The Alphabet: The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters based largely on the Phonecian alphabet in use previously. The standardized alphabet presented here is the Ionic alphabet.

The Greek Alphabet: A, a Alpha B, b Beta G, g Gamma D, d Delta E, e Epsilon Z, z Zeta H, h Eta Q, q Theta I, i Iota K, k Kappa L, l Lambda M, m Mu N, n Nu X, x Xi O, o Omicron P, p Pi R, r Rho S, s, V Sigma T, t Tau U, u Upsilon F, f Phi C, c Chi Y, y Psi W, w Omega

Dipthongs: A dipthong is two vowels combined in pronunciation, together forming a single, long syllable. There are two categories of dipthongs: proper dipthongs are those in which both vowels continue to be pronounced; improper dipthongs are those in which the iota eventually ceased to be pronounced. The eleven Attic Greek dipthongs are as follows:

Vowel Lengths: Of the seven Greek vowels, two are short, two long, and three can be short or long depending on the word in which they are found. The "Vowel Wheel" below demonstrates the various vowel lengths: those in the left column are short, the middle column can be either, and the right column are long.

The Vowel System:

Greek words frequently elongate the vowel sound in their stems for different principle parts. When this occurs, an epsilon becomes an eta, and an omicron becomes an omega, as is seen by examining the above wheel from left to right.

Stops: Nine of the 17 Greek consonants are classified as stops, as they result in a short stoppage of sound when pronounced. These nine stops are categorized into labials (pronounced with the lips), dentals (pronounced with the teeth), and palatals (pronounced with the throat palette), which can be either voiced (causing a movement of the vocal cords), unvoiced (sound involving no vibration of the vocal cords), or aspirated (sound produced by a vibration of the throat and palette). The chart below shows how the nine stops fit into these categories.

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