LESSON 1

GREEK ALPHABET

Objectives:
By the end of the discussion, the students shall have:

1. Expressed the brief history of the Greek language.

2. Explained the importance of the Greek language.
3. Listed the Greek letters.
4. Transliterated Greek letters to English.

Koine Greek and Its Importance

New Testament Greek belongs to the large language family known as the Indo–European
languages—whose history can be followed from the 14th century BC to the present day and
includes such languages as Latin and all the Latin derivatives, plus German and English. Greek
documents cover 34 centuries, a longer period than that of any other Indo–European language.

The terms “classical,” “koine,” and “modern” are often confused. “Classical,” in its
broadest sense, covers both the ancient period (pre–Homer and Homer), the time of
Plato and Aristotle, the Hellenistic and Roman period, the Byzantine period, and
everything else up to the modern period that began in the 15th century. In some circles,
however, “classical” refers exclusively to Homer and the great philosophers who
followed his time (the distinctions being between the Attic and the Doric, with the Koine
being a developed and simplified form of the Attic).

New Testament Greek, known as Koine Greek, is the Greek that was used from the time
of Alexander the Great (4th century BC) through the end of the great Roman Empire (5th
century AD)—a period of Greek that is also known as the Greek of the Hellenistic and
Roman periods.

Western Rome came to an end in 476 AD, and that date is considered to be the beginning
of Byzantine Greek. Some scholars see the end of the “Koine” period in 529 when
Justinian closed the Athenian schools of philosophy. From that time on, the Koine was
used mostly by the church and thus became identified as “Byzantine Greek.” Apart from
the ecclesiastical influence that dominated the Koine Greek in this period (and even
earlier when Constantine made Christianity the state religion), the Koine Greek existed
in a broader sense until the 15th century.

It is, therefore, the Greek of the Old Testament translation from Hebrew (Septuagint,
3rd century BC), of Philo (an Alexandrian Jewish apologist contemporary with Jesus),
Josephus, the New Testament, the Apostolic Fathers, and the Greek-speaking Anti–Nicene
Church Fathers.
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GREEK ALPHABET

The Greek Alphabet

The Greek alphabet is the same alphabet used today in Greece. As you begin learning
The Greek alphabet, keep the following point in mind: the alphabet is not difficult—it is very
similar to the English alphabet.

Name Form Sound

Small Caps

alpha α Α a father
beta β Β b-boy
gamma γ Γ g game
delta δ Δ d dog
epsilon ε Ε e etch
zeta ζ Ζ z daze
eta η Η e obey
theta θ Θ th theology
iota ι Ι i immediate
kappa κ Κ k keep
lambda λ Λ l lamb
mu μ Μ m mother
nu ν Ν n now
xi ξ Ξ x lax
omicron ο Ο o omelet
pi π Π p papa
rho ρ Ρ r rose
sigma σ, ς Σ s same
tau τ Τ t take
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GREEK ALPHABET

upsilon υ Υ u tulip
phi φ Φ ph phone
chi χ Χ ch crisis
psi ψ Ψ ps tops
omega ω Ω o told

This is the conventional order. Capital letters need not be learned at this time; they are
picked up quite naturally because many of the capitals are more like the English letter than
the cursive form and the remaining letters are easy to pick up by simply sounding out the
remaining letters in the word.

The Vowels

There are seven Greek vowels: α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, and ω. Of these, ε and ο are always short in
pronunciation; η and ω are always long; and α, ι, and υ may be either long or short.

The Consonants

There are seventeen consonants in New Testament Greek. They are grouped into three classes:
LESSON 1

GREEK ALPHABET

1. Liquids λ, μ, ν, and ρ
a. These are called liquids because of the smooth, easy flow of breath used in their
pronunciation.

2. Mutes β, γ, δ, θ, κ, π, τ, φ, χ
a. These consonants are pronounced by momentarily closing portions of the oral
passage, then suddenly releasing the sound. As the names suggest, labials are
sounded with the lips, dentals with the teeth (and tongue), and palatals with the
back of the throat.

i. Labials π β φ

ii. Dentals τ δ θ

iii. Palatals (Gutturals) κ γ χ

3. Sibilants σ, ζ, ξ, and ψ
a. These consonants all have an “s” sound. Three of these (ζ, ξ, and ψ) are called
compound consonants or digraphs because they resulted from the combination of
a mute consonant with σ.