Greek alphabet: the 24 Greek letters and their translation

O Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters. It is derived from the Phoenician alphabet and influenced the formation of the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. It is currently used in the modern Greek language. In addition, some letters of the Greek alphabet are used in areas of knowledge such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and astronomy.

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Topics of this article

• 1 - Full Greek alphabet and letter names
• 2 - What is the origin and history of the Greek alphabet?
• 3 - Use of Greek letters
• 4 - Portuguese alphabet
• 5 - Which languages ​​use the Greek alphabet?
• 6 - Curiosities about the Greek alphabet

Full Greek alphabet and letter names

CAPITAL LETTER	LOWER CASE	LETTER NAME
A	α	Alpha
B	β	Beta
Γ	γ	gamma
∆	δ	Delta
AND	ε	epsilon
Z	ζ	Zeta
H	η	eta
Θ	θ	tit
I	ι	Iota
K	κ	Cover
Λ	λ	Lambda
M	µ	Mi
No	ν	Ni
Ξ	ξ	csi
O	O	omicron
Π	π	pi
P	ρ	Rho
Σ	σ	Sigma
T	τ	tau
Υ	υ	epsilon
Φ	ϕ	Fi
X	χ	Thu
Ψ	ψ	psi
Ω	ω	Omega

What is the origin and history of the Greek alphabet?

the greek alphabet comes from the alphabet used by Phoenicians. Therefore, it was borrowed and adapted in Greek lands, approximately in 1000 BC. W. However, it began to present regional variations and was only unified around 403 BC. c., when

Athens made the Ionic variant its official alphabet, now known as the Greek alphabet.

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Use of Greek letters

In addition to being used in current Greek writing, Greek letters are also employed in areas of knowledge, such as physical, The chemical, The astronomy and the mathematics. Let's look at some examples:

KNOWLEDGE AREA	GREEK LETTER	USE
Mathematics	π	C = 2πr (circumference length)
Δ	Δ = b^2 - 4ac (equation of 2^O degree)
α, β	α = 30^O β = 60^O (acute angles of right triangle)
ϕ	ϕ = (1 + V5)/ 2 (ratio or golden number)
Σ	Sum
Physical	λ	λ = w/f (wave-length)
α, β, γ	Alpha, beta and gamma radiation
Ω	Ohm, unit of measurement for electrical resistance
Astronomy	Λ	Λ = 8πρvac (cosmological constant)
α Centauri	star system
Chemical	µ	1 µm = 10^-6 m (micrometer)

portuguese alphabet

CAPITAL LETTER	LOWER CASE
A	The
B	B
W	w
D	d
AND	It is
F	f
G	g
H	H
I	i
J	j
K	k
L	l
M	m
No	n
O	O
P	P
Q	what
R	r
s	s
T	t
U	u
V	v
W	w
X	x
Y	y
Z	z

Which languages ​​use the Greek alphabet?

the greek alphabet is used in modern Greek, but it also exerted influence on the Cyrillic alphabet, which in turn is used in some languages ​​of Slavic countries, such as Russia, for example. But the The main language to use the Greek alphabet was Latin. Thus, around the 1st century BC. C., the Latin alphabet appeared, very close to what the Greek was.

The Latin alphabet, which was also influenced by the Etruscan alphabet, was composed of 23 letters, while the Greek one had 24. Today it is present in Romance and even Germanic languages, such as English and German, for example. no more, let's look at the correspondence between some letters of the Latin and Greek alphabets:

LATIN ALPHABET	GREEK ALPHABET
the, the	A, α
B, B	B, β
d, d	∆, δ
And is	And, ε
F, F	Φ, ϕ
G, G	Γ, γ
i, i	i, i
k, k	K, κ
L, L	Λ, λ
m, m	M, µ
No, no	N, v
the, the	the, the
P, P	Π, π
r, r	P, ρ
y, y	Σ, σ
t, t	T, τ
Y, y	Υ, υ
Z, Z	Z, ζ

Facts about the Greek alphabet

The Greek alphabet has history!

• Initially, the Greek alphabet was written from right to left. Only in the 6th century BC. C., approximately, that the scribes began to write from left to right, as it is until the present day.

• The letter “A” was written horizontally by the Phoenicians; it was the Greeks who started writing this letter vertically, as we know it today.

By Warley Souza
Literature Teacher 

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

SOUZA, Warley. "Greek alphabet"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/portugues/alfabeto-grego.htm. Accessed on July 16, 2023.

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