List of Greek Words With English Derivatives - Transliteration

Transliteration

There are considerable differences between the various transliterations used to represent the Greek alphabet in English. The table in the sidebar shows:

• The "traditional" transliteration, in other words that used in Latin, representing classical Greek: this is the form in which most Greek words have made their way into English
• A "classical" transliteration, commonly used to represent more accurately the pronunciation of Ancient Greek, although traditional forms are rarely used.
• The "modern" transliteration often used for Modern Greek—see transliteration of Greek into English for some variations.

Rough breathing was represented in some Greek dialects by an while in others, the represented the vowel eta (the origin of the sign is thought to be the left-hand half ( ├ ) of the letter H): a rough breathing over an initial vowel or diphthong – ἁ ἑ ἡ ἱ ὁ ὑ ὡ – indicates that the word was pronounced with an initial h, and a smooth breathing – ἀ ἐ ἠ ἰ ὀ ὐ ὠ – indicates the absence of an h, but this has since disappeared in speech, and Modern Greek omits the breathings. An initial upsilon (υ) always had the rough breathing – ὑ – hence hy is very common at the start of words derived from Greek, but no (or very few) such words start with y.

The letter rho (ρ) at the start of a word always had the rough breathing – ῥ – and is transliterated rh. If a rho was geminated within a word, the first ρ always had the smooth breathing and the second the rough breathing – ῤῥ – leading to the transiliteration rrh.

In ancient Greek, gamma was used to represent nu before a khi, ksi, kappa and another gamma. On this list, where this occurs, the word is listed as if the gamma were in fact a nu.