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About this tool
All 24 Greek letters with names, classical and modern sounds, transliteration, numeral values and where each one is used in maths and science.
The Greek alphabet has 24 letters, from alpha to omega, and this explorer gives each one its name, its reconstructed classical sound, its modern Greek sound, its Latin transliteration and its value in the Milesian numeral system where α is 1 and ω is 800. It also transliterates Greek text into Latin letters using the classical rules — gamma written n before γ, κ, ξ or χ, and upsilon written u inside a diphthong — and converts numbers to and from Greek numerals. Built for students meeting Greek symbols in maths, physics and statistics as well as anyone starting to read the script itself.
Open Greek Alphabet Explorer on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
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Each letter shows both sound systems, so you know which one your course or your holiday needs.
Every letter lists the quantities it stands for in maths, physics and statistics, not just its name.
Numbers convert both ways through the Milesian system, including the obsolete letters stigma, koppa and sampi.
24, running alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega. Three more — stigma, koppa and sampi — survive only as numerals for 6, 90 and 900.
Sigma is written ς at the end of a word and σ everywhere else; the two are the same letter with the same sound. So στάσις carries both forms in one word, and modern Greek keeps the distinction in ordinary printing.
Each letter carries a value: α to θ are 1 to 9, ι to ϟ are 10 to 90, and ρ to ϡ are 100 to 900, so 241 is σμα. A leading ͵ multiplies by a thousand, making 1996 ͵αϡϟϛ, and there is no symbol for zero.
No, and the gap is wide. Beta shifted from /b/ to /v/, theta from an aspirated t to the 'th' of thin, and eta, iota and upsilon all merged onto the 'ee' sound — a change called iotacism. Classical pronunciation is a scholarly reconstruction, so different teaching traditions differ in detail.