About the Greek Script
The Greek alphabet was formally standardized in 403 BCE when Athens adopted the Ionian alphabet under archon Eucleides, replacing the Old Attic alphabet during post-Thirty Tyrants democratic reforms. By the end of the 4th century BCE, the Eucleidean alphabet had displaced local Greek variants to become the universal standard across Greek-speaking regions. In the modern era, 1976 marked the official standardization of Modern Greek orthography, establishing Demotic Greek (Δημοτική) over Katharevousa as the standard for education, administration, and literature. 1982 brought a diacritical system simplification in a follow-up official reform, creating the monochord (single accent) system used in Modern Greek keyboards today.
The Greek Alphabet — Every Letter
Here is the full Greek character set. You can click any letter on the Kactyl Greek keyboard to type it instantly — no need to memorize positions.
- Script: Greek alphabet, left-to-right, 24 letters
- Speakers: 13 million worldwide
- Writing direction: Left-to-right
- Distinctive feature: Modern Greek uses the monochord diacritical system (post-1982) — a single accent mark (΄) on vowels like ά, é, ή, ό — unlike classical Greek's complex polytonic marks. The 24-letter Greek alphabet (Α-Ω) maps directly to 24 uppercase/lowercase pairs. Typing Greek requires semicolon + vowel shortcut: press ; then a vowel to produce the accented form (e.g., ;a = ά). This phonetic efficiency is critical for diaspora users on Latin QWERTY keyboards without native Greek layout installed.
The Greek Alphabet, Letter by Letter
Every Greek letter with its name, the sound it makes, and a real example word. Tap any letter to hear and copy it — keep this reference open while you learn to read or type:
| Letter | Name | Sound | Example word |
|---|---|---|---|
| alpha | a | αστέρι — astéri (star) | |
| beta | v | βιβλίο — vivlío (book) | |
| gamma | gh / y | γάτα — gáta (cat) | |
| delta | soft th (as in “this”) | δέντρο — déntro (tree) | |
| epsilon | e | ελέφαντας — eléfantas (elephant) | |
| zeta | z | ζέβρα — zévra (zebra) | |
| eta | ee | ήλιος — ílios (sun) | |
| theta | hard th (as in “thin”) | θάλασσα — thálassa (sea) | |
| iota | ee | ιστορία — istoría (story) | |
| kappa | k | καφές — kafés (coffee) | |
| lambda | l | λουλούδι — louloúdi (flower) | |
| mu | m | μήλο — mílo (apple) | |
| nu | n | νερό — neró (water) | |
| xi | ks | ξύλο — xýlo (wood) | |
| omicron | o | ουρανός — ouranós (sky) | |
| pi | p | ποτάμι — potámi (river) | |
| rho | r | ρολόι — rolói (clock) | |
| sigma | s | σπίτι — spíti (house) | |
| tau | t | τυρί — tyrí (cheese) | |
| upsilon | ee | ύπνος — ýpnos (sleep) | |
| phi | f | φεγγάρι — fengári (moon) | |
| chi | kh / h | χέρι — chéri (hand) | |
| psi | ps | ψάρι — psári (fish) | |
| omega | o | ωκεανός — okeanós (ocean) |
🔊 Click any letter to hear it pronounced (recorded native voice) and copy it to your clipboard.
What Makes the Greek Alphabet Distinctive
These are the features of the Greek script that trip up learners coming from the Latin alphabet — the things worth understanding before you start reading or typing:
- Modern Greek sounds differ from the classical values learned in maths and science: β is “v” (not b), δ is a soft “th” (this), θ is a hard “th” (thin), and η, ι, υ all sound “ee”.
- Sigma is the only letter with two lowercase forms: σ inside a word, but ς only at the very end (τέλος).
- Greek is the ancestor of the Latin alphabet (Α→A, Β→B, Ε→E) and the source of countless science symbols — π, Σ, Δ, Ω, λ.
- It has seven vowels (α ε η ι ο υ ω), but several now sound identical — the three “ee” letters (η, ι, υ) are kept apart only by historical spelling.
- The Greek alphabet is the oldest still in continuous use (~2,800 years) and the first writing system to give vowels their own full letters.
Greek Script — The Facts
- Unicode block: Greek and Coptic, U+0370–03FF
- ISO 15924 script code: Grek (200)
- Script family: Greek alphabet — adapted from Phoenician
- First attested: ~8th century BCE
- Speakers: 13 million (Ethnologue)
Sources: Unicode Greek block (U+0370) · Ethnologue — Greek · ISO 15924 — Grek
Common Greek Words to Learn
These everyday words are a fast way to start recognizing Greek letters in real context:
- Γεια σου (yia sou = hello)
- Ευχαριστώ (efharisto = thank you)
- Τι κάνεις (ti kanis = how are you)
Common Greek Phrases
| Greek Script | Romanized | English |
|---|---|---|
| Γεια σου | yia sou | hello (informal) |
| Ευχαριστώ | efcharisto | thank you |
| Τι κάνεις; | ti kanis | how are you? |
| Χρόνια Πολλά | chronia polla | Happy Name Day / Happy Birthday |
| Καλή χρονιά | kali chronia | Happy New Year |
Type Greek Online Without Learning the Layout
You don't need to memorize where each Greek letter sits on a physical keyboard. Open kactyl.com/greek/, click the letters you see on screen (or type phonetically), then copy your text anywhere — WhatsApp, documents, social media.
Tips for Typing Greek
- Greek alphabet has 24 letters
- Greeklish (typing Greek in Latin) is very common informally
- Σ has a special end-of-word form: ς
About the Greek Language
Greek is spoken by 13 million people in Greece and Cyprus. The Greek alphabet is the ancestor of all European alphabets — Latin, Cyrillic, and others. 'Greeklish' (typing Greek in Latin letters) emerged on early mobile phones and is still common in informal contexts. Facebook and Instagram are the dominant Greek social platforms.
The Alphabet's Alphabet — Greek's 3,000-Year Legacy
The word 'alphabet' comes from the first two Greek letters: alpha (Α) and beta (Β). The Greek writing system, developed around 800 BCE from Phoenician script, is the ancestor of the Latin alphabet (A B C...), the Cyrillic alphabet (А Б В...), and many others. When you type in English, you're using letters derived from Greek. Greek itself has been continuously written for 3,000 years — making it the world's oldest continuously written language in active use. Modern Greek evolved from ancient Greek through Byzantine Greek, and educated Greeks can often understand ancient Greek texts from 2,500 years ago with some study. The 'Greeklish' practice — writing Greek words in Latin letters — emerged when Greek mobile phones lacked Cyrillic input and is still used informally. Kactyl's Greek keyboard provides the 24-letter Greek alphabet for typing proper Greek text.