GREEK LETTERS

Learn the names of Greek letters – not just the obvious ones like alpha,beta, and pi, but the more obscure psi, xi, tau, omega. [. . . ] Learn not justto recognize these letters, but how to pronounce them. Even if you are notreading mathematics out loud, it is hard to think about formulas if ξ, ψ, τ, ω, ϕ
are all “squiggles” to you.
J. Hubbard
Below is a table of the Greek alphabetical order, with pronunciation guides for the letternames and sounds that match how mathematicians pronounce them in English. This is notalways the same as Greek pronunciation, e.g., the sound of the letter β in modern Greek
is v rather than b, so βoλτ is Greek for volt, not bolt. If Greek borrows a foreign wordwith a b sound in it, they transcribe that sound using the two-letter combination µπ, sobarbershop is µπαρµπ έρικo = barberiko and blues (the musical style) is µπλoυζ. (Comparewith Greek’s single letter θ where English uses two letters th. If your alphabet doesn’t havea letter representing the sound you need, you have to improvise.)
NameSound
LetterAαάλϕα (alpha)aBββ ήτ α (beta)bγ άµµα (gamma)gΓγ∆δδ έλτ α (delta)dέψιλoν (epsilon)eEεZζζ ήτ α (zeta)zHηήτ α (eta)eeθήτ α (theta)thΘθIιιώτ α (iota)
iKκκάππα (kappa)kΛλλάµβδα (lambda)
lMµµύ (mu)mNνν ύ (nu)nξί (xi)ksΞξ
Ooóµικρoν (omicron)oΠππί (pi)pPρρώ (rho)rΣσσίγµα (sigma)sTττ αύ (tau)tΥυύψιλoν (upsilon)ooΦϕϕί (phi)fXχχί (chi)kh (or h)Ψψψί (psi)psΩω
ωµέγα (omega)o12GREEK LETTERS

Gain familiarity with the Greek letters by figuring out how to pronounce each Greek
word below. Its meaning is in the next column over. The words are in Greek alphabeticalorder across the rows. Some of the words are loan words from English rather than nativeGreek words.
Once you get used to the letters, you’ll see a lot of the words in the table are really thesame in Greek and English, but a few words have been included where the Greek is only aroot for words in English (like Greek for “heart” and “wood.”) Try hiding the English andsee if you can figure out the Greek words by themselves. (Note: ω (omega) is o, not w!! Forinstance, ωκεανoγραϕία is not wkeanografia, but rather okeanografia = oceanography.)
Translation
Greekαρώµα
aroma
βασικóbasic
languageγλώσσαδóντ ιtoothεγ ώegoηθικήethicsήλιoνheliumθεωρίαtheoryheartκαρδιάλoγικó
logic
beerµπίρανoστ αλγίαnostalgia
ξενoϕoβία xenophobiaπεντ άγωνopentagon
ρoκrock (music)στ óµαmouthτ ρίγωνotriangle
hypnosisυπν ώσηϕύλλoleaf
chorusχoρωδίαψευδ ώνυµo pseudonym

GreekTranslationάτ oµoatom
Boστ ώνη
BostonΓαλλικά
Frenchεν έργειαenergyζ ώoanimalηλεκτ ρικóelectricθεωρήµα
theoremιστ oρία(hi)storyκατ αστ ρoϕήcatastropheµανίαmadnessνεύρonerveNίκηsneaker goddessoκτ ώeightπρóβληµα
problemρητ oρικó
rhetoricalσεξsexτ ετ ράγωνosquareυδρoγ óνohydrogenχηµείαchemistryχρώµαcolorώραhour

Greek
Translationβιβλίobookγεωµετ ρίαgeometryδηµoκρατία democracy
EλληνικάGreekζωδιακó
zodiacηχώecho
θεoλoγίαtheologyιδ έαidea
λάµπαlampµoυσικήmusicν έonewξ ύλowoodóνoµαnameΠλάτ ωνPlatoραψωδίαrhapsodyσεισµικó
seismicτ ραγωδίαtragedyϕoβίαfearχιπ-χoπhip-hopψυχήsoulΩρίων
Orion

Uses of Greek letters in math can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek
letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering. For their role in finance,
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks (finance).
A table showing how to write Greek letters by hand is at https://www.foundalis.com/
lan/hw/grkhandw.htm.