Greek spelling alphabet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Greek spelling alphabet is a spelling alphabet (or "phonetic alphabet") for Greek, i.e. a set of names given to the alphabet letters for the purpose of spelling out words. It is used mostly on radio voice channels by the Greek army, the navy and the police.

Motivation[]

The names for Greek letters are easily confused in noisy conditions; potential collisions include:

  • víta (β), zíta (ζ), íta (η), thíta (θ)
  • épsilon (ε), ýpsilon (υ)
  • mi (μ), ni (ν)
  • pi (π), xi (ξ), fi (φ), chi (χ), psi (ψ)

The spelling alphabet[]

Letter letter name spelling name meaning of word
Α, α álfa αστήρ astír ('star')
Β, β víta Βύρων Víron ('Byron')
Γ, γ gámma γαλή galí ('cat')
Δ, δ délta δόξα dóxa ('glory')
Ε, ε épsilon Ερμής Ermís ('Hermes')
Ζ, ζ zíta Ζευς[1] Zefs ('Zeus')
Η, η íta Ηρώ Iró ('Hero')
Θ, θ thíta θεά theá ('goddess')
Ι, ι ióta ίσκιος ískios ('shadow')
Κ, κ káppa κενόν kenón ('blank')
Λ, λ lámbda λάμα láma ('blade')
Μ, μ mi μέλι méli ('honey')
Ν, ν ni ναός naós ('church')
Ξ, ξ xi Ξέρξης Xérxis ('Xerxes')
Ο, ο ómikron οσμή osmí ('smell')
Π, π pi Πέτρος Pétros ('Peter')
Ρ, ρ ro ρήγας rígas ('king')
Σ, σ, -ς sígma σοφός sofós ('wise')
Τ, τ taf τίγρης tígris ('tiger')
Υ, υ ípsilon ύμνος ímnos ('hymn')
Φ, φ fi Φωφώ Fofó ('a female diminutive name')
Χ, χ chi χαρά chará ('joy')
Ψ, ψ psi ψυχή psichí ('soul')
Ω, ω oméga ωμέγα oméga ('the last letter of the Greek alphabet')

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Alternative Police variant "Ζωή" (Zoí)

Further reading[]

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