Koine Greek Alphabet

The New Testament Greek has 24 letters. English alphabet somewhat corresponds to the Biblical Greek Alphabet. Notice the following similarities: 
α β γ δ ε  =  a b c d e;      ι κ λ μ ν  =  i k l m n;      ο π ρ σ τ υ  =  o p r s t u

Upper/lower case	Name	Sound	Pronunciation
Α, α	alpha	[ɑ]	a (father)
Β, β	beta	[b]	b (bet)
Γ, γ	gamma	[g]1	g (get)
Δ, δ	delta	[d]	d (dog)
Ε, ε	epsilon	[é]	e (get)
Ζ, ζ	zeta	[dz, z]	dz (cords), z (zero)
Η, η	eta	[e]	e (obey)
Θ, θ	theta	[tʰ]	t (top, theology)
Ι, ι	iota	[ɪ, i:]	i (hit), i (machine), y (yellow)
Κ, κ	kappa	[k]	k (keep)
Λ, λ	lambda	[l]	l (lamp)
Μ, μ	mu	[m]	m (mile)
Ν, ν	nu	[n]	n (new)
Ξ, ξ	xi	[kʰs]	x (axe)
Ο, ο	omicron	[o]	o (top) short
Π, π	pi	[p]	p (put)
Ρ, ρ	rho	[r]	r (rod)
Σ, σ, ς 2	sigma	[s]	s (sit)
Τ, τ	tau	[t]	t (talk)
Υ, υ	upsilon	[u]	u (universe), oo (book)
Φ, φ	phi	[pʰ]	ph (phone)
Χ, χ	chi	[kʰ]	ch (Scottish loch) guttural
Ψ, ψ	psi	[ps]	ps (lips)
Ω, ω	omega	[ɔ:]	o (note) long o

Watch this video Biblical Greek Alphabet Pronunciation to learn how the letters should be pronounced.

Upper case appears in the beginning of a paragraph, direct speech, proper names, geographical locations and names of nations. Hence, a new sentence starts with lower case letters.

Words in Greek can end on any vowel and on only three consonants: ν, ρ, ς. Exceptions are words of foreign origin such as Jewish personal names and geographical locations in the Greek Scripture.

Writing Greek letters

You can write Greek letters properly if you practice on the lined paper. You can download it here.

1. Write these letters on the lower line. 
2. Write these letters on the lower line and extend them below that line.
3. Try to write these letters on the lower line and extend them above the middle line.
4. Write these letters on the lower line and extend them in both directions: above and below as shown.
5. Write capital letters between the upper and lower lines as shown. 

Vowels

Greek has seven vowels: α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, and ω. Vowels ε and o are always short, η and ω are always long, and α, ι, υ may be either short or long.

Diphthongs

A diphthong is a combination of two vowels that make one syllable. There are “proper”and “improper”diphthongs.
Proper diphthongs consist of a short vowel and ι or υ (see the table below).

Diphthong	Pronunciation	Example	Meaning
αι	Aisle	αἰών	age
οι	Oil	οἶνος	wine
ει	Eight	χείρ	hand
υι	Queen	υἱός	son
αυ	Mouse	Παῦλος	Paul
ευ3		βασιλεύς	king
ηυ4		ηὗρον	I found

Improper diphthongs are a combination of a long vowel and ι. In this case ι is written beneath the vowel (ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ) and is called iota subscript. It is silent and is not pronounced.

For example: λῃστής [lestés] robber, bandit;  αὐτῷ [autό] him.

Likewise, the digraph ου also makes one sound [-oo-] as in boutique or soup. For example: Ἰησοῦς.

Breathing marks

If a word in Greek starts with a vowel, diphthong or a letter ρ it must have a breathing mark written above it. It is placed above the vowels and “rho” [ρ], and above the second letter in the diphthongs.

Greek has two breathing marks. It can be either rough or smooth.
The rough breathing mark ( ῾ ) indicates that the first sound will have an initial “h” sound.
The smooth breathing mark ( ᾿ ) indicates that this initial “h” sound is absent.

For example:      ἕν         [hén]          one
                            ἐν         [en]            in
                            ἡμέρα  [heméra]    day
                            ἕξ         [héks]         six   
                            ἀνήρ    [anér]         man, husband

Initial ρ and υ always have the rough breathing mark. If a word has two ρρ letters in it, the first one has a smoothand the second a roughbreathing mark, respectively. The breathing mark above ρ is silent.

For example:      ὕδωρ             [húdor]                water
                            ῥῆμα              [réma]                 word  
                            ἐῤῥωμένος   [erroménos]        strong, vigorous

Greek Accents

There are three kinds of accents in Greek: acute ( ´ ), grave ( ` ), and circumflex ( ῀ ). Accents are posted above a vowel and help with word pronunciation. Simply, stress the syllabus which has the accent.

Punctuation signs

The period (.) and comma (,) are used similarly to English.
(;) serves as a question mark.
(͘˙) serves as a colon and semicolon.

Homework

1. Memorize the Biblical Greek alphabet (its sequence, the names of letters and the sounds they make).
2. Learn how to pronounce diphthongs.
3. Practice writing the letters.
4. Read the following words paying attention to accents. Name every letter in these words. Notice any similarities between the Greek and English words.

ἀπόστολος	apostle
φωνή	sound (phone)
καρδία	heart (cardiac)
φόβος	fear (phobia)
λόγος	word (logical)
ζωή	life (zoology)
Πέτρος	Peter
θεός	God (theology)
γυνή	woman (gynecology)
πατήρ	father (paternal)
ψυχή	soul (psychology)
πόλις	city (political, policy)
Χριστός	Christ