Φωνητική (Phonetics) – Combinations

There are two types of letter combinations in Greek – digraphs and dipthongs.

Digraphs

The word ‘digraph’ comes from the Ancient Greek δι (di, two) + γράφω (grapho, write).

It means a pair of letters used to represent one sound.

In English, the letters ‘ch’ in ‘check’ are a diagraph. ‘Ch’ is one sound, not two distinct ‘c’ and ‘h’ sounds.

In Greek, the vowel sounds αι (‘e’), ει and οι (‘i’), and ου (‘u’) are all digraphs, since they consist of two letters to represent a single sound.

Greek also has some digraphs that are used for consonants.

b = μπ, d = ντ

You may have noticed that, now that β (beta) is pronounced closer to ‘v‘ than ‘b‘, there is no single letter representing a ‘b’ sound in the Modern Greek alphabet.

Instead, Modern Greek combines μ + π to represent a ‘b’ sound.

Similarly, since δ (delta) is pronounced ‘th‘ there is no single letter representing ‘d‘ in Modern Greek.

Instead, Modern Greek combines ν + τ to represent a ‘d’ sound.

g = γγ/γκ

Since γ (gamma) is typically pronounced more like a ‘y‘, there is no single letter representing a ‘g‘ sound.

To write ‘g’ in Greek, there are two options:

• γγ, pronounced /ng/ as in English, typically used in native words, never appears at the start of words
• γκ, /g/ as in goal at start of words, /ng/ elsewhere, used in native and loan words

/dz/ = τζ, /ts/ = τσ,

Greek does not have a single letter representing a ‘j‘ sound (as in ‘jazz’) either.

This isn’t so surprising, for two reasons.

First, while we may think of ‘j’ as representing a single sound, its typical English pronunciation is actually represented by two symbols (a digraph!) in the International Phonetic Alphabet: /dʒ/.

Second, ‘j’ is a relatively new addition to the English alphabet. Why is it such a newcomer?

The fact is, we don’t really need it! We have a digraph to represent this sound in English as well!

Consider the word ‘judge’. The ‘j‘ represents exactly the same sound as the ‘dg‘ in this word. Aside from the fact that we’re not used to seeing words start with a ‘dg’ in English, there’s no reason we couldn’t spell it ‘dgudge’.

In Greek, however, there is no confusion about how to represent this sound: ‘j’ or ‘dg’ or /dʒ/ is always represented τζ.

A similar digraph is used for the sound ‘ts‘ as in ‘its‘, which is also written using two letters in English.

Both τζ and τσ are relatively uncommon. Aside from obviously borrowed words and names like τζαζ and Τζούλι, you’re only likely to encounter τζ in words of Ottoman Turkish origin, like τζατζίκι (tzatziki) and ταξιτζής (taxitzis, taxi-driver). Τσ, on the other hand, occasionally appears in native words like κορίτσι (koritsi), and in loanwords like τσεκ (tsek, check), where it is used to approximate a ‘ch’ sound that doesn’t exist in Modern Greek.

Here are all six consonant digraphs in one handy chart:

Dipthongs

‘Dipthong’ is another word from Ancient Greek δι (di, two) +‎ φθόγγος (phthóngos, sound).

Dipthongs start with one vowel sound that glides into a second one, creating a special new sound.

There are two important dipthongs to learn in Greek, both of which end with υ:

You can hear all of these digraphs and dipthongs pronounced on the Nostos website. Make sure to follow along with Ελληνικά Τώρα/Ellinika Tora (Greek Now) 1, focusing on page 17.

You can also listen to language teacher Sanja Orlovic from Sithonia pronounce a number of common Greek words using these sounds:

Diaresis

While Ancient and Modern Greek had a complicated system of accent markers, in Modern Greek, there are only two:

1. the tonos (΄), meaning ‘tone’ which marks where the stress falls on a word. e.g. παιδάκια (little children) is pronounced pe-tha-ki-a, with an accent on the ‘tha’, and
2. the diaresis (¨) meaning ‘division’, which indicates that a combination of letters which usually represent a single sound (e.g. αι = ‘e’) , should instead be pronounced individually. e.g. παϊδάκια (lamb chops) is pronounced pa-i-tha-ki-a.

Compared to the tonos, diaresis is relatively rare, but it’s important: you don’t want to accidentally order a plate of little children (παιδάκια) instead of a plate of lamb chops (παϊδάκια)!