The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, of which 7 are vowels and 17 are consonants[1]. Originating around the 9th century BCE, it was the first alphabet to include distinct letters for vowel sounds, a feature that set it apart from earlier writing systems. The vowels include Alpha (Α), Epsilon (Ε), Eta (Η), Iota (Ι), Omicron (Ο), Upsilon (Υ), and Omega (Ω), while the consonants comprise letters like Beta (Β), Gamma (Γ), and Delta (Δ). This alphabet has had a profound influence on writing systems and is still used by approximately 99.5% of Greece's population[2] in modern Greece today.
Greek Vowel LettersThe Greek alphabet includes 7 vowels, each of which represents clear, distinct sounds and is fundamental to Greek's rich linguistic heritage.
Uppercase Vowels: Α [Alpha] Ε [Epsilon] Η [Eta] Ι [Iota] Ο [Omicron] Υ [Upsilon] Ω [Omega] Lowercase Vowels: α [Alpha] ε [Epsilon] η [Eta] ι [Iota] ο [Omicron] υ [Upsilon] ω [Omega] Greek Consonant LettersThe Greek alphabet contains 17 consonants. As with most languages, in Greek vowels and consonants combine to form syllables, which are the building blocks of words.
For example:
In the word "λόγος" (logos), meaning "word", the vowels Omicron (Ο) and Omicron again (Ο) combine with the consonants Lambda (Λ), Gamma (Γ), and Sigma (Σ) to form syllables and complete the word. Uppercase Consonants: Β [Beta] Γ [Gamma] Δ [Delta] Ζ [Zeta] Θ [Theta] Κ [Kappa] Λ [Lambda] Μ [Mu] Ν [Nu] Ξ [Xi] Π [Pi] Ρ [Rho] Σ [Sigma] Τ [Tau] Φ [Phi] Χ [Chi] Ψ [Psi] Lowercase Consonants: β [Beta] γ [Gamma] δ [Delta] ζ [Zeta] θ [Theta] κ [Kappa] λ [Lambda] μ [Mu] ν [Nu] ξ [Xi] π [Pi] ρ [Rho] σ [Sigma] τ [Tau] φ [Phi] χ [Chi] ψ [Psi] All Alphabet Α α Β β Γ γ Δ δ Ε ε Ζ ζ Η η Θ θ Ι ι Κ κ Λ λ Μ μ Ν ν Ξ ξ Ο ο Π π Ρ ρ Σ σ/ς Τ τ Υ υ Φ φ Χ χ Ψ ψ Ω ω Two Letter Vowels αι [ai] ει [ei] οι [oi] υι [yi] αυ [au] ευ [eu] Double Consonants μπ [mp] ντ [nt] γκ [gk] τζ [tz] τσ [ts] Consonant Combinations μπ [mp] ντ [nt] γκ [gk] τζ [tz] τσ [ts] Greek Numeral Letters Α [1] Β [2] Γ [3] Δ [4] Ε [5] Ϝ [6] Ζ [7] Η [8] Θ [9] Ι [10] Κ [20] Λ [30] Μ [40] Ν [50] Ξ [60] Ο [70] Π [80] Ρ [100] Σ [200] Τ [300] Υ [400] Φ [500] Χ [600] Ψ [700] Ω [800] Ϡ [900] Ϟ [90] Ϝ [6] ϛ [6] Greek Archaic Letters Ϝ [Digamma] ϝ [Digamma] Ϙ [Koppa] ϙ [Koppa] Ϡ [Sampi] ϡ [Sampi] Ϻ [Sida] ϻ [Sida] Ϸ [San] ϸ [San] Η [Heta] η [Heta] ϟ [Stigma] Ϟ [Koppa] ϛ [Digamma] Ϛ [Stigma] Punctuation and Symbols · ' " ; . , ⁰ ʹ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)There are 24 letters in the Greek script[1]. Out of these, 7 are vowel letters and the remaining 17 letters are consonants.
Greek letters are super popular in science and math because:
• Ancient Greeks were amazing mathematicians and scientists
• Letters like π (pi) represent important numbers and concepts
• α (alpha), β (beta), γ (gamma) are used to label things in order
• It's like hing a special scientific alphabet!
Good question! Here's the cool part:
• Same letters - the 24 letters hen't changed much in 2,500 years!
• Different pronunciation - some letters sound different now
• Same writing - you can still read ancient Greek texts today
It's like the letters are time trelers!
Modern Greek is spoken in several places:
• Greece - where it's spoken by 99.5% of the population[2]
• Cyprus - where it's one of the official languages
• Greek communities around the world in places like Australia, USA, Canada
About 13 million people speak Greek worldwide[3]!
Not really! Here are some helpful tricks:
• Some look like English letters: A (alpha), B (beta), O (omicron)
• Others look like numbers: Π (pi) looks like a table
• Many he cool names you already know: delta, omega, sigma
• Start with the most common ones used in math class!
Here are the Greek letter celebrities:
• π (Pi) - the famous number 3.14159... for circles
• Ω (Omega) - means "the end" or "ultimate"
• Δ (Delta) - means "change" in science
• Σ (Sigma) - means "sum" in math
You've probably seen these in movies, games, or school!
References: [1] Unicode Consortium. "Greek and Coptic Unicode Block (U+0370-U+03FF)". Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0370.pdf [2] Eurydice. "Population: demographic situation, languages and religions - Greece". Retrieved from https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-education-systems/greece/population-demographic-situation-languages-and-religions [3] Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). "Greece in Figures". Retrieved from https://www.statistics.gr/en/greece-in-figures Sambhu Raj Singh · LinkedIn · GitHub · NpmUpdated: 31 August 2025