Greek diphthongs: pronunciation Posted by Ourania on Jul 5, 2017 in Pronunciation, Vocabulary
Some learners find it difficult to pronounce the Greek diphthongs. In this post, there are examples on the pronunciation of the diphthongs ει, οι and αι. They are pronounced as one sound unless the first letter is stressed or if there are two dots or one stress and two dots over the second vowel.
ει (pronounced as ea in mean)
ειρήνη: peace
είδηση: news
είπα: I said
ξενοδοχείο: hotel
βιβλιοπωλείο: bookshop
ανθοπωλείο: flower shop
ζαχαροπλαστείο: pastry shop
νοσοκομείο: hospital
οι (pronounced as ea in mean)
οικονομία: economy
οικολόγος: ecologist
οικογένεια: family
κάτοικος: resident
φοιτητής: student
υπόλοιπο: rest
λοιπόν: so / well
μοίρα: destiny
Note the pronunciation of the diphthongs when they follow the consonants γ, κ and χ.
γ+ει
υπόγειος: underground
Μεσόγειος: Mediterranean
γείτονας: neighbor
γ+οι
κυνηγοί: hunters
πάγοι: ice (plural)
λόγοι: reasons
κ+ει
εκεί: there
κείμενο: text
φαρμακείο: pharmacy
κ+οι
κάτοικοι: residents
κοινωνία: society
κοιλάδα: valley
χ+ει
χείλος: lip / edge
χειρότερος: worse
χειμώνας: winter
χ+οι
στόχοι: goals
χοιρινό: pork
χοιρομέρι: ham
αι (e in elf)
παιδί: child
παίζω: to play
παιχνίδι: toy, game
αίμα: blood
ελαιώνας: olive grove
Αίγινα: Aegina
αίθουσα: hall
γ+αι
Αιγαίο: Aegean
πηγαίνω: to go
βγαίνω: to go out
κ+αι
και: and
καλοκαίρι: summer
καινούργιος: new
χ+αι
αρχαίος: ancient
χαιρετώ: to greet
τυχαίος: random
Note the pronunciation of the following words:
ρέικι: reiki
Μάιος: May
μαϊντανός: parsley
καΐκι: fishing boat
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Comments:
Charles Weager:
Kalimera sas, ti kanete,
Your blog is a very useful and important tool to someone like me where I don’t have classes that I can attend.
However I was unable to get sound for the second part of your blog where yo are explaining the different sounds created by different combinations of dipthong. This starts at “oi (pronounced as ea in mean)”.
I automatically assume tha I am doing something wrong can you help.
efharistome,
Charles.
i apologise that I haven’t set up a greek keyboard yet!
Ourania:
@Charles Weager Καλημέρα Charles,
Thank you for your comment. I am glad you find the blog useful!
I don’t know what the problem is but I have contacted our team and hopefully they will find a solution to the problem.
Ευχαριστώ!
Transparent Language:
@Charles Weager Hey Charles! Sorry for the audio errors. We’ve uploaded them again and though the play button looks different now, you should be able to play them all just fine. Let us know if you run into any other trouble. Happy learning! 🙂