Physics 303: Greek Alphabet
PHYSICS 303: Classical Mechanics
| Fall 2008
| Daniel Finley |
| Tues. & Thurs. 9:30 - 10:50 PM ,
PandA 184 |
Introduction to the Greek Alphabet
As you move forward in the study of physics or mathematics, you will learn that
the number of available symbols is not sufficient for the purposes one would
like. Therefore, it has become customary, for about the last 120 years, to use
the various letters of the Greek alphabet as additional symbols.
My experience has been that beginning junior-level students are not always proficient
at the use of these symbols, having various problems with them, which (at least)
include being unsure about how to write them carefully enough to distinguish all of them
from each other, and also being unsure about their standard (American) pronunciation.
Therefore, for whatever little it may be worth, I am putting on this web page a list of
the Greek alphabet, with web-page accurate symbols for each, along with the usual spelling
of the name of that symbol, as well as the my version of some letters that seem to give the
actual (American) pronunciation of the symbol,
and the form of the upper case, or capital version of the same letter. The list is given in
the standard Greek order.
Hopefully it will be of some amusement, and perhaps some value. Many will be quite familiar,
and perhaps some will not be so familiar.
| Symbol | Name | pronounced like this
| Capital Letter Form |
| α | alpha | alfuh | A
| β | beta | baytuh | B
| γ | gamma | gammuh | Γ
| δ | delta | deltuh | Δ
| ε | epsilon | ep seelon | Ε
| ζ | zeta | zaytuh | Ζ
| η | eta | aytuh | Η
| θ | theta | thaytuh | Θ
| ι | iota | ee otuh | Ι
| κ | kappa | kappuh | Κ
| λ | lambda | lamb duh | Λ
| μ | mu | myoo | Μ
| ν | nu | noo | Ν
| ξ | xi | ksee | Ξ
| ο | omicron | ahmikrahn | Ο
| π | pi | pie | Π
| ρ | rho | row | Ρ
| σ | sigma | sig muh | Σ
| τ | tau | taw | Τ
| υ | upsilon | oop silon | Υ
| φ | phi | fie | Φ
| χ | chi | kie | Χ
| ψ | psi | psie | Ψ
| ω | omega | oh mayguh | Ω
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
While visiting in Greece in the summer of 2008, I found a T-shirt for sale, with the details of
the capital letters of the Greek alphabet printed on it. Here is a digital copy of that T-shirt:
You can see that the letters in the modern Greek alphabet do not have quite the same form as is used in
standard physics books.
It also turns out that the pronunciations as given above are the American ones, for the letters as they were
pronounced, more or less, by, say Socrates, rather than Greek citizens living there today.
Clicking here will take you back to the Phys. 303 Home Page, at
http://panda.unm.edu/courses/finley/p303.html
For comments, please send email to me at the following address: finley@phys.unm.edu
Last updated/modified: 21 August, 2008