Greek letters to copy. Greek alphabet symbolic meaning

Hello, my name is Ksenia, I have been living in Greece for several years now and teaching Greek via Skype at a website company.
You can read my teacher profile.

In my teaching practice, I have encountered many times the fact that students have difficulty learning the Greek alphabet. Perhaps a similar problem, when Greek letters do not want to be remembered and stubbornly get confused with Latin (English), is familiar to you. The experience of overcoming this obstacle provided the material for this article. I hope that my tips will help you in learning the Greek alphabet.

So how do you remember the Greek alphabet?

First of all, know that you are not alone, and under no circumstances should you be upset, much less despair! Difficulties with memorizing the alphabet are a temporary phenomenon, the letters will soon stop being confused, you just need to practice a little. Some of us are learning new material faster, some slower. Show a little patience and diligence, and after a while reading Greek will not be difficult for you!

While working on the Greek alphabet, use all kinds of video and audio materials, for example, this one:

;

Or these, with examples of words:
a) ΦΩΝΗΤΙΚO ΑΛΦΑΒΗΤO ME ΠΑΡΑΔΕΙΓΜΑΤΑ

;

Now, for clarity, let's divide the letters into the following groups:

The first group are letters that do not cause difficulties. Most of these letters are:

Second group- b Letters that are often confused with letters of the Latin alphabet:

To overcome this confusion, it is necessary to spend some time reading Greek.

Third group- strange, unusual letters for us:

	Russian name	Sound in Russian transcription

These squiggles either merge with other letters or get confused with each other, you need training to memorize!

Attention! Please pay Special attention into letters that convey sounds that do not exist in the Russian language!

Let's look at the alphabet in full again:

As you can see, many of the letters and sounds of the Greek alphabet are familiar to you; all you have to do is practice a little.

If the Greek alphabet still does not lend itself to memorization with your serious logical approach, try to remember your childhood. Positive attitude And good mood- recipe for success!

Tip #1: Work on the songs

Here are some nursery rhymes about the Greek alphabet:

a) ΕΝΑ ΓΡΑΜΜΑ ΜΙΑ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ | Το Τραγούδι της Αλφαβήτου

b) “Το τραγούδι της Αλφαβήτας” with subtitles

c) ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΑΛΦΑΒΗΤΟ

d) Μια τρελή τρελή Αλφαβήτα

The songs must not only be listened to, but sung or even learned by heart!

If children's songs are not particularly interesting to you, here is a lyrical and philosophical song about the alphabet (video with subtitles):

Lyrics:

Άλφα, βήτα, γάμα, δέλτα
σκόνη γίνεται κι η πέτρα - becomes dust and stone
έψιλον, ζήτα, ήττα, θήτα
μοιάζει η νίκη με την ήττα - victory is like defeat

Βι, γα, δε, ζι, θι
κα, λα, μι, νι, ξι
πι, ρο, σίγμα, ταυ
φι, χι, ψι

Γιώτα, κάπα, λάμδα, μι
πόσο αξίζει μια στιγμή - how valuable is one moment
νι, ξι, όμικρον, πι, ρο
φεύγω μα σε καρτερώ - I’m leaving, but I’m waiting for you

Σίγμα, ταυ, ύψιλον, φι
μοναξιά στην κορυφή - loneliness at the top
με το χι, το ψι, το ωμέγα
μια παλικαριά `ναι ή φεύγα - courage or flight

Tip #2:

For better memorization, print out the Greek alphabet in pictures and attach the sheets in your apartment in a visible place. At the very beginning of studying, you can assign transcription to letters, but keep in mind that not all sounds of the Greek alphabet can be expressed in Russian letters. So, to convey the sounds δ and θ you will need to use a transcription of the interdental sounds of the English language.

Tip #3:

Try to “revive” the letters. Think about what the most difficult letters of the Greek alphabet look like for you, and draw a comic picture for each letter. Ideas can be taken from a series of Greek cartoons about the letters of the alphabet: even if at this stage of learning you do not understand all the text of the cartoon, you will definitely remember the flying and singing letter!

(picture from cartoon)

Cartoon about the letter Z (Zita)

Cartoon about the letters ξ and ψ (Xi and Psi)

Tip #4:

Use programs to learn the alphabet.

A good resource for learning the alphabet.

Tip #5:

And finally, you can use the textbook assignments:

a) write each letter several times;

b) write down the letters of the Greek alphabet under dictation in order and randomly.

The alphabet and pronunciation rules have been learned, it’s time to move on to reading. We will write about how to practice reading in the next article.

Υ.Γ. How did you memorize the Greek alphabet and how long did it take you? Tell us in the comments about your personal experience and write your opinion about the article!

in his oldest form was an exact copy Phoenician: the Greeks retained the same sequence of letters in the alphabet as the Phoenicians, and even the names of the letters were denoted by distorted Semitic words.

The Semitic direction of writing was also preserved in ancient Greek inscriptions: characters were written from right to left.
And only in the 4th century BC. The Greeks switched to writing from left to right.

This is how the Greeks wrote and read. This is called “bull turn” (a letter similar to the move of plowing bulls).

Almost all of them originate from the Greek alphabet. all European alphabets. In the West, the alphabet spread through the Greek colonies located in the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula.

The alphabet was borrowed from the Greeks by the Romans, and from them it spread throughout all countries. Western Europe. At the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th centuries. the alphabet influenced the emergence of the Armenian alphabet. In the VI century. The Georgian alphabet arose - partly from the Greek with the addition of a few letters.

The Greeks used a new material for writing - it was parchment made from animal skins. It was more durable than papyrus. The use of leather for writing began from very early times in Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor, where it became most widespread.

According to legend in city of Pergamon in the 1st century BC was invented new way obtaining material for writing from animal skins.

The oldest pieces of parchment with surviving fragments of texts date back to the 1st century BC, but they began to use it only from the 2nd century. n. e. For making parchment They used the skins of sheep, goats, donkeys, and calves. The skins were soaked in lime water, the wool was scraped off, stretched onto a frame, dried, smoothed with pumice and treated with chalk.

It was durable, had a smooth and light surface. It could be written on both sides. Parchment was painted yellow, blue, black, and purple and was used for luxurious manuscripts. Purple was written in gold or silver.

For a thousand years, the book made from parchment dominated in Europe, while paper made its victorious path in Asian countries. Thanks to parchment, a significant number of manuscripts from the early Middle Ages have been preserved.

In Greece, they were used for writing and ceras- wooden planks coated with wax. They wrote with a stick - style. “Rotate style”, i.e. to erase what was written meant to remove the beauty of language. This is where the expression “literary style” comes from.

Wax tablets They were used mainly for taking notes and writing letters, but sometimes literary and scientific texts were written on them. Several planks were fastened together using a strap or cord pulled through one side. This is how the book turned out.

This method of writing became widespread in Rome. Later he entered the countries medieval Europe. In Paris back in the 13th century. There were workshops for making wax tablets.

They recited, accompanying themselves on the cithara. Singers were held in high esteem. The Greek rulers loved to surround themselves with the most prominent poets and scientists.

The center of Greek culture was the Athenian slave-owning republic with its capital, where the greatest Greek tragedians, Sophocles and Euripides, lived. Comedy author Aristophanes. Famous philosophers Socrates. In the Athenian Republic, as in other Greek city-states, public education stood at a significant level: the children of all citizens were educated in schools.

In Athens there were also higher schools, where young men studied science under the guidance of philosophical teachers. The most famous were: the school of Plato and the school of Aristotle. Plato's teaching was abstract. Aristotle's teaching was based primarily on the observation of natural phenomena. He gave his lectures while walking with his students.

Some of Aristotle's views and discoveries still amaze scientists. Apparently, some of the writings that have survived to this day under the name of Aristotle are recordings of his lectures. One of the highest manifestations of Hellenic creativity was theatrical art. During the heyday of Athenian culture, poets created wonderful comedies and tragedies, many of which have come down to us in later copies. However, Greek culture was put at the service only of free citizens, slaves remained on the sidelines. If among the slaves there were educated people, then this was a rare exception.

The book of that time was papyrus scroll. delivered from Egypt. The text on the scroll was written in narrow columns, the direction of the lines was parallel to the length of the scroll. When reading, the papyrus ribbon was gradually rolled from one side to the other so that two columns were simultaneously in view, and the rest of the scroll was rolled up.

? Try rolling up a paper scroll and writing on it like papyrus. Is it convenient?

Due to the fact that papyrus scrolls did not tolerate moisture, which had a destructive effect on them, no authentic books of that time were preserved. And only Egyptian and Greek scrolls were preserved for two to three millennia in completely dry Egyptian sand. Most known scrolls survive in fragments, but sometimes these fragments are significant.

A set of letters in the Greek system. languages, arranged in the accepted order (see table below). Letters G. a. used in publications in Russian. language as symbols of mat. and physical notation. In the original, the letters G. a. It is customary to enclose in a red circle... ... Publishing dictionary-reference book

Greek alphabet- The Greeks first used consonantal writing. In 403 BC. e. Under Archon Euclid, the classical Greek alphabet was introduced in Athens. It consisted of 24 letters: 17 consonants and 7 vowels. For the first time, letters were introduced to represent vowels; α, ε, η… Dictionary of linguistic terms T.V. Foal

This article is about the Greek letter. For the Cyrillic number sign, see the article by Kopp (Cyrillic) Greek alphabetΑ α alpha Β β beta ... Wikipedia

Self-name: Ελληνικά Countries: Greece ... Wikipedia

Language Self-name: Ελληνικά Countries: Greece, Cyprus; communities in the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Italy... Wikipedia

It is the latest phenomenon in the history of writing. This name designates a series of written signs arranged in a certain constant order and conveying approximately completely and accurately all the individual sound elements from which a given language is composed... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

This term has other meanings, see Alphabet (meanings). Wiktionary has an article “alphabet” Alphabet ... Wikipedia

Alphabet- [Greek ἀλφάβητος, from the name of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet alpha and beta (Modern Greek vita)] a system of written signs that convey the sound appearance of words in a language through symbols depicting individual sound elements. Invention… … Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary

It is the latest phenomenon in the history of writing (see Letter). This name denotes a series of written signs arranged in a certain constant order and conveying approximately completely and accurately all the individual sound elements, of which... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

ALPHABET- a set of letters or similar signs used in writing, where each letter represents one or more phonemes. Alphabets were not the oldest basis of writing, having been developed from hieroglyphs or written images used... ... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia

Books

Introduction to Ancient Greek. Textbook for academic bachelor's degree, Titov O.A.. V textbook reviewed Short story the development of the Greek language from ancient times to the present day, the Greek alphabet, reading rules, types and features of stress are given.…
Introduction to Ancient Greek, 2nd ed., rev. and additional Textbook for academic bachelor's degree, Oleg Anatolyevich Titov. The textbook examines a brief history of the development of the Greek language from ancient times to the present day, gives the Greek alphabet, reading rules, types and features of stress placement.…

Greek language(in Greek ελληνικά (elinika)) belongs to the Greek group of Indo-European languages language family, spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece and Cyprus, where it is official language. Greek is also recognized as an ethnic minority language in some regions of Italy, as well as in Albania, Armenia, Romania and Ukraine.

The first writing in Greek was discovered in Mycenae, known as Linear B, which was used between 1500 and 1200 BC. BC. This type of Greek is known as Mycenaean. In Crete, another script known as the Cypriot syllabary was used to write the local dialect of Greek from 1200 to 300 BC.

Origin

The Greek alphabet has been in continuous use for the last approximately 2,750 years, beginning in 750 BC. e. It originated from the Canaanite/Phoenician alphabet, in particular the order and names of the letters were borrowed from the Phoenician. The original Canaanite meanings of the letters were lost when the alphabet was adapted to the Greek language. For example, the name of a letter of the Greek alphabet "alpha" came from Canaanite aleph(bull) and "beta"- from Beth(house).

In the beginning there were different variants alphabets that were used in different Greek cities. Local Alphabets can be divided into three groups: green, blue and red. From the blue group came the modern Greek alphabet, and from the red group the Etruscan alphabet, as well as other alphabets. ancient Italy, and over time - the Latin alphabet.

At the beginning of the 4th century. BC e. local variants of the alphabet were replaced by the Eastern Ionian alphabet. The capital letters of the modern Greek alphabet are almost identical to those of the Ionian alphabet. Lowercase Greek letters appeared around 800. Their appearance is associated with the Byzantine cursive script, which, in turn, came from cursive writing.

Peculiarities

Type of writing: alphabet (the first alphabet that included vowels).
Writing direction: initially - horizontally from right to left, and there was also a variant of boustrophedon ( βουστροφηδόν ), in which the direction of writing alternated - from right to left and from left to right. After 500 BC e. The direction of writing was established from left to right, horizontally.
Diacritics to indicate stress and aspiration were added to the alphabet around 200 BC. e. In 1982, aspirate diacritics, which had been used infrequently after 1976, were officially abolished by presidential decree.
At the letter "sigma" there is a special form that is used at the end of a word.

As is known

Greek language (Ελληνικά)- one of the Indo-European languages, spoken by about 14 million people, mainly in Greece and Cyprus, for which this language is the official language. Greek is also recognized as a minority language in parts of Turkey, Italy and Albania.

Today the Greek alphabet is used only to write Greek, although in the past different time it was also used by such languages as Lydian, Phrygian, Thracian, Gaulish, Hebrew, Arabic, Old Ossetian, Albanian, Turkish, Aromanian, Gagauz, Urum and sealing wax.

Ancient Greek alphabet

The ancient Greek alphabet is based on inscriptions from Crete dating back to around 800 BC. e. At this time, the writing direction in Greek was from right to left, horizontally. The letter names were slightly different from those in later versions of the Greek alphabet.

Greek alphabet (classical Attic phonetic transcription)

Note

Σ = [z] before voiced consonants

Diphthongs

Combinations of consonants | Special character

Greek numerals and other symbols

The ancient Greeks used two number systems: The Acrophonic or Classical (Attic) system used the letters iota, delta, gamma, eta, nu and mu in various combinations. These letters were used as the first letters of numerals, except for the letter iota: Γ έντε (gente) for 5, which became Π έντε (pente); Δ έκα (Deka) for 10, Η ἑκατόν (Hektaton) for 100, Χ ίλιοι (Khilioi) for 1,000 and Μ ύριον (Myrion) for 10,000. This system was used until the first century BC.

The ancient Greeks assigned numerical values to the letters of the alphabet to represent numbers. Three obsolete letters, stigma, coppa, and sampi, were used in addition to the standard Greek letters, and the apostrophe symbol was used to indicate that the letters were used as numerals.

Greek alphabet (modern phonetic transcription)

Notes

Γ = [γ] before back vowels. Before front vowels it is pronounced [ʝ] and is represented by the letter γ
Κ = [k] before back vowels, and [s] before front vowels
Λ = [ʎ] before an unstressed i followed by another vowel, e.g. λιώμα [ʎóma]
Ν = [ɲ] before an unstressed i followed by another vowel, e.g. νιώθω [ɲóθo]
When the sound [i] is preceded by a voiced consonant and followed by another vowel sound, the sound [i] turns into [ʝ], for example, διάκος [ðʝákos]. When the sound [i] is preceded by a voiceless consonant and followed by another vowel sound, the sound [i] is pronounced as [ç], for example, φωτιά. In both cases, this sound is unstressed.
Σ = [z] before voiced consonants
Χ = [χ] before back vowels, and [ç] before front vowels

Diphthongs

Notes

αυ = before vowels and voiced consonants;
in a different position.
ευ = before vowels and voiced consonants;
in a different position.
ηυ = before vowels and voiced consonants;
in a different position.
ντ = in the middle of a word; [d] at the beginning. Αϊτή μπ = in the middle of a word; [b] at the beginning. γάιδαρος γγ & γκ = [ŋg] in the middle of a word; [g] at the beginning. If this sound combination is followed by [i] or [e], it is pronounced as [ŋɟ] in the middle of words and [ɟ] at the beginning.
Dieresis is used to indicate separate pronunciation of vowels, e.g. τον πατέρα .

 . However, if the first of the two letters is under stress, the dieresis sign is optional, e.g.

[γáiðaros]. If the consonants κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ and τσ: are preceded by a word that ends in v, they become voiced, and the N in final position becomes the corresponding nasal sound, e.g. Listen to the audio lesson with additional explanations The Greek language has 24 letters. If you look at the table below, you will find 3 letters"And" If the consonants κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ and τσ: are preceded by a word that ends in v, they become voiced, and the N in final position becomes the corresponding nasal sound, e.g. and 2 more letters

"O" δ , ζ . They read the same. Previously, in ancient Greek every γ , for example, was read differently. In modern modern Greek, only different spellings of these letters have been preserved, but they are all read the same. Also in the Russian language there are almost all the sounds of the Greek language, except for the sounds(if you are familiar with English, you will find similarities in these sounds in English) and

(reads like Ukrainian "G", so for Russian speakers it will not be difficult to pronounce it). λαη , θαη , γθοι , ληοσς I would also like to draw attention to the emphasis. It

Always important point in Greek: letter The Greek language has 24 letters. If you look at the table below, you will find 3 letters you need to pronounce it without replacing it as in Russian with "A". For example, in Russian the word "milk" it is said as "malAko". In Greek The Greek language has 24 letters. If you look at the table below, you will find 3 letters always reads like The Greek language has 24 letters. If you look at the table below, you will find 3 letters(imagine that you are from the Vologda region).

		Reads like	Example
Α	α	[A]	μ α μ ά (mother) , έν α ς (one)
Β	β	[V]	β ι β λίο (book), Χα β άη (Hawaii)
Γ	γ	[G](like Ukrainian "g")	γ άλα (milk), τσι γ άρο (cigarette)
Δ	δ	Interdental ringing sound(as in English words this, that)	Κανα δ άς (Canada), δ ρόμος (road)
Ε	ε	[e]	έ να (one), πατ έ ρας (father)
Ζ	ζ	[h]	ζ ωή (life), κα ζ ίνο (casino)
Η	η	[And]	Αθ ή να (Athens), ή ταν (was)
Θ	θ	Interdental dull sound (as in English word think)	Θ εσσαλονίκη (Thessaloniki), Θ ωμάς (Thomas)
Ι	ι	[And]	τσά ι (tea), παν ί (textile)
Κ	κ	[To]	κ αφές (coffee), κ ανό (canoe)
Λ	λ	[l]	πι λ ότος (pilot), Λ ονδίνο (London)
Μ	μ	[m]	Μ αρία (Mary), μ ήλο (apple)
Ν	ν	[n]	ν ησί (island), Ν αταλία (Natalia)
Ξ	ξ	[ks]	τα ξ ί (taxi) , ξ ένος (foreigner)
Ο	ο	[O]	τρ ό π ο ς (mode), μ ό λις (as soon as)
Π	π	[P]	π ατάτα (potatoes), π ράγμα (thing)
Ρ	ρ	[R]	Πέτ ρ ος (Peter), κό ρ η (daughter)
Σ	σ, ς	[With]	Α σ ία, Κώ σ τα ς (Asia, Kostas) (ς - this " With" is only placed at the end of a word)
Τ	τ	[T](Always solid sound)	φ τ άνω (to come), φώ τ α (light)
Υ	υ	[And]	ανάλυ ση (analysis), λύ κος (wolf)
Φ	φ	[f]	φ έτα (Feta cheese), φ ωνή (voice, sound)
Χ	χ	[X]	χ αλί (carpet), χ άνω (to lose)
Ψ	ψ	[ps]	ψ ωμί (bread), ψ άρι (fish)
Ω	ω	[O]	κάν ω (do) , π ω ς (how)

Reading letter combinations

The Greek language has quite a lot of letter combinations (that is, sounds resulting from a combination of 2, 3 and even 4 letters). There are several reasons for this. The first is again a story that comes from the ancient Greek language, when sounds were read differently than in the modern Greek language. Their spelling has been preserved. The second reason is simply a lack of letters in the alphabet. 24 letters seemed insufficient to the Greeks to express philosophical thoughts. That's why they came up with additional sounds, combining existing letters with each other.

Note! The emphasis on combinations of 2 vowels is placed on the second letter. If the emphasis falls on the first letter of the combination, then each letter is read separately

	Reads like	Example
αι	[e]	ν αι (yes) , κ αι (And)
ει	[And]	εί μαι (to be), Ει ρήνη (Irina)
οι	[And]	oικονομία (saving), αυτ οί (they are “men”)
ου	[y]	σ ού πα (soup), ου ρά (queue)
αυ	[av](read as [av] β , γ , δ , ζ , λ , ρ , μ , ν or vowel)	τρ αύ μα (trauma), αύ ριο (tomorrow)
αυ	[af](read as [af] κ , π , τ , χ , φ , θ , σ , ψ , ξ )	αυ τός (he), ν αύ της (sailor)
ευ	[ev](read as [ev], if this diphthong is followed by a voiced letter: β , γ , δ , ζ , λ , ρ , μ , ν or vowel)	Ευ ρώπη (Europe) , ευ ρώ (euro)
ευ	[ef](read as [ef], if after this diphthong there is a voiceless letter: κ , π , τ , χ , φ , θ , σ , ψ , ξ )	ευ θεία (straight), ευ χαριστώ (thank you)
τσ	[ts]	τσ ίρκο (circus), κέ τσ απ (ketchup)
τζ	[dz]	τζ α τζ ίκι (tzatziki), Τζ ένη (Zeni)
γγ	[ng]	Α γγ λία (England), α γγ ούρι (cucumber)
γχ	[nx]	έλεγχ ος (check), σύγχ ρονος (modern, synchronous)
γκ	[G](at the beginning of a word)	γκ ολ (goal), γκ ολφ (golf)
ντ	[d](at the beginning of a word)	ντ ους (shower), ντ ομάτα (tomato)
ντ	[nd](in the middle of a word)	κο ντ ά (near), τσά ντ α (bag)
μπ	[b](at the beginning of a word)	μπ ανάνα (banana), μπ ίρα (beer)
μπ	[mb](in the middle of a word)	λά μπ α (lamp), κολυ μπ ώ (swim)
γκ	[ng](in the middle of a word)	κα γκ ουρό (kangaroo)
για, γεια	[I]	Γιά ννης (Yannis), γεια σου (hello)
γιο, γιω	[ё]	Γιώ ργος (Yorgos), γιο ρτή (holiday)
γιου	[Yu]	Γιού ρι (Yuri)

Features of the pronunciation of some consonants in words

Letters γ , κ , λ , χ , ν soften if they are followed by sounds "i", "e" (ι , η , υ , ει , οι , ε , αι ).

For example:

γ η (ground), γ ελώ (laugh) κ ενό (general, emptiness), κ ήπος (garden), γ υναίκα (woman, wife), χ ίλια (thousand), ό χ ι (no), κ ιλό (kilogram).

σ is read as ζ , if after σ there are the following consonants: β , γ , δ , μ , ρ , μπ , ντ , γκ .

For example:

Ι σ ραήλ (Israel), κό σ μος (space, people), κουρα σ μένος (tired), σ βήνω (turn off), ι σ λάμ (Islam), ο άντρα ς μου (my husband).

All doubled consonants are read as one.

For example:

Σά ββ ατο (Saturday), ε κκ λησία (church), παρά λλ ηλος (parallel), γρα μμ άριο (gram), Ά νν α (Anna), ι ππ όδρομος (hippodrome), Κα σσ άνδρα (Cassandra), Α ττ ική (Attica).

This rule does not apply to the combination γγ (see reading rule above).