Word Formation & Pronunciation

An important aspect about Greek pronunciation is the matter of accent and breathing marks. An accent mark is placed on a Greek word for emphasis. For example, in the word ἀγάπη (agapē), we have two marks above the letters: the first is a smooth breathing mark over the first ἀ and it receives no emphasis at all. However, the second mark is over the second ά, and this mark is called an acute accent. This ´ mark indicates that you stress this syllable in pronunciation.

Breathing Marks

There are two breathing marks used in Greek, and they are placed either over the first vowel, which begins a word, or over the second of two vowels, which begin a word (this latter is called a diphthong, and I will explain that later). The one exception to this rule is with the consonant ρ . Whenever ρ begins a word it has a rough breathing mark over it, and a vowel will always proceed it (e.g., ῥῆμα - hrēma).

1. Smooth breathing mark - The smooth breathing mark is the equivalent of an English apostrophe ’ , and it carries no sound with it. In the word, ἀγάπη, The ’ is a smooth breathing mark, and you simply pronounce the word, agapē, with the stress being on the second syllable.

2. Rough breathing mark - The rough breathing mark is a backwards apostrophe ‘ and it adds an "h" sound to the letter it is over. For example, the Greek word ημέρα is pronounced ēmera. However, when the rough breathing mark is added over the ἡ then the word appears as ἡμέρα, and it is pronounced as hēmera, with the stress being on the second syllable.

Accent Marks

There are three accent marks which are used to indicate stress in pronunciation:

1. The acute accent mark is a line from upper right to lower left   ́ (e.g., ἀγάπη - agapē).
2. The grave accent mark is from upper left to lower right   ̀ (καρπός - karpos).
3. The circumflex accent is wavy or curved line over a letter   ͂ ( δοῦλος - doulos)

Diphthongs

A diphthong is a combination of two vowels that make one sound. For example, in English, the two vowels "ai" in the word aisle form a diphthong so that all that is heard is the letter "i" as in island. The same is true in Greek where you have seven combinations of two vowels that make seven different singular sounds:

1. αι is pronounced like ai in aisle (δαίμων - daimōn).
2. ει is pronounced like ei in height (γείτων - geitōn).
3. οι is pronounced like oi in boil (κοινόϛ - koinos).
4. αυ is pronounced like au in kraut (θαυμάζω - thaumadzō).
5. ευ is pronounced like eu in leukemia (ζεῦγοϛ - zeugos [when the αυ diphthong is in the middle of a word, it is prononced as "eu" in zeugos, however, when it is at the beginning of a word, as in εὐδία, then it is pronounced as yeudia, with a "y" sound attached to it. However, in actual transliteration, you don't write the "y," but it is written here to show you the correct pronunciation]).
6. ου is pronounced like ou in roulette (δοῦλοϛ - doulos).
7. υι is pronounced like we υἱόϛ - wheos [in actual transliteration, the wh would be replaced by ui; however for pronunciation purposes the above is given]).

Forming Words

The following list has been developed to show how be to put the Greek letters, breathing marks, accent marks and diphthongs together in order to make words and properly pronounce them. The following list has been developed along this line. The Greek word will be written in the left column, along with its definition in parenthesis. Then, the word will be separated into individual syllables (i.e., like "telephone": te-le-phone) and accompany each Greek syllable with its English transliteration. The final step will be to have the full Greek word written again, but this time followed by its English, transliterated form.