LEARN ANCIENT GREEK WITH ME - MY NOTES ON CH. 1 “INTRODUCTION TO THE GREEK ALPHABET” - “FROM ALPHA TO OMEGA" BY ANNE GROTON

Introduction to the Greek Alphabet - Lesson One

Content from this lesson is taken from the book "From Alpha to Omega" by Anne Groton and put into my own words. (I just want to say from the outset, that I may have misunderstood or written down wrong content from the book, so please realize these are my own notes and not any official or trustworthy copy of her book.)

Also if you have any comments on anything at all, please leave down below! 

Ruins of the temple of the Delphic Oracle situated in the Parnassian mountains

Periods and Dialects of Ancient Greek Language

According to Groton, Greek belongs to the much large umbrella of the ancient "Indo-European" languages which are descended from a now lost language which was thought to have belonged to the peoples in ancient times who wandered over Asia and Europe. Other languages which have a common ancestry are: "... Italic (including Latin and the Romance languages), Germanic (including English), Celtic, Baltic, Slavic (including Russian), Armenian, Iranian, and Indic languages." 

From Wheelock’s Latin Book

Like all languages, ancient Greek is not a static language, but one that continued to evolve with time. There are significant periods, as well as dialects, related to its changes in the ancient world. This book teaches Greek from the Classical period (400's - 300's BC) and in the dialect of Athens, "Attic." Such a period includes authors like Plato, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Lysias, Thucydides, and Aristophanes. There are also other forms that can be learned, though. There are:

- Epic - For example the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer.

- Ionic - For example, Herodotus' Histories.

- Doric - For example, songs used in tragedy stories in Attica. 

- Aeolic - For example, Sappho's poetry. 

- Hellenistic - A dialect after the Classical Period ended. 

- Koine (Common) - The final form of a universal Greek that spread around that part of the world, used from 3rd Century BC to 6th Century AD. 

In the middle of the Classical period, around 403 BC, the Athenians officially adopted the Ionian alphabet, which has twenty four letters. Originally there were only the large capital letters used in Ancient Greece, but in the 9th Century AD scribes evolved a cursive short hand version of the letters that we use mainly today. Lastly, the pronunciations presented are what scholars estimate was spoken during the Classical period. 

Alphabet

Vowels 

There are seven vowels. When a vowel is said to be "short" or "long" it is a reference to the length of the sound. The long vowels were held twice as long as the short ones in the ancient world. 

α - alpha - sometimes long, sometimes short - sound is the same either way - ah as in "ah ha!"

ε - epsilon - always short - ehh as in "etch"

η - eta - (long form of epsilon) - more open sounding. ehhhh as in "error" or "ace"

 ι - iota - sometimes long, sometimes short - ihh as in "pit" (short form) and ee as in "pizza" (long form)

o - omicron - always short - ohh as in "off"

υ - upsilon - sometimes long, sometimes short - sound is the same either way - uhh as in "foot" (short form) and ouhh as in "boot" (long form)

ω - omega - (long form of omicron) - more open sounding. ohh as in "oh no!"

Diphthongs, Proper and Improper

A diphthong refers to two vowels which are pronounced together and form one long syllable. Either the sounds are combined or the first sound moves into the second. 

There are eight "proper diphthongs" in which the two sounds are preserved together. There are three "improper diphthongs" which have a "iota" which becomes silent. 

Subscripts

With the improper diphthongs, where the iota is silent, it can be written in two ways, either by an "iota adscript" or a "iota subscript". The adscript is used when the first letter is capitalized, as shown above, while the subscript when it is lowercase, and thus written underneath. 

Breathing Marks

When words begin with vowels or diphthongs, then a “breathing mark” is indicated, either showing a rough breathing sound (h-sound) or a smooth breathing (no h-sound). Words that start with “ρ” or “υ” always have rough breathing. Placement of the apostrophe goes on top of the vowel, on the second vowel in a diphthong, or to the left of a capital letter. 

Types of Consonants

Stops/Mutes

    - Labials - π, β, φ

    - Dentals - τ, δ, θ

    - Palatals - κ, γ, χ

Liquids - λ, ρ

Nasals - μ, ν

Sibilant - σ

Double Consonants - ζ, ξ, ψ 

“If one stop is followed by a different stop or by a liquid or a nasal, they are usually pronounced together. If one liquid or nasal is followed by a different liquid or nasal or by a stop, they are pronounced separately. Repeated consonants are always separately pronounced, as are the two sounds in a double consonant. When a sigma is followed by another consonant (not σ), they may be pronounced either separately or together.” 

Syllables

Each word has a syllable for each vowel and diphthong. 

Vowels/diphthongs interrupted by one consonant (or two consonants which are pronounced together) - the syllable break is in between the vowel/diphthong and the consonant. 

If they are interrupted by two or more consonants which are not pronounced together, the syllabic break is in between those consonants. 

Punctuation

In the Classical period there were no real spaces, or punctuation. Later, a few punctuation symbols were added. 

The period and comma are the same as English. 

The semi-colon and colon in English are represented by a "high dot" which looks like a colon which lost its bottom dot. ;/: = 

The question mark looks like our semi colon. ? = ;

Capitalization 

“It is customary to capitalize the first letter of a proper name, of a word beginning a quotation, and of a word beginning a long section (e.g., a paragraph or a chapter), but not of a word beginning an ordinary sentence.” 

Long Marks - Macrons 

For those vowels which can be either short or long depending on the context (α, ι, υ) the macron is used to show if it is long. For those vowels which are always short to long, not such mark is needed. 

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1 - Groton, Anne. From Alpha to Omega