The Greek Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Numerals & more

Q: How many letters are in Greek?

There are 24 letters in the Greek script [1] . Out of these, 7 are vowel letters and the remaining 17 letters are consonants.

Q: Why do we use Greek letters in science and math?

Greek letters are super popular in science and math because: • Ancient Greeks were amazing mathematicians and scientists • Letters like π (pi) represent important numbers and concepts • α (alpha) , β (beta) , γ (gamma) are used to label things in order • It's like having a special scientific alphabet !

Q: What's the difference between ancient and modern Greek letters?

Good question! Here's the cool part: • Same letters - the 24 letters haven't changed much in 2,500 years! • Different pronunciation - some letters sound different now • Same writing - you can still read ancient Greek texts today It's like the letters are time travelers !

Q: Where is Greek spoken today?

Modern Greek is spoken in several places: • Greece - where it's spoken by 99.5% of the population [2] • Cyprus - where it's one of the official languages • Greek communities around the world in places like Australia, USA, Canada About 13 million people speak Greek worldwide [3] !

Q: Are Greek letters hard to write and remember?

Not really! Here are some helpful tricks : • Some look like English letters : A (alpha) , B (beta) , O (omicron) • Others look like numbers : Π (pi) looks like a table • Many have cool names you already know: delta, omega, sigma • Start with the most common ones used in math class!

Q: What are some famous Greek letters everyone should know?

Here are the Greek letter celebrities : • π (Pi) - the famous number 3.14159... for circles • Ω (Omega) - means "the end" or "ultimate" • Δ (Delta) - means "change" in science • Σ (Sigma) - means "sum" in math You've probably seen these in movies, games, or school !

Greek Alphabet at a Glance

24 letters: 7 vowels and 17 consonants ^[1]
Spoken by approximately 13.5 million people worldwide ^[2]
Official language of Greece and Cyprus ^[2]
First alphabet to include distinct letters for vowel sounds (9th century BCE) ^[1]
Features accent marks such as tonos (´), varia (`), and circumflex (ˆ) used on vowels ^[1]
Shows a distinct final sigma (ς) form used only at the end of words ^[1]
Greek letters appear across mathematics, science, and other writing systems ^[1]

Uppercase Vowels:

[alpha]

[epsilon]

[eta]

[iota]

[omicron]

[upsilon]

[omega]

Lowercase Vowels:

[alpha]

[epsilon]

[eta]

[iota]

[omicron]

[upsilon]

[omega]

Uppercase Consonants:

[vee-tah]

[gamma]

[thel-tah]

[zee-tah]

[thee-tah]

[kah-pah]

[lahm-thah]

[mee]

[nee]

[ksee]

[pee]

[roh]

[see-gmah]

[tahf]

[fee]

[khee]

[psee]

[vee-tah]

Uppercase beta, a consonant pronounced like "v" in "very".

[gamma]

Uppercase gamma, a consonant pronounced like "g" in "go".

[thel-tah]

Uppercase delta, a consonant pronounced like "th" in "then".

[zee-tah]

Uppercase zeta, a consonant pronounced like "z" in "zero".

[thee-tah]

Uppercase theta, a consonant pronounced like "th" in "think".

[kah-pah]

Uppercase kappa, a consonant pronounced like "k" in "kite".

[lahm-thah]

Uppercase lambda, a consonant pronounced like "l" in "love".

[mee]

Uppercase mu, a consonant pronounced like "m" in "mother".

[nee]

Uppercase nu, a consonant pronounced like "n" in "name".

[ksee]

Uppercase xi, a consonant pronounced like "ks" in "tax".

[pee]

Uppercase pi, a consonant pronounced like "p" in "pen".

[roh]

Uppercase rho, a consonant pronounced like "r" in "red".

[see-gmah]

Uppercase sigma, a consonant pronounced like "s" in "sun".

[tahf]

Uppercase tau, a consonant pronounced like "t" in "top".

[fee]

Uppercase phi, a consonant pronounced like "f" in "phone".

[khee]

Uppercase chi, a consonant pronounced like "ch" in German "ach".

[psee]

Uppercase psi, a consonant pronounced like "ps" in "psalm".

Lowercase Consonants:

[vee-tah]

[gamma]

[thel-tah]

[zee-tah]

[thee-tah]

[kah-pah]

[lahm-thah]

[mee]

[nee]

[ksee]

[pee]

[roh]

[see-gmah]

[tahf]

[fee]

[khee]

[psee]

[vee-tah]

Lowercase beta, a consonant pronounced like "v" in "very".

[gamma]

Lowercase gamma, a consonant pronounced like "g" in "go".

[thel-tah]

Lowercase delta, a consonant pronounced like "th" in "then".

[zee-tah]

Lowercase zeta, a consonant pronounced like "z" in "zero".

[thee-tah]

Lowercase theta, a consonant pronounced like "th" in "think".

[kah-pah]

Lowercase kappa, a consonant pronounced like "k" in "kite".

[lahm-thah]

Lowercase lambda, a consonant pronounced like "l" in "love".

[mee]

Lowercase mu, a consonant pronounced like "m" in "mother".

[nee]

Lowercase nu, a consonant pronounced like "n" in "name".

[ksee]

Lowercase xi, a consonant pronounced like "ks" in "tax".

[pee]

Lowercase pi, a consonant pronounced like "p" in "pen".

[roh]

Lowercase rho, a consonant pronounced like "r" in "red".

[see-gmah]

Lowercase sigma, a consonant pronounced like "s" in "sun".

[tahf]

Lowercase tau, a consonant pronounced like "t" in "top".

[fee]

Lowercase phi, a consonant pronounced like "f" in "phone".

[khee]

Lowercase chi, a consonant pronounced like "ch" in German "ach".

[psee]

Lowercase psi, a consonant pronounced like "ps" in "psalm".

Α α

[alpha]

Β β

[vee-tah]

Γ γ

[gamma]

Δ δ

[thel-tah]

Ε ε

[epsilon]

Ζ ζ

[zee-tah]

Η η

[ee-tah]

Θ θ

[thee-tah]

Ι ι

[yoh-tah]

Κ κ

[kah-pah]

Λ λ

[lahm-thah]

Μ μ

[mee]

Ν ν

[nee]

Ξ ξ

[ksee]

Ο ο

[oh-mee-kron]

Π π

[pee]

Ρ ρ

[roh]

Σ σ/ς

[see-gmah]

Τ τ

[tahf]

Υ υ

[ee-psee-lon]

Φ φ

[fee]

Χ χ

[khee]

Ψ ψ

[psee]

Ω ω

[oh-may-gah]

Α α

[alpha]

Alpha (Άλφα) is pronounced as "ah". It can be uppercase (Α) or lowercase (α).

Β β

[vee-tah]

Beta (Βήτα) is pronounced as "v". It can be uppercase (Β) or lowercase (β).

Γ γ

[gamma]

Gamma (Γάμμα) is pronounced as "g" (hard "g" as in "go"). It can be uppercase (Γ) or lowercase (γ).

Δ δ

[thel-tah]

Delta (Δέλτα) is pronounced as "th" in "then". It can be uppercase (Δ) or lowercase (δ).

Ε ε

[epsilon]

Epsilon (Έψιλον) is pronounced as "eh". It can be uppercase (Ε) or lowercase (ε).

Ζ ζ

[zee-tah]

Zeta (Ζήτα) is pronounced as "z" (like "zero"). It can be uppercase (Ζ) or lowercase (ζ).

Η η

[ee-tah]

Eta (Ήτα) is pronounced as "ee". It can be uppercase (Η) or lowercase (η).

Θ θ

[thee-tah]

Theta (Θήτα) is pronounced as "th" (like "think"). It can be uppercase (Θ) or lowercase (θ).

Ι ι

[yoh-tah]

Iota (Ιώτα) is pronounced as "ee". It can be uppercase (Ι) or lowercase (ι).

Κ κ

[kah-pah]

Kappa (Κάππα) is pronounced as "k". It can be uppercase (Κ) or lowercase (κ).

Λ λ

[lahm-thah]

Lambda (Λάμβδα) is pronounced as "l". It can be uppercase (Λ) or lowercase (λ).

Μ μ

[mee]

Mu (Μι) is pronounced as "m". It can be uppercase (Μ) or lowercase (μ).

Ν ν

[nee]

Nu (Νι) is pronounced as "n". It can be uppercase (Ν) or lowercase (ν).

Ξ ξ

[ksee]

Xi (Ξι) is pronounced as "ks". It can be uppercase (Ξ) or lowercase (ξ).

Ο ο

[oh-mee-kron]

Omicron (Όμικρον) is pronounced as "o". It can be uppercase (Ο) or lowercase (ο).

Π π

[pee]

Pi (Πι) is pronounced as "p". It can be uppercase (Π) or lowercase (π).

Ρ ρ

[roh]

Rho (Ρῶ) is pronounced as "r". It can be uppercase (Ρ) or lowercase (ρ).

Σ σ/ς

[see-gmah]

Sigma (Σίγμα) is pronounced as "s". It can be uppercase (Σ) or lowercase (σ or ς, the latter is used at the end of words).

Τ τ

[tahf]

Tau (Ταυ) is pronounced as "t". It can be uppercase (Τ) or lowercase (τ).

Υ υ

[ee-psee-lon]

Upsilon (Ύψιλον) is pronounced as "ee". It can be uppercase (Υ) or lowercase (υ).

Φ φ

[fee]

Phi (Φι) is pronounced as "f" (like "phone"). It can be uppercase (Φ) or lowercase (φ).

Χ χ

[khee]

Chi (Χι) is pronounced as "ch" (like "loch"). It can be uppercase (Χ) or lowercase (χ).

Ψ ψ

[psee]

Psi (Ψι) is pronounced as "ps". It can be uppercase (Ψ) or lowercase (ψ).

Ω ω

[oh-may-gah]

Omega (Ωμέγα) is pronounced as "oh". It can be uppercase (Ω) or lowercase (ω).

αι

[eh]

ει

[ee]

οι

[ee]

υι

[ee]

αυ

[av]

ευ

[ev]

μπ

[mp]

ντ

[nt]

γκ

[gk]

τζ

[dz]

τσ

[ts]

μπ

[mp]

ντ

[nt]

γκ

[gk]

τζ

[dz]

τσ

[ts]

[alpha]

[vee-tah]

[gamma]

[yoh-tah]

[roh]

[oh-may-gah]

[sampi]

[digamma]

[koppa]

[sampi]

[sida]

[san]

[heta]

[stigma]

[koppa]

[digamma]

[stigma]

[digamma]

An archaic letter used to represent the "w" sound, no longer in modern Greek.

[digamma]

An archaic letter used to represent the "w" sound, no longer in modern Greek.

[koppa]

An archaic letter used to represent the "k" sound, no longer in modern Greek.

[koppa]

An archaic letter used to represent the "k" sound, no longer in modern Greek.

[sampi]

An archaic letter used for the "s" sound, no longer in modern Greek.

[sampi]

An archaic letter used for the "s" sound, no longer in modern Greek.

[sida]

An archaic letter used to represent the "s" sound, later replaced by Sigma.

[sida]

An archaic letter used to represent the "s" sound, later replaced by Sigma.

[san]

An archaic letter used for the "s" sound in early dialects, later replaced by Sigma.

[san]

An archaic letter used for the "s" sound in early dialects, later replaced by Sigma.

[heta]

An archaic letter used for a vowel sound similar to the modern Eta, later replaced by Eta.

[heta]

An archaic letter used for a vowel sound similar to the modern Eta, later replaced by Eta.

[stigma]

An archaic letter used for the "st" sound and also as a numeral for 6.

[koppa]

An archaic letter used for the "k" sound, similar to Ϙ (Koppa).

[digamma]

An archaic letter used for the "w" sound, similar to Ϝ (Digamma), no longer used in modern Greek.

[stigma]

An archaic letter used for the "st" sound, no longer in modern Greek.

;

⁰

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in Greek?

Why do we use Greek letters in science and math?

Greek letters are super popular in science and math because:

• Ancient Greeks were amazing mathematicians and scientists

• Letters like π (pi) represent important numbers and concepts

• α (alpha), β (beta), γ (gamma) are used to label things in order

• It's like having a special scientific alphabet!

What's the difference between ancient and modern Greek letters?

Where is Greek spoken today?

Are Greek letters hard to write and remember?

What are some famous Greek letters everyone should know?

References:

[1] Unicode Consortium. "Greek and Coptic Unicode Block (U+0370-U+03FF)". Retrieved from Unicode Greek Block
[2] Eurydice. "Population: demographic situation, languages and religions - Greece". Retrieved from Eurydice: Greece
[3] Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). "Greece in Figures". Retrieved from Greece Statistics