Greek Letter Pronunciation and the Greek Alphabet Song

• Greek letters and pronunciation of the modern Greek alphabet.
• How many letters in the Greek alphabet?
• What are the Greek letters?
• Greek alphabet song.
• English translation of Greek alphabet song.
• Pronunciation video included.

Hello everybody! And welcome to It's Greek to Me. With your host, Frieda Babbley!

Hi! Thank you! Thank you everyone. Thank you. Hi! Thank you.

(Clears throat) I am here to answer a very interesting request made by Ryan Hupfer. Hi Ryan! Yoohoo! Ryan? Hi there! Over here. Make yourself at home.

Ryan, it's interesting you should ask this question, because not five minutes ago, I was vacuuming and singing the Greek alphabet song with my daughter, Sasha. (Say hi to everyone sweetie.) "Hi." (Good girl.) The Greek way to say hi is "Allo". As in, Good to know... allo. =D

But of course that is not what we are here for.

We are here because Ryan wants to know how many Greek letters there are, and what those Greek letters are. Greek being my first language I thought I'd help a fellow hubber out. And now I shall attempt (successfully, I believe) to answer this request.

Prepare to be amazed, and learn something while you're at it.

There are, indeed, 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. You can find them in a variety of places, with a few variations in phonetics and spelling.

This is how I say them (as phonetically as possible. Please note that I am using gy to stand for that guttural g sound you have to make to get that hair out the back of your throat).

1. Αα alpha
2. Ββ veeta
3. Γγ gyamma
4. Δδ thelta
5. Εε epseelôn
6. Ζζ zeeta
7. Ηη eeta
8. Θθ theeta
9. Ιι yeeôta
10. Κκ kappa
11. Λλ lahmbtha
12. Μμ mee
13. Νν nee
14. Ξξ xee
15. Οο ômeecron
16. Ππ pee (don't laugh!) (no, it is not PIE people! NOT pie!)
17. Ρρ rho (try to roll you're R)
18. Σςσ seegyma
19. Ττ tauf,
20. Υυ eepseelawn
21. Φφ fee
22. Χχ hee
23. Ψψ psee
24. Ωω ômaygya

The second letter in the Greek alphabet may look like a the English letter Bb, but it does not sound like a Bee! It actually has a Vee sound. That's right. Say it with me... Veeta. (Clap! Clap! Clap!)

The third letter in the modern Greek alphabet, is not gamma as in gamma rays, it starts out in the back of your throat as if you were going to hack up a fur ball then you open your mouth up as if you're actually going to come out with one. Let's please get this right people, it's important!

This next one has irked my goat since I first heard it mispronounced in geometry class. The greatest of scholars choose to mispronounce this particular letter. I understand if math is like dessert to you, but pronunciation is the key to success, at least one of the keys. So If you see the letter Π or π, could we please hold in our giggles and pronounce it PEE not pie?

There is a Greek alphabet song that goes along with the Greek Alphabet, much like we have in America. Actually it is more of a chant. At any rate, the translation is a bit astonishing. None the less, it is taught in schools to this day. (Please note that I have dashed each syllable and have put an apostrophe at the end of each stressed syllable, so you can sound more like you know what you're doing.)

This is what you chant after you chant the Greek Alphabet. It's loads of fun. Try it out yourself...

Par'-eh teen tsan'-da sou' keh fehv'-ya

mee' -seh ar-hee'-so me' teen' ver'-gya.

Translation:

Get your purse and keep running before I start you with the ruler.

in other words...

Take your school bag and hurry off

before I start to spank you with the ruler.

It's sarcasm, almost like a joke. You're suppose to chuckle. If you're a child, you're suppose to chuckle, in fear. Yes, we Greeks are a hoot!

Here's a video starring moi, Frieda Babbley. Hope this clarifies things a bit further for you.

For those who can't view the following video (Eleni, for example) here is the link that should work for you to see It's Greek To Me.

Hope you enjoyed today's episode of "It's Greek to Me".

We'd like to thank Ryan Hupfer for making such a fantastic request.

Now go show off your new foreign language skills!

Please feel free to leave us with your questions and or comments. Got any ideas for a future episode, let us know and you could be featured, like Ryan Hupfer here. Adio for now! (That's Greek for, goodbye. A-dee'-oh!

Frieda really really likes getting the thumbs up. So if you like what you read, or you laughed even just a little, smile and say, "Thumbs up Frieda!" Then go and actually click on the thumbs up, the green button just above the comments. (That gives you brownie points.) So does the plus one at the top. =D