Learn Greek: How to Pronounce the Vowels Correctly | Τα φωνήεντα

Hi, friends! Lina here!
The Greek vowels! One of the most easy but at the same time one of the hardest parts of the Greek language! Simple sounds with many complicated spelling rules!
But let's begin with the easy part! The vowel sounds. A, E, I, O, OY. Only 5 sounds to learn and that's it!
In this video, you will find the vowels of the Alphabet: Α, Ε, Η, Ι, Ο, Υ, Ω and also the double vowels: αι, ει, οι, υι, ου.
The pronuciation of the consonants and the rest of the vowel combinations are coming up, so stay tuned!
For the vocabulary of this video and extra content visit my relevant blog post here: goo.gl/78fG6E
I'm actually very proud of this video, and I hope that you will share my enthusiasm.
Please, don't forget to give it a thumbs up if you 've found it helpful! It means a lot!
Με αγάπη, Λίνα

[@litelchau9729]

Sin duda, la explicación más clara y completa que he visto sobre las vocales en griego moderno. Muchas gracias, Lina.

[@le96g]

I used to study Greek on my on when I was teen, but I forgot most of the things. Now I've found your channel and I'm really happy for it! You teach it in a simple way, very easy to learn.

[@linaaaap1]

I'm so happy to hear that, Leticia!I started making the videos because I love studying languages by myself too!

[@dgrewar]

Lina ... τα μαθήματά σου στην Ελλάδα είναι μακράν το καλύτερο που έχω συναντήσει. Μαθαίνω πολλά από αυτά. Ευχαριστώ πολύ. Λατρεύω να μαθαίνω ελληνικά και είμαι μόνο στην αρχή, αλλά μέσα από τα μαθήματά σας σημειώνω πρόοδο

[@despinapappas1178]

LIna ειναι απιθανα τα προγράμματα σου.......you should be proud of them......μεσον αυτά μαθενoun τα εγγόνια μου που πανε στο δημοτικό σχολείο .......τους αρεσουν παρα πολύ.......Συγχαρητήρια!

[@linaaaap1]

Thank you so much Despina, I'm so glad to hear this! Ευχαριστώ πολύ!

[@musittin]

Teşekkürler 🙏🏻. Hi from Turkey 🙋‍♂️❤

[@leopard6554]

Thank you. Great lessons. I'm watching all of them and love them all. Merci.

[@tiqo8549]

Since your videos are around, i want to learn the greek language! Keep up the good work!

[@linaaaap1]

Thank you so much! Your comment just made my day! I will do my best!

[@warispeace666]

Great! Thank you

[@digreattiamarak6410]

Love to learn your simple teaching.

[@anhdinhnguyen7815]

Thank you very much Lina !

[@lilkitten4839]

I could listen to your voice for hours. Thank you so much for the lessons! :)

[@eternal1099]

Excellent explanation! Very helpful, thank you!

[@todavezquevoceestiverlendo7909]

Finally got it, thanks for the lesson! Greetings from Brazil!

[@sydneykendall7125]

Very helpful. Thank you, Lina!

[@karenhollenbeck227]

Well done Lina! The vowel combinations were very helpful. Also, the color coding of the sounds is great for a visual learner such as myself! Ευχαριστώ πολύ!

[@Ice_Karma]

I love to tell people, "If you think _English_ spelling is bad, check out _Greek_ spelling sometime!" ❤

[@JamesBond-fz7du]

U serious ? Greek spelling is bad ? Dont they spell what they pronounce exactly ?

[@Ice_Karma]

@@JamesBond-fz7du Yes, I'm serious. Greek spelling is fine for reading, but it's bad for writing.

[@Ice_Karma]

​@@JamesBond-fz7du No -- just as one example, there are six ways to spell the sound of the "ee" in "feet": "η", "ι", "υ", "ει", "οι", or "υι". Pronouncing what is written is easy, but writing what is heard is not.

[@Tephrinos]

​@@Ice_Karma well English is written completely different to what is heard.

[@zach1392]

Holy crap this teaching method is on point !!

[@linaaaap1]

Oh thank you so much! 😊

[@mosharafhosen6886]

Lina's method is easy way to learn Greek language. I like it.

[@BobMazzo]

Nice lesson Lina. Thank you.

[@enthousis]

I like the matching of letter and native sounds. I wish you included lower-case writing as well. I would love a website with the Greek letters in upper case and lower case with sound recording links for the names of the letters, sounds of the letters by native Greek speaker, and an example phrase with the letter. Thank you if anyone knows of something like this!

[@atifnawaz7214]

Good job ! Keep it up.i get too much help from your videos .I am from Kashmir Pakistan

[@vilbergeli2534]

Thank you so much for these videos! I am going to Crete next summer (hopefully) and I am going to learn greek by then! Wish me luck:)

[@linaaaap1]

Good luck Eli! I'm sure you will learn a lot and Crete is the best, you will have a great time. :)

[@kyrosharas]

Careful ! There is a dialect + cretan accent on Crete (Κρήτη) !

[@ninadelorme5846]

Thanks a lot❤❤❤

[@Anna-nw8nk]

Hello Lina! Hope you are doing well and still enjoying teaching your native language :) I have a question if there are many differences in the Greek language spoken in Cyprus, please? Have a nice day! Anna

[@fr.averky7970]

Μπράβο Σας ! Καλά κανίς ! Σας ευχάριστο !

[@user-jy2tn3dm7j]

Thank you.

[@warispeace666]

Great Video! I like the simple straight forward approach to the video. Keep up the good work! I have a question, could you suggest a show in Greek with subtitles to watch so I can familiarize my self with the language. Thanks and again keep up the good work.

[@linaaaap1]

Hi! Thank you so much! I've spent quite a while trying to find Greek shows with subs this morning, when I read your comment! The good news is that most Greek networks are free for the public and they have full episodes of great shows uploaded even on their Official KZbin Channels (ANT1 TV, Mega TV)! The bad news is that there are no subtitles anywhere! This was actually a disappointing discovery! I would definitely recommend to check out some of their shows even without subs, and see what happens. Egklimata was an awesome comedy that aired on ANT1 a few years ago. Give it a try. (If anyone else has more info, please leave a comment!)

[@ulrikebokelmann9897]

Hi,there are quite a few good short films in greek with english subtitles,for example the 'Lacta' "filmercials" ,also look up 'Σοσε με' and 'Ετερος εγω',two movies with subtitles (hope I remember the titles correctly) ,

[@user-sj2fm1dz4x]

Lina you are avery good person god bless you

[@channapradeep9443]

very good lesons

[@swansea77man43]

Very good thanks

[@sotiris007]

i love it so much

[@tonygomes6306]

Lina, you are the best :):):)

[@RivalverLopes]

I think you should have put the translations of the Greek words below. Thanks a lot for your job. Rivas, from Brazil.

[@linaaaap1]

I use this approach in some of my videos because many of you request it, but I must say I am against it. Latin characters are impossible to represent all the Greek sounds. But thanks for your input, I will figure out a solution..

[@simplyjosie503]

I love this

[@TBD1.0]

EXCELLENT video Lina!....and so easy to follow. This video is 100% Correct and using colors is BRILLIANT! and very helpful! On a similar note.... I just saw a youtube video of an American lady that has a PhD in the Greek language and she uploaded a tutorial on how to say the Greek Alphabet, HOW EVER she could not pronounce the Greek alphabet correct. It was quite sad listening to that lady with a "PhD" in the Greek language butcher the Greek Alphabet and it's also sad that there are people learning from her how to say the Greek Alphabet incorrect.

[@linaaaap1]

Hi! Thank you for your kind words! The truth is that there is some confusion about the Greek alphabet and the pronunciation around the web and in general. My lessons are about Modern Greek. So this is the 100% correct pronunciation of M.G. Some websites and YT channels say they offer Greek language lessons but they don't specify if it's Modern or Ancient Greek. A.G. is a whole different chapter, much more complicated. In Greek schools , A.G. is taught with the modern Greek pronunciation (for convenience), but almost everywhere else in the world, a reconstructed pronunciation is used. So, I think that online teachers shouldn't forget that there is also Modern Greek, and they should specify what their lessons are about. Otherwise, people seeking for Modern Greek lessons, will end up speaking the very much alive language with a reconstructed ancient pronunciation!

[@hari2030]

Tq mam...

[@Budapestpatiypami]

So good video! καλα βιδεο!

[@natalietornatore4342]

fantastic - I keep getting them wrong and you make them sound so easy. Hope i get it

[@ALROD]

Late question, so I don’t know if I’ll get an answer. I understand that ει, οι and υι have the same sound “i”, but what about the combinations εη, οη and uη, or ευ? Do they become “i” too? Or are they just “ei”, “oi”, “ui” and “ei”, respectively?

[@linaaaap1]

Hey, about "αυ" and "ευ" you should watch my video about them, they have special pronunciations. About "εη", "οη" etc, they are pronounced separately, they don't become "ι". I hope this helps.

[@ALROD]

@@linaaaap1 I'll look for the video about αυ and ευ. I've been learning Greek and this interests me a lot. Ευχαριστώ :-)

[@emmalinefoster3276]

I always don’t know when to use which i sound/letter. It would have been great if the examples were translated. Overall though I like how simply you explain things. Σας ευχάριστο πολύ!

[@user-xh9rz7rf8l]

Many people think that the Greeks wanted to be tortured and so they put five different "ee" in the alphabet. So this question is an opportunity to clarify a few things about the Greek language, the alphabet and the many ... "ee". The Greek language was created and codified over thousands of years of observing nature and human activity and slowly each word gives the exact meaning of the object or ideal (the signifier is related to what is pointed out and not random words that will be called everything). This development, when it came time to move on to the written record - and after the first attempts at representations, followed the rules of spoken language. Thus were discovered the forms of letters that could reproduce everything around us in the best possible way. No letter is random and of course none comes from a different language. How could that be? When we open our mouths, we hear A (the letter shows above, the man looks up). B(V-eng), as one can easily see, represents the blast, the sound of B(V-eng)-orrea> BBBB (VVVV-eng), so the North (cold wind) is written with B(V-eng). The exact same rule applies to all letters, but that's not the point here. The reason for the participation of more than one letter with the same phonetics was the need to illustrate various forms of things, which were not distinguished by oral speech. E.g. "Υδρία-(H)YDRIA - Υγρόν-(H)YGRON - Κύλιξ-KYLIX" etc. These words could not be better defined than with the "Y-υ" scheme, showing a cavity (water accumulates in cavities). It is difficult and complicated to explain the existence of "H-n". Plato says that they used it for the grandeur of words, but that was not all. "H" is two "I's" joined together (I-I), which means a heavier and more emphatic pronunciation of ee, for serious things (Ήλιος-Sun - Ήθος-Moral - Ήρα-Hera - Ηφαίστιο-Volcano) etc. "I-i" says Plato in Kratylos, is used to express the "thin (Ιστίο-tissue) - thin - weak or for intelligence (Ιδέα-Ιdea, which passes like an arrow from the mind). The double "ει" and "οι" were created to represent the long "ee" that existed in the spoken language and acquired spelling rules that we cannot analyze here. "οι" is always used in the suffixes of the masculine plural and in words that are related to something that surrounds us or that are related to human activity, eg. (οίνος-wine, οίκος-house, οίδα-I know, ο οποίος-which, (here "o" means the circle in which we act). "Ει" is a long "ee" and combines "ε" and "ι" because "ε" has a close phonetic relationship with "ι-ee". The "Ο-o" and the "Ω-ω" differ for the same reasons. The omega is a long o (oo), it always enters the endings of the verbs and the endings of the plural of all things or gernes e.g. (των ανθρώπων-of men, των παιδιών- of the children, των πόλεων-of the cities, των σκύλων-of the dogs, etc). The "ο=circle" in everything that bothers us and is related to property, energy, etc. (κόσμος-world, πόλεμος-war, τόπος-place, δρόμος-road, έξοδος-exit and so much more). In closing, I will repeat that every letter and especially the many "ee" have to do with the root of each word, so that we can understand what we are talking about to the one who reads us.

[@sawssenouri5008]

❤❤❤

[@gerbenrotman8815]

Hi Lina, thank you for your videos. They are very useful. However, I have a bit of an issue with this vowel pronunciation video. I have seen in a lot of explanations on-line that people say that there are only a few vowels in Greek and that they are always pronounced the same, but it seems quite clear to my ears that there are two very distinct sounds for the Greek 'α' (and similarly for the other vowels). Look for example at the Greek word 'αλφα': - the first 'α' is pronounced like the 'α' in 'σαν' - the last 'α' is pronounced like the 'α' in 'μανα' These two sounds are very different. It is not so apparent in English, but in Dutch: - the sound of 'α' in 'σαν' can be written as 'a' - the sound of 'α' in 'μανα' can be written as 'aa' using this, 'αλφα' could be written phonetically as 'alfaa'. If I were to pronounce it as 'aalfa' that would not sound correct. Another example that works better in English. The Greek word 'πρηξιμο' has two 'η/ι/υ/ει/οι' sounds. However, the 'η' here is pronounced very different from the 'ι': - the 'η' in 'πρηξιμο' is pronounced as the 'i' in the English 'pick' - the 'ι' in 'πρηξιμο' is pronounced as the 'ee' in the English 'peek'.

[@user-xh9rz7rf8l]

No, they have the same accent, just the Greek words are always stressed in the last three syllables - differently each time - and the stress is what makes foreigners think there is a difference.

[@gazmiraaliaj5510]

so how can I find the right I in greek to write a word 😣

[@valtermartins9567]

Help me Lina! I need some tips to prompt the letter Θ . ιτ sounds like an S sound

[@user-lo5ot9gw6q]

it makes the sount "th" like in "thing".

[@noellemassa7187]

sơn ca diễn cũng duyên quá chứ

[@oferzilberman5049]

But what if you want to write "Ay" "Ey" "Oy" "Uy" ? What then?

[@stevenm6526]

Little late probably but I assume their aren’t many words like that. Don’t take my word for it though

[@oferzilberman5049]

There are like out of language words like thay, And here I found how: Αη Εη Οη Ουη

[@kamrulkayes8330]

Is it Very helpful

[@starlordjae2577]

Why???? So many letters for one sound 😩

[@linaaaap1]

Hi! Well, it is true. All these letters and combinations had (probably) different sounds in Ancient Greek. During the centuries the sounds were simplified but the writing (ορθογραφία) stayed the same.

[@starlordjae2577]

@@linaaaap1 as I thought. I've heard that a modern Greek speaker can understand ancient written Greek because most of their vocabulary are identical. Is this true?

[@todavezquevoceestiverlendo7909]

In portuguese we have 2 sounds for "e" and 2 sounds for "o". We call it open and closed sounds. Spanish speaks only the called closed sounds. I believe "η" was the closed "e" and "ε" was the open "e". For "o", I believe "ο" was the open "o", and "ω" was the closed "o". I guess the diference from ι and υ is that υ had a sound between ι and ου, maybe the "ü" from german.

[@user-xh9rz7rf8l]

Many people think that the Greeks wanted to be tortured and so they put five different "ee" in the alphabet. So this question is an opportunity to clarify a few things about the Greek language, the alphabet and the many ... "ee". The Greek language was created and codified over thousands of years of observing nature and human activity and slowly each word gives the exact meaning of the object or ideal (the signifier is related to what is pointed out and not random words that will be called everything). This development, when it came time to move on to the written record - and after the first attempts at representations, followed the rules of spoken language. Thus were discovered the forms of letters that could reproduce everything around us in the best possible way. No letter is random and of course none comes from a different language. How could that be? When we open our mouths, we hear A (the letter shows above, the man looks up). B(V-eng), as one can easily see, represents the blast, the sound of B(V-eng)-orrea> BBBB (VVVV-eng), so the North (cold wind) is written with B(V-eng). The exact same rule applies to all letters, but that's not the point here. The reason for the participation of more than one letter with the same phonetics was the need to illustrate various forms of things, which were not distinguished by oral speech. E.g. "Υδρία-(H)YDRIA - Υγρόν-(H)YGRON - Κύλιξ-KYLIX" etc. These words could not be better defined than with the "Y-υ" scheme, showing a cavity (water accumulates in cavities). It is difficult and complicated to explain the existence of "H-n". Plato says that they used it for the grandeur of words, but that was not all. "H" is two "I's" joined together (I-I), which means a heavier and more emphatic pronunciation of ee, for serious things (Ήλιος-Sun - Ήθος-Moral - Ήρα-Hera - Ηφαίστιο-Volcano) etc. "I-i" says Plato in Kratylos, is used to express the "thin (Ιστίο-tissue) - thin - weak or for intelligence (Ιδέα-Ιdea, which passes like an arrow from the mind). The double "ει" and "οι" were created to represent the long "ee" that existed in the spoken language and acquired spelling rules that we cannot analyze here. "οι" is always used in the suffixes of the masculine plural and in words that are related to something that surrounds us or that are related to human activity, eg. (οίνος-wine, οίκος-house, οίδα-I know, ο οποίος-which, (here "o" means the circle in which we act). "Ει" is a long "ee" and combines "ε" and "ι" because "ε" has a close phonetic relationship with "ι-ee". The "Ο-o" and the "Ω-ω" differ for the same reasons. The omega is a long o (oo), it always enters the endings of the verbs and the endings of the plural of all things or gernes e.g. (των ανθρώπων-of men, των παιδιών- of the children, των πόλεων-of the cities, των σκύλων-of the dogs, etc). The "ο=circle" in everything that bothers us and is related to property, energy, etc. (κόσμος-world, πόλεμος-war, τόπος-place, δρόμος-road, έξοδος-exit and so much more). In closing, I will repeat that every letter and especially the many "ee" have to do with the root of each word, so that we can understand what we are talking about to the one who reads us.

[@117lphuockhanh]

Α Ε Α Ε ΑΙ,Α Ε Α Ε ΑΙ Η Ι Η Ι ΟΙ,ΕΙ,ΥΙ Ο Υ Ο Υ,Ω,ΟΥ!

[@danielbarrosdasilva3831]

📖📚📙📔📕📗📘📓🔖📖📚📙📔📒🗂️📂📰📁📘📂

[@ralphgamerph4854]

Το ελληνικό αλφάβητο είναι το πιο εύκολο μη λατινικό αλφάβητο που μαθαίνω.😎

[@nanda5781]

Could you please upload a video of Greek alphabet pronounced. Everyone says the names of the letters like alfa, beta,, but not the sound you are supposed to produce when you speak. What we need is not the names but what sound actually comes out from the mouth like a,, v..e...g..p..r...t...s..n..m...

[@Anonymous_UserOrNot]

It has it on the video allready. Go at 0:59 :)

[@user-ld6eq8rl3h]

The starting sound of a letters name is how it should be pronounced, that is the good thing with greek Example B or vita is pronounced as v

[@user-xh9rz7rf8l]

A/α=alfa (pron. always clear Α as in "car" - not ay) B/β=veeta (v sound) as in "valley" Γ/γ=γάμα (like y-es or w-hat) Δ/δ=thelta (like (th-e) E/ε=epsilon (e-pitaph) Ζ/ζ=zeeta (Z-oo) Η/η=eeta (pronounced ee) as "infinity" Θ/θ=theeta (as th-uner) Ι/ι=eeota (pronounced ee) as "infinity" Κ/κ=kapa /K as "cat" Λ/λ=lamtha / L as "Leo" Μ/μ=mee / M as "mom" Ν/ν=nee / N as "noun" Ξ/ξ=xee / X (as on e-x-odus) Ο/ο=omikron / O "Door" Π/π=pee / P not paee as "police" Ρ/ρ=ro /R as "regular" Σ/σ/ς=siγma / S (ther's no sound like γ in latin, g is complitely wrong) as "sound" Τ/τ=taf / Τ as "tea" Y/υ=eepsilon (pronounced ee) as "infinity" Φ/φ=fee / F as "fall" Χ/χ=hee / J in spanish / He in english as "hurry up" Ψ/ψ=psee / ps Ω/ω=omeγa / O (ther's no sound like γ in latin, g is complitely wrong) as "door" Also: μπ=b / ντ=d / τζ=j / γκ=g (G-ary) / ευ=ef or ev / αυ=af or av / ου=ou or u in (Lulu) Ιι / Ηη / Υυ / ει / οι are always ee, only when εϊ = e-ee, and αϊ=a-ee

[@SonOfJesus777]

Sir, you first showed capital letters, then while teaching words, you used lower case letters. To a beginner like me, it caused a lot confusion.

[@Fearofthemonster]

This mess is due to historical spelling. When the language and the writing system is milllennia old, this happens. Check out Turkish. Everything is very easy to write because the writing system is only a century old. Maybe Greeks should try to reform and simplify their spelling.