Greek Writing System
Greek Writing System
the writing system that developed from the Phoenician consonantal script in the tenth to eighth centuries B.C. (its oldest monuments are from the eighth to seventh centuries B.C.). The system that was used by the ancient Greeks is still in use. An innovation in the development of the Greek writing system was the introduction of separate letters for the vowels, in addition to those designating consonants.
Table 1. Greek writing system | ||||
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1Letters in brackets are the Library of Congress transliterations when they differ from the values given in the original | ||||
Letter | Name | Ancient Greek pronunciation | Modern Greek pronunciation | Numerical value |
Aα | alpha | a | a | 1 |
Bβ | beta | b | v | 2 |
Гγ | gamma | g | g | 3 |
(fricative) | ||||
j | ||||
η | η | |||
Δδ | delta | d | δ(voiced interdental) | 4 |
E ε | epsilon | e | e | 5 |
Zζ | zeta | dz | z | 7 |
H η | eta | ē | i | 8 |
Ɵθ | theta | th | th (unvoiced interdental) | 9 |
Iι | iota | i | i | 10 |
K ϰ | kappa | k | k | 20 |
∧ λ | lambda | 1 | 1 | 30 |
M μ | mu | m | m | 40 |
ƞv | nu | n | n | 50 |
Ξ ξ | xi | ks | ks [x]1 | 60 |
O o | omicron | 0 | 0 | 70 |
П п | pi | P | p | 80 |
Pρ | rho | r | r[rh] | 100 |
∑ σ, ς | sigma | s | S | 200 |
T τ | tau | t | t | 300 |
Y υ | upsilon | u →0 | i[y; u in diphthong] | 400 |
Φ φ | phi | ph | f | 500 |
Ψ ψ | psi | ps | ps | 700 |
Ω ω | omega | ō | 0 | 800 |
ει | – | ei | i | – |
o ι | – | αi | ө | – |
oι | – | oi | i | – |
ευ | – | eu | ev, ef | – |
α υ | – | au | av, af | – |
oυ | – | u | u | – |
ηυ | – | – | iv, if | – |
υι | – | – | i | – |
μ п | – | mp | b, mb | – |
υτ | – | nt | d, nd | – |
REFERENCES
Istrin, V. A. Vozniknovenie i razvitie pis’ma. Moscow, 1965.Jeffery, J. H. The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece. Oxford, 1961.