Romanization of Greek
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This table lists several transcription schemes from the Greek alphabet to the Latin alphabet.
Greek | Traditional | Scientific | Beta code | BGN/PCGN | UN/ELOT | Greeklish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Classical Greek | Modern Greek | |||||
α | a | a | A | a | a | a |
β | b | b | B | v | v | b,v |
γ | g | g | G | g, y1 | g | g,y |
δ | d | d | D | dh, d2 | d | d,dh |
ε | e | e | E | e | e | e |
ζ | z | z, dz | Z | z | z | z,s |
η | e | ē | H | i | i | h,i,n |
θ | th | th | Q | th | th | th,u,8,9,0,q |
ι | i | i | I | i | i | i |
κ | c | k | K | k | k | k,c |
λ | l | l | L | l | l | l |
μ | m | m | M | m | m | m |
ν | n | n | N | n | n | n,v |
ξ | x | x | C | x | x | ks, 3, x, j |
ο | o | o | O | o | o | o |
π | p | p | P | p | p | p,n |
ρ | r, rh3 | r, rh3 | R | r | r | r,p |
σ ς | s | s | S | s4 | s | s,6,w |
τ | t | t | T | t | t | t,7 |
υ | y | u | U | i | y | y,u,i |
φ | ph | ph | F | f | f | f,ph |
χ | ch | ch | X | kh | ch | ch,x,h |
ψ | ps | ps | Y | ps | ps | ps,y |
ω | o | ō | W | o | o | w,o,v |
Vowel combinations11 | ||||||
αι | ae, e | ai | AI | e | ai | ai,e |
αυ | au | au | AU | av | av5, af6 | ay,au,af,av |
ει | i | ei | EI | i | ei | ei,i |
ευ | eu | eu | EU | ev | ev5, ef6 | ey,eu,ef,ev |
ηυ | eu | ēu | HU | iv | iv5, if6 | hy,hu,if,iv |
οι | oe, e | oi | OI | i | oi | oi,i |
ου | u | ou | OU | u | ou | ou,u,oy |
υι | ui | ui | UI | i | yi | yi,gi,i |
Consonant combinations | ||||||
γγ | ng | ng | GG | ng | ng | gg,gk,ng |
γξ | nx | nx | GC | nx | nx | gks,gx |
γκ | nc | nk | GK | g7, ng8 | gk | gk |
γχ | nch | nch | GX | nkh | nch | nx,nch |
μπ | mp | mp | MP | b7, mb8 | b7, mp8 | mp,b,mb |
ντ | nt | nt | NT | d7, nd8 | nt | nt,d,nd |
Modifiers (only classical Greek) | ||||||
̔ | h9 | h9 | ( | (spiritus asper) | ||
̓ | none | none | ) | (spiritus lenis) | ||
ͅ | i? | i? | | | (iota subscript)10 | ||
Obsolete letters | ||||||
ϝ | w | V | ||||
ϙ | q | #3 | ||||
ϛ | st | #2 | ||||
ϻ | s, ś | #711 | ||||
ϡ | ss | #5 | ||||
ϸ |
Notes:
- before αι, ε, ει, η, ι, οι, υ, υι.
- between ν and ρ.
- with spiritus asper.
- sometimes doubled between vowels (ex. Larissa).
- before β, γ, δ, ζ, λ, μ, ν, ρ and vowels.
- before θ, κ, ξ, π, σ, τ, φ, χ, ψ and at the end of a word.
- at the beginning of a word.
- in the middle of a word.
- on vowel: h before the vowel; on ρ: rh.
- under long vowels.
- except when there is a diaeresis ( ¨ ) on the second vowel
[edit] Diacritics
Ancient Greek was a polytonic language. Through the ages, the tone system has been simplified, leaving most of the diacritics (including spiritus asper and spiritus lenis) meaningless. In 1982, monotonic orthography was officially introduced for modern Greek. The only diacritics that remain are the acute accent (indicating stress) and the diaeresis (indicating that two consecutive vowels should not be combined). The acute accent and the diaeresis are kept in both the BGN/PCGN and the UN/ELOT romanization systems. There is one exception: in the vowel combinations αυ, ευ and ηυ the accent moves from the υ (that becomes v or f) to the preceding vowel.
[edit] See also
- Beta code
- Classical compound
- English words of Greek origin
- List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names for help with Greek-derived scientific names of organisms
- List of Greek words with English derivatives
[edit] References
- Transliteration of Non-Roman Scripts, a collection of writing systems and transliteration tables, by Thomas T. Pederson. Includes PDF reference charts for many languages’ transliteration systems.
- The Working Group on Romanization Systems of the United Nations.
- Transliteration chart of the Library of Congress.