LE OF CONT! Reading Lessons Introduction The Greek Alphabet Lesson One Lesson Two .. Lesson Three . Lesson Four Lesson Five Lesson Six ... Lesson Seven Lesson Eight . Lesson Nine . Lesson Ten .. Lesson Eleven Lesson Twelve . Lesson Thirteen Lesson Fourteen Lesson Fifteen . . Lesson Sixteen ... Lesson Seventeen Acknowledgments ..........c0se0eeeeeeeeee2 Greek I Greek T Introduction Reading can be defined as “the act of decoding graphic material in order to determine its message.” To put it another way, reading consists of coming back to speech through its graphic symbols. In short, meanings reside in the sounds of the spoken language. Speaking a language is the necessary first step to acquiring the ability to read a language with meaning. The recorded portion of the reading materials for Greek Iwill be found atthe end of the program. You can do the readings as it is most convenient for you. They can be done individually, after every other unit or so, or done entirely after completing the full thirty units. Instructions on how to proceed with the readings are contained in the audio portion of the course. The Greek Alphabet Modern Greek is written using the characters of the ancient Greek alphabet. However, there are differ- ences in pronunciation, so even if you have some familiarity with the ancient Greek letters, you should not assume that their modern counterparts will have the same sound. ‘The Greek alphabet is phonetic: the letters represent specific sounds. You may at first find that it takes some time to associate the appropriate sounds with each letter or group of letters. Some Greek letters resemble letters in the Roman alphabet, but have quite different sounds. For example, the Greek letter "H" resembles the English capital "h," but in Greek this letter is pronounced with an “ee” sound. Likewise, the Greek letter which looks like the English “B” sounds like the English letter “v.” Therefore, we recommend that you take the Reading Lessons at your own pace, repeating each until you feel comfortable proceeding to the next. With a little effort, you will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you are reading Greek.Greek I Leen en eal ee al Aenean ses eeeeee Se The Greek Alphabet (continued) The Greek alphabet is comprised of 24 letters, listed in order below with a guide to the sound or sounds represented by each. You will note that some Greek letters or combinations of letters have more than one sound, depending on their position in the word and the letters they preceed. Greek letter Pronunciation (capital /small) Aa BB Ty aasin "baklava” vas in “victory” soft g (uh) when followed by a, 0, ov, @, and consonants; y as in “yawn” when followed by tan, €,n, 0, €1, 00 thas in “then” ehas in “Helen” zas in “Zeus” ee as in “scene” th(uh) as in “think” ee as in “scent k(uh) as in “king” I(uh) as in “leoparé” m(uh) as in “Medusa” The Greek Alphabet (continued) Greek letter Pronunciation (capital / small) Nv mas in “nest” ks as in “rocks”; a x as in “fox” Oo @as in “cork” lr Pp asin “pester” Pp rolling r Zo/s sas in “Sparta”; zas in “Zeus” when followed by certain consonants Tt tasin “tear” Yu ee as in “scene” Oo fas in “feta” XX has in “hat” when followed by a, 0, ov, 0, and consonants; h asin “Hugh” when followed by e, 1, at, 7, V, £1, 0 vy psas in “caps” Qo as in “cork” In addition, combinations of Greek letters will sometimes have separate sounds of their own.