English pronunciation of Greek letters

This table gives the common English pronunciation of Greek letters using the International Phonetic Alphabet (see help:pronunciation.) It is the pronunciation of the ancient Greek names of the Greek letters using the English teaching pronunciation (traditionally called "Erasmian"). Sometimes, especially in the sciences, the vowels will be pronounced closer to the Greek, for example /ˈpsiː/ instead of /ˈsaɪ/ for psi.

Greek	Greek name	English name	English pronunciation	Modern Greek pronunciation
Α α	άλφα	Alpha	/ˈælfə/	[ˈalfa]
Β β	βήτα	Beta	/ˈbiːtə/, US /ˈbeɪtə/	[ˈvita]
Γ γ	γάμα	Gamma	/ˈɡæmə/	[ˈɣama]
Δ δ	δέλτα	Delta	/ˈdɛltə/	[ˈðelta]
Ε ε	έψιλον	Epsilon	/ˈɛpsɪlɑn/, UK also /ɛpˈsaɪlən/	[ˈepsilon]
Ζ ζ	ζήτα	Zeta	/ˈziːtə/, US /ˈzeɪtə/	[ˈzita]
Η η	ήτα	Eta	/ˈiːtə/, US /ˈeɪtə/	[ˈita]
Θ θ	θήτα	Theta	/ˈθiːtə/, US /ˈθeɪtə/	[ˈθita]
Ι ι	γιώτα	Iota	/aɪˈoʊtə/	[ˈjota]
Κ κ	κάππα	Kappa	/ˈkæpə/	[ˈkapa]
Λ λ	λάμδα	Lambda	/ˈlæmdə/	[ˈlamða]
Μ μ	μι	Mu	/ˈmjuː/	[ˈmi]
Ν ν	νι	Nu	/ˈnjuː/, US /ˈnuː/	[ˈni]
Ξ ξ	ξι	Xi	/ˈzaɪ/, UK also /ˈksaɪ/	[ˈksi]
Ο ο	όμικρον	Omicron	/ˈɒmɪkrɒn/, traditional UK /oʊˈmaɪkrɒn/	[ˈomikron]
Π π	πι	Pi	/ˈpaɪ/	[ˈpi]
Ρ ρ	ρο	Rho	/ˈroʊ/	[ˈro]
Σ σ ς (final)	σίγμα	Sigma	/ˈsɪgmə/	[ˈsiɣma]
Τ τ	ταυ	Tau	/ˈtaʊ/	[ˈtaf]
Υ υ	ύψιλον	Upsilon	/juːpˈsaɪlən/, /ˈʊpsɪlon/, US /ˈʌpsɪlɒn/	[ˈipsilon]
Φ φ	φι	Phi	/ˈfaɪ/	[ˈfi]
Χ χ	χι	Chi	/ˈkaɪ/	[ˈçi]
Ψ ψ	ψι	Psi	/ˈsaɪ/, UK also /ˈpsaɪ/	[ˈpsi]
Ω ω	ωμέγα	Omega	US /oʊˈmeɪgə/, traditional UK /ˈoʊmɪgə/	[oˈmeɣa]

References

• Oxford English Dictionary
• Template:PDFlink
• Template:PDFlink
• British and US Pronunciation