The modern Greek alphabet with translation into Russian. History of writing. Greek alphabet

The set of letters in the Greek system. lang. arranged in the accepted order (see table below). Letters G. and. used in Russian editions. lang. as symbols mat. and physical designations. In the original, the letters G. and. it is customary to enclose in a circle of red ... ... Publishing dictionary-reference

Greek alphabet- The Greeks first used consonant writing. In 403 BC. NS. under Archon Euclid, the classical Greek alphabet was introduced in Athens. It consisted of 24 letters: 17 consonants and 7 vowels. For the first time, letters were introduced to denote vowels; α, ε, η ... Dictionary linguistic terms T.V. Foal

This article is about the Greek letter. For the Cyrillic number sign see Kopp's article (Cyrillic) Greek alphabetΑ α alpha Β β beta ... Wikipedia

Self-name: Ελληνικά Countries: Greece ... Wikipedia

Language Self-name: Ελληνικά Countries: Greece, Cyprus; communities in the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Italy ... Wikipedia

It is the latest in the history of writing. This name denotes a series of written signs located in a known constant order and conveying approximately completely and accurately all the individual sound elements of which given language … Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

This term has other meanings, see Alphabet (meanings). The Wiktionary contains an article "alphabet" Alphabets ... Wikipedia

Alphabet- [Greek. ἀλφάβητος, from the name of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet alpha and beta (New Greek vita)] a system of written signs that convey the sound appearance of the words of the language by means of symbols depicting individual sound elements. Invention… … Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary

It is the latest phenomenon in the history of writing (see Letter). This name denotes a series of written signs arranged in a certain constant order and conveying approximately completely and accurately all individual sound elements, of which ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

ALPHABET- a set of letters or similar characters used in writing, where each letter denotes one or more phonemes. Alphabets were not the most ancient basis of writing, having developed from hieroglyphs or written images used ... ... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia

Books

• An introduction to the ancient Greek language. Textbook for academic bachelor's degree, Titov O.A .. V study guide reviewed Short story the development of the Greek language from ancient times to the present day, the Greek alphabet, reading rules, types and features of stressing are given. ...
• Introduction to Ancient Greek 2nd ed., Rev. and add. Textbook for Academic Bachelor's Degree, Oleg Anatolyevich Titov. The textbook examines a brief history of the development of the Greek language from ancient times to the present day, gives the Greek alphabet, reading rules, types and features of stressing. ...

V Greek 24 letters. If you look at the table below, you will find 3 letters "and" and 2 more letters "O"... They read the same. Earlier in ancient Greek, each "and", for example, was read differently. In modern modern Greek language, only a different spelling of these letters has survived, and they are all read the same.

Also in the Russian language there are almost all the sounds of the Greek language, except for the sounds δ , ζ (if you are familiar with English, you will find similarities between these sounds in English) and γ (read as Ukrainian "G", so for Russian speakers it will not be difficult to pronounce it).

I would also like to draw attention to the stress. It always is put in words (sometimes there are words in which the stress is not put, for example: λαη , θαη , γθοι , ληοσς , but there are very few of them). These are mostly monosyllabic words. It is even considered a mistake not to stress.

Highly important point in Greek: letter "O" you need to pronounce it without replacing it as in Russian with "a"... For example, in Russian the word "milk" it says like "MALAKO"... In the Greek language "O" always reads like "O"(imagine that you are from the Vologda region).

Reading letter combinations

In the Greek language, there are quite a lot of letter combinations (that is, sounds obtained from a combination of 2, 3 and even 4 letters). There are several reasons for this. The first is, again, a story drawn from the ancient Greek language, when the sounds were read differently than in the modern Greek language. Their spelling has been preserved. The second reason is simply the lack of letters in the alphabet. 24 letters seemed to the Greeks insufficient for expression philosophical thoughts... Therefore, they came up with additional sounds, combining existing letters with each other.

Note! The stress on combinations of 2 vowels is placed on the second letter. If the stress falls on the first letter of the combination, then each letter is read separately

Features of the pronunciation of some consonants in words

Letters γ , κ , λ , χ , ν soften if followed by sounds "And", "e" (ι , η , υ , ει , οι , ε , αι ).

For example:

γ η (ground), γ ελώ (laugh), κ ενό (general, emptiness), κ ήπος (garden), γ υναίκα (woman, wife), χ ίλια (thousand), ό χ ι (no), κ ιλό (kilogram).

σ reads like ζ if σ is followed by the following consonants: β , γ , δ , μ , ρ , μπ , ντ , γκ .

For example:

Ι σ ραήλ (Israel), κό σ μος (space, people), κουρα σ μένος (tired), σ βήνω (turn off), ι σ λάμ (Islam), ο άντρα ς μου (my husband).

All doubled consonants are read as one.

For example:

Σά ββ ατο (Saturday), ε κκ λησία (church), παρά λλ ηλος (parallel), γρα μμ άριο (gram), Ά νν α (Anna), ι ππ όδρομος (hippodrome), Κα σσ άνδρα (Kassandra), Α ττ ική (Attica).

This rule does not apply to the combination γγ (see reading rule above).

The Greek alphabet began to be used continuously from the late 9th to early 8th centuries BC. NS. According to the researchers, this system of written signs was the first to include both consonants and vowels, as well as signs used to separate them. What were the ancients Greek letters? How did they come about? Which letter completes the Greek alphabet and which one begins? About this and much more later in the article.

How and when did the Greek letters appear?

It must be said that in many Semitic languages ​​the letters have independent names and interpretations. It is not entirely clear when exactly the borrowing of signs took place. Researchers suggest different dating of this process from the 14th to the 7th centuries BC. NS. But most authors agree on the 9th and 10th centuries. Later dating is somewhat implausible, as the earliest finds of Greek inscriptions may date back to around the 8th century BC. NS. or even earlier. In the 10th-9th centuries, North Semitic scripts had a certain similarity. But there is evidence that the Greeks borrowed the writing system specifically from the Phoenicians. This is also plausible because this Semitic group was the most widely settled and actively engaged in trade and navigation.

general information

The Greek alphabet includes 24 letters. In some dialects of the pre-classical era, other signs were also used: heta, sampi, stigma, koppa, san, digamma. Of these, the three letters of the Greek alphabet given at the end were also used to write numbers. In the Phoenician system, each symbol was called a word that began with it. So, for example, the first written sign- "aleph" (bull, so), the next - "bet" (house), the third - gimel (camel) and so on. Subsequently, when borrowing, for greater convenience, changes were made to almost every name. Thus, the letters of the Greek alphabet became somewhat simpler, having lost their interpretation. So, Aleph became alpha, bet - beta, gimel - gamma. Subsequently, when some characters were changed or added to the writing system, the names of the Greek letters became more meaningful. So, for example, "omicron" - a small o, "omega" (the last symbol in the writing system) - respectively, - a big o.

Innovations

Greek letters were the foundation for the creation of the main European typefaces. At the same time, initially the system of written signs was not simply borrowed from the Semites. The Greeks made their own changes to it. So, in Semitic writing, the direction of the outline of the characters was either from right to left, or in turn in accordance with the direction of the lines. The second way of writing became known as "bustrophedon". This definition is a combination of two words, translated from Greek as "bull" and "turn". Thus, it is formed visual image an animal dragging a plow across the field, changing direction from furrow to furrow. As a result, the direction from left to right became the priority in Greek writing. It, in turn, caused a number of corresponding changes in the form of some symbols. Therefore, the later Greek letters are a mirrored image of Semitic symbols.

Meaning

Based on the Greek alphabet, it was created and subsequently developed a large number of systems of written signs that spread in the Middle East and Europe and were used in writing in many countries of the world. Cyrillic and Latin letters were no exception. It is known that, for example, predominantly Greek letters were used in the creation. In addition to the fact that symbols were used to write a language, they were used as international mathematical symbols. Today, Greek letters are used not only in mathematics, but also in others. exact sciences... In particular, these symbols are called stars (for example, the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet "tau" was used to designate Tau Ceti), elementary particles etc.

Archaic greek letters

These characters are not part of the classical writing system. Some of them (sampi, koppa, digamma), as mentioned above, were used for numerical notation. Moreover, two - sampi and koppa - are still used today. In Byzantine times, the digamma was replaced by the stigma ligature. In a number of archaic dialects, these symbols still had a sound meaning and were used when writing words. Key representatives Greek direction the Latin system and its varieties are considered. In particular, they include Gaelic and At the same time, there are other fonts that are directly or indirectly related to the Greek alphabet. Among them, the ogamic and runic systems should be noted.

Symbols used for other languages

In a number of cases, Greek letters were used to record completely different languages ​​(for example, Old Church Slavonic). In this case, in new system added new symbols - additional signs that reflected the existing sounds of the language. Over the course of history, in such cases, separate written systems have often formed. This, for example, happened with the Cyrillic, Etruscan and Coptic alphabets. But often the system of written signs remained essentially unchanged. That is, when it was created, Greek letters were predominantly present and only a small amount - additional symbols.

Spreading

The Greek alphabet had several varieties. Each species was associated with a specific colony or city-state. But all these varieties belong to one of two main categories used in the western and eastern Greek spheres influence. The difference between the varieties was in the sound functions that were assigned to symbols added to those already contained in the writing system. So, for example, in the east it was pronounced as ps, in the west as kh, while the sign "chi" in the east was pronounced as kh, in the west - ks. The classical Greek script was a typical example of the Ionic or Oriental writing system. It was officially adopted in 404 BC. NS. in Athens and subsequently spread throughout Greece. Direct descendants of this font are modern writing systems, such as, for example, Gothic and Coptic, which have survived only in church use. They also include the Cyrillic alphabet, adopted for Russian and a number of other languages. The second main type of Greek writing system - Western - was used in parts of Italy and other Western colonies belonging to Greece. It is believed that this type of writing laid the foundation for the Etruscan script, and through it - Latin, which became the main one in the territory Ancient rome and Western Europe.

in his the oldest form was an exact copy of the Phoenician: the Greeks preserved the same sequence of letters in the alphabet as the Phoenicians, and even the names of the letters were indicated by distorted Semitic words.

In the ancient Greek inscriptions, the Semitic direction of writing was also preserved: the signs were written from right to left.
And only in the IV century BC. the Greeks switched to writing from left to right.

This is what the Greeks wrote and read. This is called “- bullish turn (a letter similar to the move of plowing bulls).

Almost all European alphabets... In the West, the alphabet spread through Greek colonies located in the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula.

The alphabet was borrowed from the Greeks by the Romans, and from them it spread throughout all the countries of Western Europe. At the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th centuries. the alphabet influenced the emergence Armenian alphabet... In the VI century. the Georgian alphabet arose - part of the Greek with the addition of several letters.

Greeks applied new material for writing - it was parchment made from animal skins. It was more durable than papyrus. The use of leather for writing began from very ancient times in Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, where it was most widespread.

According to legend in the city of Pergamon in the 1st century BC was invented new way receiving material for writing from animal skins.

The oldest pieces of parchment with surviving fragments of texts date back to the 1st century BC, but it was used only from the 2nd century BC. n. NS. For making parchment used the skins of sheep, goats, donkeys, calves. The skins were soaked in lime water, the wool was scraped off, pulled over the frame, dried, smoothed with pumice and chalked.

It was durable, had a smooth and light surface. You could write on it from two sides. The parchment was dyed yellow, blue, black, magenta and used for sumptuous manuscripts. On purple, they wrote in gold or silver.

For a thousand years, the parchment book prevailed in Europe, while in Asian countries the paper made its victorious path. Thanks to the parchment, significant amount manuscripts of the early Middle Ages.

In Greece, they used and cera- wooden planks covered with wax. They wrote with a stick - style... "Rotate style", i.e. to erase what was written meant to trim the beauty of the language. Hence the expression "literary style" appeared.

Wax planks were used mainly for notes and for writing letters, but sometimes literary and scientific texts were written on them. Several planks were fastened together with a strap or cord pulled through on one side. This is how the book turned out.

This method of writing became widespread in Rome. He later infiltrated countries medieval Europe... In Paris in the XIII century. there were workshops for the manufacture of wax tablets.

They recited, accompanying themselves in cithara. The singers were held in high esteem. The Greek rulers loved to surround themselves with the most prominent poets and scientists.

The center of Greek culture was the Athenian slave-owning republic with the capital, where the greatest Greek tragedians, Sophocles, Euripides lived. Comedic writer Aristophanes. Famous philosophers Socrates,. In the Republic of Athens, as in other Greek city-states, public education stood at a considerable height: the children of all citizens studied in schools.

There were also higher schools where young men studied science under the guidance of teachers-philosophers. The most famous were: the school of Plato and the school of Aristotle. Plato's teaching was abstract. Aristotle's teaching was based primarily on the observation of natural phenomena. He read his lectures while walking with his students.

Some of the views and discoveries of Aristotle still amaze scientists. Apparently, some of the writings that have survived to this day under the name of Aristotle are the recordings of his lectures. One of higher manifestations Hellenic creativity was theatrical art. During the heyday of Athenian culture, poets created wonderful comedies and tragedies, many of them in later lists have come down to us. However, Greek culture was placed at the service of only free citizens, the slaves were left on the sidelines. If educated people were found among the slaves, this was a rare exception.

The book of that time was papyrus scroll... delivered from Egypt. The text on the scroll was written in narrow columns, the direction of the lines being parallel to the length of the scroll. When reading, the papyrus tape was gradually rolled from one side to the other so that two columns were simultaneously in the field of view, and the rest of the scroll was rolled up.

? Try rolling a paper scroll and writing on it like you would on papyrus. Is it convenient?

Due to the fact that the papyrus scrolls did not tolerate moisture, which had a destructive effect on them, the original books of that time have not survived. And only the Egyptian and Greek scrolls have survived for two to three millennia in absolutely dry Egyptian sand. Most of the known scrolls have survived as passages, but sometimes these passages are significant.

Wow! Just twenty-four letters? Are there any sounds not marked? This is exactly what it is. There are sounds peculiar to other languages ​​that are not in Greek. Such sounds are all post-alveolar affricates (as in the word “ NS ov "(only softer), [Z] as in the word" f uk ", as in the word" h erta ", and as in the English word" j ob ”). So what do the Greeks do when they want to pronounce foreign words with these sounds? If you cannot pronounce the sound correctly, then it is simply transformed into the corresponding alveolar sound: [s], [Z] [z],,. What about other common sounds like [b], [d], [g], etc.? It seems they are not in the alphabet either! Are they also not included in the list of sounds of the language? No! They exist as sounds language. There are simply no separate letters to denote them. When the Greeks want to write sounds, they write them in a combination of two letters: [b] is written as a combination of μπ (mi + pi), [d] as ντ (ni + tau), and [g] as γκ (gamma + kappa). or as γγ (double gamma). Why all these difficulties? Recall from the introduction to this article that the sounds [b], [d], and [g] existed in Classical Greek. Later, perhaps some time after it was written New Testament in the so-called Greek koine(single), these three sounds in pronunciation shifted and began to sound like "soft" sounds ([v],, and). A phonological void appeared. Words containing a combination of "mp" and "nt" were pronounced like and, respectively. Therefore, "explosive" sounds were reintroduced, but letter combinations were used to denote them. There is one more sound that is not in the alphabet: “and ng ma ”, pronounced as in the English word“ ki ng”. This sound is very rare in Greek, and when it appears (as in the words "άγχος": anxiety; "λεγχος": check), it is indicated by the combination gamma + chi, where gamma is pronounced as ingma. For your convenience, below is a table of pronunciation of letter combinations (2 letters), which give new sounds that are not included in the Greek alphabet:

It is possible that the following pairs do not give the original sounds, but are perceived by native Greek speakers as "one whole":

What about vowels? Are there any similarities with vowels in Russian, or with vowels in other languages? The vowels in Greek are not difficult. In Greek, vowels are similar to vowels in Italian, Spanish ( Russian note transl.) or Japanese: [a], [e], [i], [o], and [u]. Currently, there are three letters in the alphabet for the sound [I] (eta, iota and upsilon), which are pronounced the same, and two letters for the [o] (omicron and omega), which are also pronounced the same. For the sound [u], a combination of letters ου (omicron + upsilon) is used. So, pronouncing vowels is easy. Is there anything else special about vowel sounds? Not in pronunciation, but in spelling. There are three "diphthongs" that are no longer diphthongs, but have become digraphs. (A diphthong is a long sound made up of two elements, each of which has different quality, as in the words: “p ay nd ”, or“B Oh”; a digraph is two letters that are read together as one letter, e.g. c English language th in the word " th ink ”, or ph in the word “gra ph ”.) Below are the Greek vowel digraphs.