Lesson Three Greek

The starting place with any language study is the alphabet. The alphabet must be learned before any serious progress can be made in gaining a practical familiarity and usage of the language. Biblical Greek has a 24 letter alphabet. You are encouraged to print out the following table for two reasons. In the first place, most printers will print out the letters considerably clearer than your browser is probably showing them and having them printed out will be easier for you to reference time and again. Following the table, I will point out some facts about the characters composing the Greek alphabet.

Capital Letters	Small Letters	Name of Letter	Transliteration	Pronunciation
A	a	alpha	"a" is the English equivalent	pronounced as a in father
B	b	beta	"b" is the English equivalent	pronounced as b in ball
G	g	gamma	"g" is the English equivalent	pronounced as g in gift
D	d	delta	"d" is the English equivalent	pronounced as d in debt
E	e	epsilon	"e" is the English equivalent	pronounced as e in met
Z	z	zeta	"z" is the English equivalent	pronounced as z in zion
H	h	eta	"e" is the English equivalent	pronounced as e in obey
Q	q	theta	"th" is the English equivalent	pronounced as th in theme
I	i	iota	"i" is the English equivalent	pronounced as i in pit
K	k	kappa	"k" is the English equivalent	pronounced as k in kit
L	l	lambda	"l" is the English equivalent	pronounced as l in long
M	m	mu	"m" is the English equivalent	pronounced as m in man
N	n	nu	"n" is the English equivalent	pronounced as n in no
X	x	xi	"x" is the English equivalent	pronounced as x in relax
O	o	omicron	"o" is the English equivalent	pronounced as o in omelet
P	p	pi	"p" is the English equivalent	pronounced as p in pay
R	r	rho	"r" is the English equivalent	pronounced as r in ring
S	s	sigma	"s" is the English equivalent	pronounced as s in sing
T	t	tau	"t" is the English equivalent	pronounced as t in tale
U	u	upsilon	"u" is the English equivalent	pronounced as u in tube
F	f	phi	"ph" is the English equivalent	pronounced as ph in fun
C	c	chi	"ch" is the English equivalent	pronounced as ch in church
Y	y	psi	"ps" is the English equivalent	pronounced as ps in taps
W	w	omega	"o" is the English equivalent	pronounced as o in on

Just as in English, the Greek has exceptions and various rules. Please do not allow such matters to be discouraging to you. However, I do need to mention a couple rules at this point. I shall only mention the minimum of rules and exceptions that I think you need to know.

When g (gamma) is followed by a g (gamma), k (kappa), or c (chi), it is pronounced as the English n. An example is aggeloV (an ge los). When zeta is at the first of a Greek word, it is transliterated "z" in English. However, when zeta is within the word, it is transliterated "dz." We need to know that when rho (r) appears at the beginning of a word, it is transliterated rh (rough breathing, explained in Lesson Four). When you encounter sigma (s) at the end of a Greek word, it will resemble our letter "s" (V).

As you can see, there are 24 letters in the biblical Greek alphabet. The English alphabet roughly corresponds to the Greek alphabet. Also, about thirteen of the Greek letters are similar or resemble the corresponding English letters. Some estimate that up to forty percent of English is from Greek. Many Greek words have never been translated into English, only transliterated (more in a moment). For the most part, I do not recommend you bother to memorize the upper case or capital letters. The small letters are the ones you will mostly encounter. You must also realize that especially five of the lower case letters resemble English letters but must not be confused. For example gamma (g) resembles the y in English, but is transliterated "g" in English.

In Lesson Four, I shall introduce you to other pertinent matters. However, at this time I want to explain and illustrate the matter of transliteration. Transliteration is when we bring a Greek letter, in this case, over into the corresponding English letter. Allow me to illustrate translation and transliteration (do not confuse the two): take the Greek word prwtoV; translated "first;" transliterated "protos." Notice carefully how I transliterated prwtoV: p (pi) is "p" in English; r (rho) is "r" in English; w (omega) is "o" in English; t (tau) is "t" in English; o (omicron) is "o" in English; and s or V (sigma) is transliterated "s." Hence, prwtoV is transliterated protos in English. Protos is the word used in Matthew 6: 33 when Jesus taught we must put "first" (protos) the kingdom of God and his righteousness in our lives. Young's analytical Concordance to the Bible lists the occurrences of protos or proton. Protos is used to teach we are to first (refers to the first in a sequence, protos is comparative and is first because of its importance, simply stated) be reconciled to a sinned against brother before we engage in formal worship of God, we are to first cast out the beam out of our own eye before we attempt to remove a mote from a brother's eye, and we must first cleanse the inside before the outside (Matt. 5: 24; 7: 5; 23: 26). All of these wonderful lessons taught by Jesus are based on the meaning and usage of protos. In Lesson Eight, I shall illustrate and teach you how to effectively use reference works to do word study.

In addition to memorizing the Greek alphabet, I want you to begin to build a vocabulary. In the table below, you will find the Greek word, transliteration, and translation. I want you to memorize these words. Do not worry about the syllables or accent marks at this time (this will be addressed in Lesson four).

Please take all the time you need on Lesson Three. If you do not master the alphabet and the "science" of transliteration, you will be subsequently handicapped. Also, you need to take some time to practice the next paragraph. The process I describe in the next paragraph works on most remote PCs.

At this time, I shall instruct you as to how to type Greek letters into some of the following form fields (below answers). For the Greek letter a, just strike "a" on your keyboard in the form (answer) that calls for the Greek letter. Follow the same procedure for all the Greek characters that correspond to the English letters (consult the alphabet table). Here are some procedures you must learn: for gamma, type "g," for eta, type "h," for theta, type "q," for phi, type "f," for chi, type "c," for psi, type "y," and type the English letter "w" on your keyboard for omega. If you are seeing Greek words in this course, you probably have the font called symbol in your font collection on your PC. Select the symbol font and practice with it. You will need to print out this paragraph for handy reference. One other matter, shift v forms the end sigma.

Please fill in the answers referring back to the above study material. Be sure to supply your name and e-mail in the provided form. Remember to click on the submit button and allow a day or two, normal circumstances, for the reviewing of your answers and return of your grade. Remember how to type Greek letters into some of the following form fields

Regarding all answers that require the answer to be in Greek, please type in the answer rather than copying and pasting the answer.

prwtoV	protos	First in the order, number one
agaqoV	agathos	That or he who is good as opposed to bad
alloV	allos	Another, one of the same kind
oloV	olos	To be whole or all
nekroV	nekros	Dead
pistoV	pistos	Faithful, reliable or dedicated
luw	luo	I loose or I destroy
blepw	blepo	I see
didaskw	didasko	I teach
legw	lego	I say