# Greek Vowels



## 3Lulu3

I am doing an assignment on Greek vowels and diphthongs. I have done extensive research, including interviewing a native speaker, but I have found information that constantly varies. Overall, I have found that there are 5 vowels and seven diphthongs. Am I on the right track?


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## Δημήτρης

I thought there is only one diphthong in modern greek. /i/+accented vowel (eg γειά = ya). or is my definition of diphthongs wrong?


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## cougr

3Lulu3 said:


> I am doing an assignment on Greek vowels and diphthongs. I have done extensive research, including interviewing a native speaker, but I have found information that constantly varies. Overall, I have found that there are 5 vowels and seven diphthongs. Am I on the right track?



There are  seven written vowels ie. Αα Εε Ηη Ιι Οο Υυ Ωω, from which five vowel sounds are derived eg. α, ε, ι, ο and ου. I am also aware of at least eight main dipthongs, ie. αι οι ει υι αυ ευ ηυ ου, however sometimes you'll find dipthong lists which exclude the "ηυ"  and hence the reason you may have come up with seven.


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## 3Lulu3

Thank you very much. This helps!


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## Librarian44

cougr said:


> There are seven written vowels ie. Αα Εε Ηη Ιι Οο Υυ Ωω, from which five vowel sounds are derived eg. α, ε, ι, ο and ου. I am also aware of at least eight main dipthongs, ie. αι οι ει υι αυ ευ ηυ ου, however sometimes you'll find dipthong lists which exclude the "ηυ" and hence the reason you may have come up with seven.


 
In Greek there are only four vowel sounds, α, ε (also the diphthong αι), ι (written η, ι, υ and the relevant diphthongs οι, ει, υι) and ο (ο, ω). ου is a diphthong, not a vowel sound deriving from a written vowel. Of course, at this point you may start wondering about the way one should pronounce ancient Greek... Let's not get into that discussion!


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## cougr

Librarian44 said:


> In Greek there are only four vowel sounds, α, ε (also the diphthong αι), ι (written η, ι, υ and the relevant diphthongs οι, ει, υι) and ο (ο, ω). ου is a diphthong, not a vowel sound deriving from a written vowel. Of course, at this point you may start wondering about the way one should pronounce ancient Greek... Let's not get into that discussion!



Hi Librarian, you are right about "ου" being a dipthong but it is still classified as a vowel sound.


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## 3Lulu3

So it would be best to classify "ou" as simply "u" (a vowel and not a diphthong)?


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## 3Lulu3

cougr said:


> There are  seven written vowels ie. Αα Εε Ηη Ιι Οο Υυ Ωω, from which five vowel sounds are derived eg. α, ε, ι, ο and ου. I am also aware of at least eight main dipthongs, ie. αι οι ει υι αυ ευ ηυ ου, however sometimes you'll find dipthong lists which exclude the "ηυ"  and hence the reason you may have come up with seven.



Also, I have read that "ηυ" is often omitted from the diphthong list because it is pronounced just like "ευ". I am having a hard time understanding this because I thought "η" is an "i" (ee) sound... :s


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## skytree

Diphthongs are *αη*, *αϊ*, *οη*, *οϊ*  when we spell them as one in a word : νε-ρ*άι-*δα, *αη-*δό-νι, β*όη*-θα
Also there are ''_καταχρηστικοί δίφθογγοι''_ when ι, υ, ει, οι with the next vowel or δίψηφο spell as one : π*οιοι, *γ*υα*-λί, 
ά-δ*ειο*

the  αι, ει, οι, ου, υι are calling ''δίψηφα φωνήεντα'' and no ''δίφθογγοι''


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## cougr

3Lulu3 said:


> So it would be best to classify "ou" as simply "u" (a vowel and not a diphthong)?



Because "ou" is comprised of two vowels it is classified as a compound vowel (but also commonly referred to as a dipthong in English), which produces the sound of a vowel;in this case u.


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## cougr

3Lulu3 said:


> Also, I have read that "ηυ" is often omitted from the diphthong list because it is pronounced just like "ευ". I am having a hard time understanding this because I thought "η" is an "i" (ee) sound... :s



I think the reason as to why "ηυ" is often omitted is because as far as I know it is redundant in modern Greek ie. it doesn't comprise a part of any modern Greek word. 

In modern Greek "η" produces an "i" sound but this was not so in ancient Greek.


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## cougr

skytree said:


> Diphthongs are *αη*, *αϊ*, *οη*, *οϊ*  when we spell them as one in a word : νε-ρ*άι-*δα, *αη-*δό-νι, β*όη*-θα
> Also there are ''_καταχρηστικοί δίφθογγοι''_ when ι, υ, ει, οι with the next vowel or δίψηφο spell as one : π*οιοι, *γ*υα*-λί,
> ά-δ*ειο*
> 
> the  αι, ει, οι, ου, υι are calling ''δίψηφα φωνήεντα'' and no ''δίφθογγοι''



You're right skytree, it's just that for a very long time the ''δίψηφα φωνήεντα'' were referred to in English as the "main dipthongs"-and in many cases this still persists-instead of being referred to by the more appropriate term "compound vowels" or "digraphs".

Thus all the confusion.


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