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Ancient Greece

Greek Alphabet

History >> Ancient Greece

The Ancient Greeks developed an alphabet for writing. Their common language and writing was one of the things that bound the Greeks together. The Greek alphabet is still used today. It is even used in the United States where Greek letters are popular as mathematical symbols and are used in college fraternities and sororities.

History

The Greeks learned about writing and the alphabet from the Phoenicians. They took much of their alphabet from the Phoenician alphabet, but they added a few new letters. They also assigned some of the letters to vowel sounds. The Greek alphabet was the first alphabet to use vowels.

The Letters

There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet.

Letter

alpha
beta
gamma
delta
epsilon
zeta
eta
theta
iota
kappa
lamda
mu
nu
xi
omicron
pi
rho
sigma
tau
upsilon
phi
chi
psi
omega
Upper Case

Α
Β
Γ
Δ
Ε
Ζ
Η
Θ
Ι
Κ
Λ
Μ
Ν
Ξ
Ο
Π
Ρ
Σ
Τ
Υ
Φ
Χ
Ψ
Ω
Lower Case

α
β
γ
δ
ε
ζ
η
θ
ι
κ
λ
μ
ν
ξ
ο
π
ρ
σ
τ
υ
φ
χ
ψ
ω


How to pronounce the Greek alphabet?

In parenthesis below is a description of how to pronounce each letter.

alpha (al-fah)
beta (bay-tah)
gamma (gam-ah)
delta (del-ta)
epsilon (ep-si-lon)
zeta (zay-tah)
eta (ay-tah)
theta (thay-tah)
iota (eye-o-tah)
kappa (cap-ah)
lamda (lamb-dah)
mu (mew)
nu (new)
xi (zai)
omicron (om-e-cron)
pi (pie)
rho (roe)
sigma (sig-mah)
tau (taw)
upsilon (oop-si-lon)
phi (fie)
chi (kie)
psi (sigh)
omega (o-may-gah)

Greek Numbers

Greek letters were also used for writing Greek numerals. The first nine letters (from alpha to theta) were used for the numbers 1 to 9. The next nine letters (from iota to koppa) were used for multiples of 10 from 10 to 90. Finally, the next nine letters (from rho to sampi) were used for 100 to 900. For example, the numbers 1, 2, and 3 are alpha, beta, and gamma.

Wait a minute you say! That's 27 letters, not 24. Plus, some of those letters I don't recognize from your list above. Well, they also added three letters for numbers. They were digamma for the number 6, koppa for the number 90, and sampi for the number 900.

Greek Letters in Science and Math

A lot of Greek letters are used in science and math. They are usually used for constants, variables, and functions. Some examples include: Interesting Facts about the Greek Alphabet
Activities For more about Ancient Greece:

Overview
Timeline of Ancient Greece
Geography
The City of Athens
Sparta
Minoans and Mycenaeans
Greek City-states
Peloponnesian War
Persian Wars
Decline and Fall
Legacy of Ancient Greece
Glossary and Terms

Arts and Culture
Ancient Greek Art
Drama and Theater
Architecture
Olympic Games
Government of Ancient Greece
Greek Alphabet

Daily Life
Daily Lives of the Ancient Greeks
Typical Greek Town
Food
Clothing
Women in Greece
Science and Technology
Soldiers and War
Slaves

People
Alexander the Great
Archimedes
Aristotle
Pericles
Plato
Socrates
25 Famous Greek People
Greek Philosophers

Greek Mythology
Greek Gods and Mythology
Hercules
Achilles
Monsters of Greek Mythology
The Titans
The Iliad
The Odyssey

The Olympian Gods
Zeus
Hera
Poseidon
Apollo
Artemis
Hermes
Athena
Ares
Aphrodite
Hephaestus
Demeter
Hestia
Dionysus
Hades

Works Cited

History >> Ancient Greece



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