# Why is μπουκάλι pronounced bookalee ?



## redbourn

About 25 years ago I used to be able to hold a simple conversation in Greek but am now struggling to remember even the basics.

I may be moving to Athens in September so I want to try and get back in the saddle.

Why is μπουκάλι pronounced bookalee ?

Where is the "b" sound coming from?

Thanks,

Michael


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## redbourn

Seems like μπ is pronounced like B 

μπύρα  - Beera

I checked a couple of Greek alphabets and didn't see μπ being pronounced as B


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## Perseas

redbourn said:


> Where is the "b" sound coming from?


Hi,
the sound "b" exists in Greek.


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## redbourn

Perseas said:


> Hi,
> the sound "b" exists in Greek.



Yes, but βήτα is not being used in either μπουκάλι or μπύρα.



And from what I remember beta is usually pronounced as "V", ?

So to write an English B sound is μπ the way that it's done?

Thanks for replying ;-)


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## ireney

Beta was pronounced as the English b some millennia ago 
Nowadays we use μπ which is usually pronounced as the English /b/  though, in some cases, some people will pronounce it as two separate letters (m + p).


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## redbourn

ireney said:


> Beta was pronounced as the English b some millennia ago
> Nowadays we use μπ which is usually pronounced as the English /b/  though, in some cases, some people will pronounce it as two separate letters (m + p).



Thank you very much. 

I loved learning Greek when I was studying it 25 years ago and it's good to be learning it again.

I speak several languages to varying degrees of fluency, and I  discovered, for me anyway, that it's very important to get the details  correct at the beginning, because if I don't, then I have to go back and  correct them later on, and it's much more difficult then.

Michael


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## bearded

ireney said:


> Beta was pronounced as the English b some millennia ago
> Nowadays we use μπ which is usually pronounced as the English /b/  though, in some cases, some people will pronounce it as two separate letters (m + p).


Do ''some people'' really pronounce m+p or m+b ? Do you say 'ampéli' , 'ambéli' or 'abéli' ? Thank you.


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## apmoy70

The standard pronunciation is [am'beli] (m+b) but in reality the pronunciation varies from [a'beli] to [am'beli].
The general rule is that m+p = [mb] unless 
1/ the word starts with μπ, then it's pronounced *, e.g μπάλα = ['bala] --> ball
2/ it appears ad seriatim in a word, then it's pronounced , e.g. μπαμπάς = [ba'bas] --> dad
3/ it's a loanword, then it's pronounced , e.g. καμπάλα = [ka'bala] < קַבָּלָה (kabbalah)*


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## redbourn

apmoy70 said:


> The standard pronunciation is [am'beli] (m+b) but in reality the pronunciation varies from [a'beli] to [am'beli].
> The general rule is that m+p = [mb] unless
> 1/ the word starts with μπ, then it's pronounced *, e.g μπάλα = ['bala] --> ball
> 2/ it appears ad seriatim in a word, then it's pronounced , e.g. μπαμπάς = [ba'bas] --> dad
> 3/ it's a loanword, then it's pronounced , e.g. καμπάλα = [ka'bala] < קַבָּלָה (kabbalah)*


*

Thank you ;-)*


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## ireney

My apologies! I meant "mb" though in a few cases such as "άμεμπτος" it is indeed pronounced "mp"


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## Perseas

ireney said:


> [...] though in a few cases such as "άμεμπτος" it is indeed pronounced "mp"


Indeed, or even [ámemtos]. As "Πέμπτη", which is pronounced [pémpti & pémti].


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