4.1 Vowel Length

There are 7 Greek vowels. The length of a vowel can be either long or short. The vowels and their pronunciations are listed below:

There are three rules to remember concerning the vowel length:

1. Epsilon (ε) and Omicron (ο) are always short.
2. Eta (η) and Omega (ω) are always long.
3. Alpha (α), Iota (ι) and Upsilon (υ) can be either short or long.

4.2 Vowel Classes

Not every vowel has a long and a short pronunciation.  However, every vowel class does have a long and a short pronunciation. There are five vowel classes: a, e, i, o, and u;  The table below shows the 7 vowels grouped into the 5 classes:Not every vowel has a long and a short pronunciation.  However, every vowel class does have a long and a short pronunciation. There are five vowel

4.3 Diphthongs

Two vowels that produce one sound are called a Diphthong. The second vowel in a diphthong is always an ι or an υ. The table below contains a list of the Greek diphthongs and their pronunciation:

* Spanish (day–oo-da)

4.4 Improper Diphthongs

When the vowels α, η, or ω combine with an iota subscript they form an improper diphthong. An iota subscript is a small ι written under these vowels (ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ). The iota does not change the pronunciation of the vowel.

4.5 Diaeresis

A diaeresis is indicated by two dots over the second of two diphthong vowels (αϊ). Each vowel is pronounced using its normal pronunciation.

For example, in Μωϋσῆς the two dots over the upsilon (ϋ) indicate that the two vowels (ωϋ) do not form a diphthong. The ω is pronounced o as in tone, and the υ is pronounced u as in ruse.

4.6 Breathing Marks

Every Greek word that begins with a vowel or a Rho (ρ) has a breathing mark. There are only two types of breathing marks:

1. Smooth breathing is indicated by the symbol ᾽ and has no pronunciation.
2. Rough breathing is indicated by the symbol ῾ and is pronounced with an “h” sound that precedes and is combined with the vowel sound. For example ἁ is pronounced “ha”.

The breathing mark is placed over a lower case vowel, before a upper case vowel, and over the second vowel in a diphthong as illustrated in the table below:

4.7 Apostrophe

An apostrophe mark looks like a smooth breathing mark but it indicates either a crasis or an elision.

Crasis is when two words are combined together into one word.

Elision occurs when a preposition or conjunction ends with a vowel and the next word begins with a vowel. The final vowel in the first word drops out and is replaced with an apostrophe.

Apostrophe use is illustrated in the table below: