3 Unfamiliar letters
The Greek alphabet contains a few letters with no opposite number in English. An example would be the letter ‘psi’ (ψ, Ψ) which in English has to be represented by a combination of two letters, ‘p’ and ‘s’.
Activity 4 Letters with no English equivalent
Using the table of letters seen earlier (here's the link to the downloadable version again: Alphabet Guide [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] ), identify any Greek letters with no English equivalent.
Discussion
Your list should include at least the consonants:
- θ, Θ (theta)
- φ, Φ (phi)
- χ, Χ (chi)
- ψ, Ψ (psi)
There are also two versions of ‘e’ and ‘o’, a short and a long:
- ε, Ε (epsilon) and η, Η (eta)
- ο, Ο (omicron) and ω, Ω (omega)
Omicron just means ‘little o’ (μικρος, mikros = small), while omega is ‘big o’ (μεγας, megas = large).
You might need to give these letters extra attention in the initial stages of learning the alphabet.