Lesson 2 | Vowel Sounds

 

Vowel Sounds  - QUANTITY

 

Long and Short

Greek vowels have quantity à

·         long

·         short

Long vowels take approximately twice as long to pronounce.

 

Long vowels

   Ηη  - E(I)ta

Ωω - o-mega (big o)

Short vowels

                                                 Εε - Epsilon

         Οο  - o-micron (little o)

 

Two - tone vowels

(dichrona fonienta)

                                     Αα - Alpha,    Ιι - Ιota – Υυ - Υpsilon

 

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are pairs of vowels that are pronounced together, producing a combined sound of two vowels in a single syllable.

          

Diphthong	Pronunciation	Transliteration
αι	E	ai, ae, e
αυ	Af/ Av	au
οι	I	oi, oe, e, i
ου	Oo/ ou (boot)	ou, u
ευ	Ef/ Ev	eu
ηυ	If/ Iv	eu

All diphthongs are long except:

αι                              when they are the last two letters of a word (final -αι and -οι)

οι