | d in day |
| Ε | Epsilon | ε | e (short) in met |
| Ζ | Zeta | ζ | z in daze |
| Η | Eta | η | e in fete a in mate |
| Θ | Theta | θ | th in thin |
| Ι | Iota | ι | i in police i in fit |
| Κ | Kappa | κ | k in keep |
| Λ | Lambda | λ | l in led |
| Μ | Mu | μ | m in man |
| Ν | Nu | ν | n in net |
| Ξ | Xi | ξ | x in lax |
| Ο | Omicron | ο | o (short) in omit |
| Π | Pi | π | p in peg |
| Ρ | Rho | ρ | r in run |
| Σ | Sigma | σ,ς | s in sit |
| Τ | Tau | τ | t in ten |
| Υ | Upsilon | υ | u in Fr. tu, Ger. tür |
| Φ | Phi | φ | ph in graphic |
| Χ | Chi | χ | ch in girl ich, Scotch loch, chasm |
| Ψ | Psi | ψ | ps in tops |
| Ω | Omega | ω | ō (long) in note |
Vowels, Diphthongs, and Breathing
The Greek language uses seven vowel forms: α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω. η is the long form of ε and ω is the long form of ο. Therefore, ε and ο are always short, whereas η and ω are long. The list of vowel relates in a similar way to the English vowels a, e, i, o, u. α, ι, υ can be long or short, which are no distinguished by a separate form.
A diphthong is two bowl sounds fused into one sound.
The diphthongs are:
αι is spoken as ai in aisle.
αυ is pronounced as au in German haus, or ou in house.
ει sounds like ei in height.
ου combine to ou in group.
ευ forms an eu sound as in feud.
ηυ approximately represents the sound eu.
υι is vocalized as we.
Also there is an iota subscribe (ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ), which is the iota written belong the vowel; however, it does not impact the sound of the vowel. e.g. ᾳ is spoken as ai in aisle, the same as αι.
Many Greek words begin with the English sound h, which is indicated by the sign of the rough breathing ( ῾ ) over a vowel or diphthong at the beginning of the word. With a diphthong it is over the second vowel. Thus ὁδος is pronounced as hodos, and εὑρισκω as heruisko. When the initial vowel does not make an h sound the smooth breathing mark ( ᾽ ) is used. ἀκουω is pronounced aloud and οὐραωος as ouranos. When υ is at the beginning of a word, the rough breathing mark is always used.