Vowels

Gia, legome Sikandar. Herw poly. Kalimera :)

The Greek sound system has five distinct vowels: /i, e, a, o, u/.

The vowel /i/ is pronounced between the English vowel in ‘bit’ and that in ‘beat’. The Greek vowel /i/ corresponds to six different spellings: i, h, u, oi, ei and ui.

The vowel /e/ is pronounced like the English vowel /e/ in ‘kept’ but it is pronounced slightly longer and with lips more open.

The Greek /e/ corresponds to two different spellings: e and ai.

The vowel /a/ is similar to the a in ‘father’. It corresponds to the spelling a.

The vowel /o/ is pronounced between the English vowel in ‘pot’ and that in ‘bought’ but the lips are slightly more closed and more rounded.

The vowel /o/ corresponds to two different spellings: o and w.

The vowel /u/ is somewhere between the vowels in the English words ‘put’ and ‘boot’. It corresponds to the spelling ou.

The vowel /i/ may lose its vowel quality and become non-syllabic if unstressed and followed by another vowel.

Non-syllabic /i/ is pronounced as [j] (like the y in ‘yes’) if it follows a voiced consonant.