带人声读音的希腊字母表

字母表 (点击字母名称旁边的扬声器图标，可以听到字母的现代希腊语发音。)

	字母	名称和发音	现代希腊语发音	古典希腊语发音(Attic)
1		Alpha	[a], as in “father”. Same as [a] in Spanish and Italian. Phonetically, this sound is: open, central, and unrounded.	As in Modern Greek
2		Beta	[v], as in “vet”; a voiced labiodental fricative.	[b], as in “bet”; a voiced bilabial plosive. Evidence
3		Gamma	[gh], a sound that does not exist in English. If followed by the sound [u] then it sounds almost like the initial sound in “woman”, but with the back of the tongue touching more to the back (soft) palate. To pronounce [gha], try to isolate “w” from “what” without rounding your lips, and then say [a]. In Castilian Spanish this sound exists in “amiga”. Same is true for [gho]: try eliminating the [u] sound from “water”. (C. Spanish: “amigo”.) On the other hand, due to a phonetic phenomenon called palatalization, [ghe] sounds a bit like “ye” in “yes”, and [ghi] sounds a bit like “yi” in “yield”. Phonetically, gamma is a voiced velar fricative. (Its palatalized version is a voiced palatal fricative.)	[g], as in “got”; a voiced velar plosive. Evidence
4		Delta	[th], as in “this”; a voiced dental fricative.	[d], as in “do”; a voiced alveolar plosive. Evidence
5		Epsilon	[e] as in “pet”, except that the [e] in “pet” (and other similar English words) is lax, whereas in Greek it is tense. To pronounce a tense [e] pull the edges of your lips to the sides a bit more than when you say “pet”. (We pull the edges of our lips to the sides when we smile; but I don’t mean you need to smile every time you pronounce the Greek epsilon, OK? )	As in Modern Greek
6		Zeta	[z], as in “zone”, a voiced alveolar fricative. Actually, the remark for sigma (see below) applies to zeta as well (it is shifted a bit towards [Z], as in “pleasure”). Read the remark for sigma to understand why, and how to pronounce it.	[zd], as in “Mazda”. Also: [z], and even: [dz]. Evidence
7		Eta	[i], as in “meet”, but shorter, not so long. This is one of the three [i] in the Greek alphabet; they all have identical pronunciation. The reason for this redundancy has to do with Classic Greek, where they were not redundant.	long open mid-[e], as in “thread” (but long). Evidence
8		Theta	[th], as in “think”; a voiceless dental fricative. In Castilian Spanish: “zorro”.	[th], as in “top”, but more aspirated. Evidence
9		Iota	[i], exactly like eta (see above). The name of the letter is pronounced “yota” in Modern Greek. (the reason for the y-sound in front of the letter’s name is due to phonetic transformation of [io] into [yo]).	As in Modern Greek
10		Kappa	[k], as in “skip”. Notice that in English [k] is aspirated if it appears word-initially; Greek makes no such distinction. When followed by the vowels [e] or [i] it becomes palatalized — for the exact pronunciation please check the page on palatalization. Phonetically, it is a voiceless velar plosive. (Its palatalized version is a voiceless palatal plosive.)	As in Modern Greek
11		Lambda	[l] as in “lap”. When followed by the vowed [i] it becomes palatalized, turning to a sound that does not exist in English (check the page on palatalization). The name of the letter is pronounced “lamtha” ([b] is eliminated because it is difficult to pronounce it between [m] and [th]). A voiced alveolar lateral approximant.	As in Modern Greek
12		Mu	[m], as in “map”; a voiced bilabial nasal. Notice that the name of the letter is pronounced “mi” (mee), not “mew” as in American English.	As in Modern Greek
13		Nu	[n], as in “noble”; a voiced alveolar nasal. When followed by the vowed [i] it becomes palatalized, turning to a sound that does not exist in English (but exists in Spanish, written as ñ; see the page on palatalization). Notice that the name of the letter is pronounced “ni” (nee), not “new” as in American English.	As in Modern Greek
14		Ksi	[ks] as in “fox”. Contrary to the English “x”, the letter ksi does not change pronunciation at the beginning of a word (it does not become a [z]; Greeks have no trouble starting a word with [k]+[s]). For example, in the word ksenofovia (ξενοφοβ?α = xenophobia) the initial sound [k] is not omitted. Don’t put any aspiration between [k] and [s] when pronouncing this letter. The remark for sigma applies to the second constituent of this letter, too.	As in Modern Greek
15		Omicron	Same like [o] in “got” the way it is pronounced in British English. Notice how the vowel in British “got” is tense, which means that you should really round your lips when you pronounce the Greek [o]. A mid-close back rounded vowel.	As in Modern Greek
16		Pi	[p], as in “spot”; a voiceless bilabial plosive. Notice that in English [p] is aspirated if it appears word-initially; Greek makes no such distinction.	As in Modern Greek
17		Rho	[rh]: between vowels it is a sound that exists in American English in the pronunciation of “tt” in “butter” (but not in Brittish English). Sounds like the Spanish [r] in “pero”. (Spanish speakers: in Greek there is no difference in whether you trill your rho as in “perro” or not; but normally Greeks pronounce it more like in “pero” than like in “perro”.) Otherwise it’s a trill, like the Italian [r]. Almost every Greek can pronounce rho as a long trill if they wish (like the Russian [r]), and you will hear it pronounced like that in some Greek songs. Phonetically, it is a voiced alveolar tap (and occasionally a trill).	Probably as in Modern Greek when single, and as a trill when double. Word-initially: aspirated: [hr]
18		Sigma	[s], as is “soap”; a voiceless alveolar fricative. Actually, if you listen carefully to native Greek speakers, it sounds a bit between [s] and [sh] (probably because there is no [sh] in Greek, so the sound is somewhat shifted in the phonological space). However, to the native English ear it sounds much closer to [sh] than to [s], whereas every native Greek speaker would swear they pronounce it exactly like the English [s], unless forced to admit the difference by looking at spectrograms. In reality, you can produce it like this: feel where your tongue is when you say [s] (very close to the front teeth, right?) Now feel where it is when you say [sh] (far back). Place it somewhere midway, and you will produce the Greek [s]. (You’ll find that you’ll need to make a similar adjustment to the shape of your lips, midway through rounded for [sh] and tense for [s]; in the Greek sigma the lips are relaxed.) This is the way “s” is pronounced in Castilian Spanish (as opposed to Latin American Spanish). Notice that the second way of writing the lower case sigma is used exclusively when the letter appears at the end of a word (there is only one capital form).	Probably as in Modern Greek
19		Tau	[t], as in “stop”; a voiceless alveolar plosive. Notice that in English [t] is aspirated if it appears word-initially; Greek makes no such distinction.	As in Modern Greek
20		Upsilon	[i], exactly like eta and iota (see above). The name of the letter is pronounced [ipsilon] (ee-psee-lon), not “yupsilon” as it is called in American English.	Rounded [i], as in French “une”. Evidence
21		Phi	[f] as in “fat”; a voiceless labiodental fricative.	[ph], as in “pit”, but more aspirated. Evidence
22		Chi	[ch], a sound that does not exist in English (but exists in Scottish, as in “loch”; German: “Bach”; Spanish: “Jorge”). When followed by vowels [e] or [i] it is pronounced as in German “ich”. For the exact pronunciation in this case, please check the page on palatalization. Phonetically, it is a voiceless velar fricative. (Its palatalized version is a voiceless palatal fricative.)	[kh], as in “cut”, but more aspirated. Evidence
23		Psi	[ps] as in “lopsided”. Contrary to English, the sound of the letter does not change at the beginning of a word (it does not become a [s]; Greeks have no trouble starting a word with [p]+[s]). For example, in the word psychologia (ψυχολογ?α = psychology) the initial sound [p] is not omitted. Don’t put any aspiration between [p] and [s] when pronouncing this letter. The remark for sigma applies to the second constituent of this letter, too.	As in Modern Greek
24		Omega	[o], exactly like omicron. (Once again, the reason for the redundancy is to be found in Classic Greek.)	Long open mid-back [o], as in “law”. Evidence