Koine Foundations

Lesson 10: This post is the tenth in a series that explains how to pronounce the Koine Greek alphabet and Greek words. Each post explains three Greek letters and provides example words that contain only the letters covered to that point. This post explains the letters phi, chi, and psi.

φῖ / phi

Phi does not look like any letter in the English alphabet.

Phi always sounds like the ph in the English word photo.

There is an alternate way of writing the lower-case form as shown above.

χῖ / chi

Chi looks like X/x in the English alphabet but it is not the same letter.

Chi always sounds like the ch in loch with a Scottish accent.

ψῖ / psi

Psi does not look like any letter in the English alphabet.

Psi always sounds like the ps in the English word steps.

Psi is known as a “double letter” because it combines the sounds of \p\ and \s\.

Example Words

Practice saying the example words to learn the sounds represented by the alphabet letters in this lesson.

ἔχω
I have, hold
[verb]

Example Verse: Jesus said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” And the disciples said, “Seven and a few small fish.” (Matthew 15:34)

ὁδός
way, road
[noun]

English Derivatives: Odometer, diode.

Example Verse: And it came about that as Jesus drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by the road, begging. (Luke 18:35)

Example Verse: Oh, the depth of the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33)

ψυχή
soul, life
[noun]

English Derivatives: Psychology, psyche.

Example Verse: No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

φῶς
light
[noun]

English Derivatives: Photography, photon, phosphorus (a light-bearing element).

Example Verse: It is this message that we have heard from Jesus Christ and make known to you: God is light. There is no darkness in Him – none whatsoever! (1 John 1:5)

Practice & Review

The table below shows the Greek alphabet in order from alpha to omega. Verbs are highlighted in yellow. Lower-case sigma, highlighted in blue, has two forms.

Here are two options to hear the the entire Greek alphabet recited:

• Click here to listen to a 30 second audio file of the alphabet.
• Click here to view a 1 minute video of the alphabet.

*Symbols enclosed in left slashes such as \ä\ are Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Symbols. These are the standard pronunciation symbols used in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. They are provided as another way to know the sound of each Greek letter. Click here for a downloadable PDF document that explains the symbols and includes a one-page chart on the last page. They are also explained in any hardcopy edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

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Bibliography

Danker, Frederick William (Editor). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition (BDAG). The University of Chicago Press. 2000.

Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.

© Copyright 2022 by Matthew Jones
koinefoundations@gmail.com