Greek alphabet

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The (modern) Greek alphabet has 24 letters:

Capital	Lower Case	Greek Name	English Name	IPA Value	Approximative Sound
Α	α	άλφα	alpha	a	Italian amore
Β	β	βήτα	beta	v	victory
Γ	γ	γάμμα / γάμα	gamma	ɣ / ʝ¹	Dutch gaan / Swedish jord
Δ	δ	δέλτα	delta	ð	this
Ε	ε	έψιλον	epsilon	e̞	Spanish bebé
Ζ	ζ	ζήτα	zeta	z	zoo
Η	η	ήτα	eta	i	keep (but shorter)
Θ	θ	θήτα	theta	θ	thanks
Ι	ι	ιώτα / γιώτα	iota	i	keep (but shorter)
Κ	κ	κάππα / κάπα	kappa	k / c¹	English sketch / Hungarian kutya
Λ	λ	λάμδα	lambda	l	Italian lira
Μ	μ	μυ / μι	mu	m / ɱ²	meat / symphony
Ν	ν	νυ / νι	nu	n / n̪³	need / enthrone
Ξ	ξ	ξει / ξι	xi	ks⁵	fox
Ο	ο	όμικρον	omicron	o̞	Spanish todo
Π	π	πει / πι	pi	p / p̪²	English speak / German Apfel
Ρ	ρ	ρω / ρο	rho	r	Italian mare
Σ	σ, ς	σίγμα	sigma	s / z⁴	soap / tourism
Τ	τ	ταυ	tau	t / t̪³	English stop / Spanish todo
Υ	υ	ύψιλον	upsilon	i	keep (but shorter)
Φ	φ	φει / φι	phi	f	fast
Χ	χ	χει / χι	chi	x / ç¹	Scotish loch / German ich
Ψ	ψ	ψει / ψι	psi	ps⁵	drops
Ω	ω	ωμέγα	omega	o̞	Spanish todo

¹ γ is pronounced /ʝ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ɣ/ in all other cases.
¹ κ is pronounced /c/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /k/ in all other cases.
¹ χ is pronounced /ç/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /x/ in all other cases.

² μ is pronounced /ɱ/ before /v/ and /f/, /m/ in all other cases.
² π is pronounced /p̪/ before /f/, /p/ in all other cases.

³ ν is considered an alveolar consonant and it's pronounced /n/, but before the interdentals /ð/ and /θ/ tends to be pronounced as a dental one /n̪/.
³ τ is considered an alveolar consonant and it's pronounced /t/, but before the interdental /θ/ tends to be pronounced as a dental one /t̪/.

• Σίγμα has two versions of the lower case. The second one <ς> is used when it is the last letter of a word and the first version <σ> everywhere else.
  

⁴ σ is pronounced /z/ before voiced consonants, /s/ in all other cases.

⁴ ς is pronounced /z/ if the next word begins with a voiced consonant, /s/ in all other cases.

⁵ ξ should be considered an affricate because the articulations of /k/ and /s/ are simultaneous.
⁵ ψ should be considered an affricate because the articulations of /p/ and /s/ are simultaneous.

LETTER COMBINATIONS

• αι is pronounced like ε, /e̞/.
• αυ is pronounced /av/ before voiced consonants and vowels, /af/ in all other cases.
• γγ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

1. /ŋɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋɡ/ in all other cases, if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /ɟ/ and /ɡ/.
2. In a few particular cases, it can be pronounced /ŋʝ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋɣ/ in other cases; examples: εγγενής (inborn), συγγραφέας (author, writer), etc.
3. It is taught that it never occurs at the beginning of a word, although it can be found in popular and dialectal words and pronounced /ɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ɡ/ in other cases; examples: γγίζω (to touch), γγαστρώνω (to impregnate), etc.

• γκ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

1. /ɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ɡ/ in other cases, when occurs at the beginning of a word.
2. /ŋɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋɡ/ in other cases, if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /ɟ/ and /ɡ/; if it occurs at the beginning of a word and in the second syllable of the same word, then these two consecutive combinations are assimilated and pronounced without the initial nasalization.
3. It can also be pronounced /ŋc/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋk/ in other cases, especially in scholarly and rare used words or in transliterated foreign words.

• γκτ, in this combination, the voiceless <τ> prevents the sonorisation of <κ>, so this combination is pronounced /ŋkt/ or simply /ŋt/.
• γξ is pronounced /ŋks/.
• γχ is pronounced /ŋç/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋx/ in all other cases.
• ει is pronounced like η, ι, and υ, /i/.
• ευ is pronounced /e̞v/ before voiced consonants and vowels, /e̞f/ in all other cases.
• ηυ, found in a few words, is pronounced /iv/ before voiced consonants and vowels, /if/ in all other cases.
• μπ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

1. /b/ when occurs at the beginning of a word.
2. /mb/ if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /b/; if it occurs at the beginning of a word and in the second syllable of the same word, then these two consecutive combinations are assimilated and pronounced without the initial nasalization.
3. It can also be pronounced /mp/, especially in scholarly and rare used words or in transliterated foreign words.

• μπτ, in this combination, the voiceless <τ> prevents the sonorisation of <π>, so this combination is pronounced /mpt/ or simply /mt/.
• ντ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

1. /d/ when occurs at the beginning of a word.
2. /nd/ if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /d/; if it occurs at the beginning of a word and in the second syllable of the same word, then these two consecutive combinations are assimilated and pronounced without the initial nasalization.
3. It can also be pronounced /nt/, especially in scholarly and rare used words or in transliterated foreign words.

• οι is pronounced like η, ι, υ and ει, /i/.
• ου is pronounced /u/, like put.
• υι, found in a few words, is pronounced like η, ι, υ, ει and οι, /i/.

When preceded by a consonant and followed by a vowel, AND WHEN UNSTRESSED the letters and digraphs representing the sound /i/ often indicate a palatalization of that consonant:

ΒΙ [vʝ]
ΓΙ [ʝ]
ΔΙ [ðʝ]
ΖΙ [zʝ]
ΘΙ [θç]
ΚΙ [c]
ΛΙ [ʎ]
ΜΙ [mɲ]
ΝΙ [ɲ]
ΞΙ [ksç]
ΠΙ [pç]
ΡΙ [rʝ]
ΣΙ [sç]
ΤΙ [tç]
ΦΙ [fç]
ΧΙ [ç]
ΨΙ [psç]

One can not be sure from the spelling about when these /i/ indicate palatalization and when they are pronounced as separate syllables. The only way is memorizing each word separately.

Greek alphabet: practice Practice reading the Greek alphabet here

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