Greek Letter Combinations
The first step in your learning journey is the alphabet. Once youโve become familiar with the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet and their individual pronunciation, it is important to learn the various letter combinations. To begin with, letโs start with the seven vowels and 17 consonants.
The Greek Vowels
There are seven vowels in the Greek language and their sounds are distinct. These are:
ฮฮฑ โ ฮฮปฯฮฑ
ฮฮต โ ฮฯฮนฮปฮฟฮฝ
ฮฮท โ ฮฯฮฑ
ฮฮน โ ฮฯฯฮฑ
ฮฮฟ โ ฮฮผฮนฮบฯฮฟฮฝ
ฮฅฯ โ ฮฯฮนฮปฮฟฮฝ
ฮฉฯ – ฮฉฮผฮญฮณฮฑ
There are three different letters for the โeโ sound (โeโ as in โheroโ or โzeroโ): ฮฮท, ฮฮน, and ฮฅฯ .
There are two different letters for the โoโ sound (โoโ as in โovenโ and โopenโ): ฮฮฟ and ฮฉฯ.
ฮฮต is pronounced similar to the โeโ in โhenโ or โpenโ.
ฮฮฑ is pronounced similar to the โaโ in โparrotโ and โcarrotโ.
Listen the entire Greek alphabet pronunciation here.
There are no separate vowels for the sounds of โiโ (as in โislandโ or โhighlandโ) or โuโ (as in โultraโ and โutilityโ ). Therefore, some letter combinations are deemed necessary to pronounce words borrowed from foreign languages.
The Greek Digraphs
A digraph is a pair of characters used in the orthography of a language to write a distinct sound. The term itself derives from Greek (di= double/twice, grapho= to write).
The modern Greek digraphs are the following:
ฮฑฮฏ, ฮตฮฏ, ฮฟฮฏ, ฯ
ฮฏ, ฮฑฯ, ฮตฯ, (ฮทฯ โ rare)
The Greek Dipthongs
A diphthong is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds withing a single syllable. The term itself derives from the Greek word โฮดฮฏฯฮธฮฟฮณฮณฮฟฯโ (di= double/twice, phthongos= sound), however, it applies in any language that uses combinations of vowels.
The modern Greek diphthongs are:
ฮฑฮท, ฮฟฮท, ฮฑฯ/ฮฌฮน, ฮฟฯ/ฮฟฮน
The Greek Consonants
The Greek language has 17 consonants that are often mispronounced by non-native speakers. Here are the consonants of the Greek language:
Aฮฑ – ฮฮปฯฮฑ
ฮฮฒ – ฮฮฎฯฮฑ
ฮฮณ โ ฮฮฌฮผฮฑ
ฮฮด – ฮฮญฮปฯฮฑ
ฮฮถ – ฮฮฎฯฮฑ
ฮฮธ – ฮฮฎฯฮฑ
ฮฮบ – ฮฮฌฯฯฮฑ
ฮฮป – ฮฮฌฮผฮดฮฑ
ฮฮผ – ฮฮน
ฮฮฝ – ฮฮน
ฮฮพ – ฮฮน
ฮ ฯ – ฮ ฮน
ฮกฯ – ฮกฮฟ
ฮฃฯ – ฮฃฮฏฮณฮผฮฑ
ฮคฯ – ฮคฮฑฯ
ฮฆฯ – ฮฆฮน
ฮงฯ – ฮงฮน
ฮจฯ โ ฮจฮน
The Greek consonants are separated between:
โข Labials, which are formed with the lips (e.g. โฮ ฯโ).
โข Dentals, which are formed with the tongue and teeth (e.g. โฮคฯโ).
โข Palatals, which are formed with the tongue and palate (e.g. โฮฮบโ).
Double Consonants in Greek
There are certain consonant sounds that are not represented by a single letter in th Greek alphabet, such as “Bb” or “Dd”. As a general rule of thumb, the words that require these phonetic sounds derive from other languages, usually Turkish, English, and French (e.g. โฮผฯฮฑฯฯฯฮญฯโ). These are: ฮผฯ, ฮฝฯ, ฮณฮบ/ฮณฮณ, ฯฮถ, ฯฯ.
ฮฯ is pronounced similar to Bb (as in “Black”, “Back”, and “Band”).
ฮฯ is pronounced similar to Dd (as in “Disc”, “Dusk”, and “Duck”).
ฮฮบ or ฮฮณ is pronounced similar to Gg (as in “Gallon” and “Gulf”).
ฮคฮถ is pronounced similar to Jj (as in “James” and “Joy”).
ฮคฯ is pronounced similar to Ch (as in “Choice” and “Challenge”).
It is important to highlight that all Greek vowels and consonants have a distinct and clear sound, similar to Spanish and Portuguese. There are no โhiddenโ sounds when reading a word aloud. This is why, contrary to popular belief, Greek can be one of the easiest languages to pronounce. For exercises and additional help/guidance, join our video courses!

Marialena Perpiraki is a journalist and writer from Athens, Greece. In 2020, she founded Helinika as a cross-media platform.
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