The purpose of this Small Greek Grammar is to assist the family researcher in the reading of Greek genealogical literature. By no means is this a complete grammar, but it will present basic grammar points, which the family historian may find helpful in his research.

If, as a researcher, you know of grammar points, which you believe may be beneficial to others, please feel free to e-mail them to Kefalonian Roots at grammaradd@keffyroots.com being sure to write on the Subject Line: Grammar Points – Add and in the Signature: your name and e-mail address. Kefalonian Roots would be happy to add any genealogically useful grammar points to the list.

Throughout this section, the subtitles will be presented in both English and Greek. This is so that those who do not know Greek can have an optical experience with the Greek language.

Greek Alphabet – Ελληνικό Αλφάβητο

Αα, Ββ, Γγ, Δδ, Εδ, Ζζ, Ηη, Θθ, Ιι, Κκ, Λλ, Μμ, Νν, Ξξ, Οο, Ππ,

Ρρ, Σσ,ς, Ττ, Υυ, Φφ, Χχ, Ψψ, Ωω

There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. Many are similar in character and sound to the English letters.

The vowels are: α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω η = long e in English ω = long o in English

The consonants are: β, γ, δ, ζ, θ, κ, λ, μ, ν, ξ, π, ρ, σ (-ς), τ, φ, χ, ψ,

Note: When "s" is used within the word it is written "σ", when used at the end of a word, it is written "ς".

Pronunciation with Nearest English Equivalent Vowels
Greek	Nearest English Equivalent

η ι υ ει οι		*beat*
e ai		bet
a		butt
o ω		bought
ou		boot
au	af	cuff
au	av	love
eu	ef	chef
eu	ev	ever

Consonents

Β β	οver
Γ γ	Spanish fuego / yield
Δ δ	father
Ζ ζ	lazy
Θ θ	author
Κ κ	skin
Λ λ	leave
M μ	may
Ν ν	not
Ξ ξ	box
Π π	spin
Ρ ρ	three
Σ σ, ς	see
Σ σ before voiced consonants	lazy
Τ τ	stick
Φ φ	fat
Χ χ	Scottish Loch
Ψ ψ	taps

Consonant Digraphs, Diphthongs, And The Nearest English Equivalent

Greek Digraph Diphthongs Nearest English Equivalent

Γγ finger

Γξ sphinx

Γκ get

Μπ bet

Ντ do

Τζ Janet

Τς chair

TONOS - ΤΟΝΟΣ

In the Greek written language, the accented syllable has an accent mark written over it. This accent mark is called a tόnos - τόνος.

Example - Παράδειγμα

Child = παιδί (pe - thi) the ai = short e sound, the δ = th as in this and the i = long y sound, and accented in this word. Before the early 1980’s the Greek language was in the Katharevousa form, and used several different accent marks on one word, but since 1981, the Monotonic system has been in use and utilizes only the (‘) “tonos”, accent mark, on multi-syllable words.

PUNCTUATION MARKS - ΤΑ ΣΗΜΕΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΣΤΙΞΗ

For all practical purposes, the punctuation marks are basically the same in both languages. The two that may be of concern to the researcher are the:

Question Mark - Ερωτηματικό

English ? Greek ;

And the Quotation Marks - Εισαγωγικά

English “and” Greek « και »

Important Words - Σημαντικές Λέξεις

The Greek word for Greece is, Eλλάδα; Ελλάς – geographic name

The Greek words for Greeks are (feminine) Ελληνίδες and (masculine) Έλληνες.

The Greek words for Greek are (feminine) Ελληνική, (masculine) Ελληνικός and ( neuter) Ελληνικό.

Professions - Eπαγγέλματα

The words for professions or jobs are useful to the researcher. Below are a few words, which one may find in the records.

Jobs - Επαγγέλματα

What he works with: His profession:

Eng. Gk. Pronunciation Gk. Pronunciation

Flour αλεύρι (alevri) αλευράς (alevras)

Boat βάρκα (varka) βαρκάρης (vakaris)

Charcoal κάρβουνo (carvoono) καρβουνιάρης (carvooniaris)

Iron σίδερο (sithero) σιδεράς (sitheras)

Library βιβλιοθήκη (vivliothiki) βιβλιοθηκάριος (vivliothikarios)

Farm αγρόκτημα (agroktima) αγρότης (agrotis)

γεωργός (georgos)

Store μαγαζί (magazi) έμπορος (emporos)

merchant

Selling meat πωλάει κρέας polai kreas) κρεοπώλης (kreopolis)

butcher

Pharmacy φαρμακείον (pharmakion) φαρμακοπιός (pharmakopios)

pharmacist

Selling fruits πωλάιε φρούτα (polai fruita) μαναβής (manavis)

and Veg. και λαχανικά kay lahanika) green grocer

Medicine ιατρική (iatriki) ιατρός (iatros) doctor

The Greek grammar is very complicated. There is so much that could be presented; obviously this is impossible. If one finds that he would like to learn more about Greek grammar, there are many good books available at the bookstore. The following section will present information on the nouns, explaining a few examples, which would be of interest to the researcher.

NOUNS - ΟΥΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΑ

The Greek nouns are of three genders, Masculine, Feminine, Neuter. For the researcher it is most important to understand the masculine and feminine endings of names.

Given Name - Όνομα

Masculine – Αρσενικά Feminine - Θηλυκά

Most male names end in: Most female names end in:

-oς, -ης, -ita, -ούλα, -ία, -η, -ίνα, -κή -όta, -να

Evaggelos –Ευάγγελος Helen Έλενα

Panagis - Παναγής Panayiota - Παναγιότα

Surname - Επώνυμο

-ος, ης, -ας, -ου, -ακης -ου, -η, -α, -ου, -άκη

The above endings are in a series in which the feminine endings on the right correspond to the masculine endings on the left.

. Ex. Masculine Feminine

Vallianos - Βαλλιάνος Vallianou - Βαλλιάνου

Kambitsis - Καμπίτσης Kambitsi - Καμπίτση

Halikas - Χάλικας Halika - Χάλικα

Papandreou - Παπανδρέου Papandreou - Παπανδρέου

Mazarakis - Μαζαράκης Μazaraki - Μαζαράκη

On this topic, the important thing to know is that the endings of the masculine and feminine surnames of a married couple, siblings and other relatives will vary according to the gender.

Grammar to show possession or belonging:

On official papers one can see the following.

Masculine - Αρσενικά

The daughter of Spiros Η θυγατέρα του Σπύρου.

In Greek, the masculine object of the preposition, in this case showing possession, is written with “ou” at the end. EX: του = of (masculine) του Σπύρου

The ending on the noun is in the possessive case – instead of Spiros – nominative case, it is written Spirou – possessive case.

Feminine - Θηλυά

The daughter of Elaine Η κόρη της Ελένης

The daughter of Katherine Η κόρη της Κατερίνας

In Greek the feminine object of the preposition, in this case showing possession, is written with an “ς” at the end. EX: της = of (feminine) της Ελένης της Κατερίνας.

The ending on the noun is in the possessive case – instead of Ελένη or Κατερίνα - the nominative case, is Ελένης οr Κατερίνας. – possessive case.

Information of showing possession

Also in the Greek records, the possessive form of the father’s name always follows a person’s name, so that the person is identified with the correct family. Ex: so as not to confuse Gerasimos Mazarakis, whose father is Kostantinos, with Gerasimos Mazarakis whose father is Panagis, the name is written Gerasimos Mazarakis tou Kostantinou or Gerasimos Mazarakis tou Panagi. This is found even on the name in an address of a letter from a business or government agency. This is true of masculine and feminine names. Ex. Kristina Synodinou tou Spirou, or Elena Rizou tou Gerasimou.

On all official documents, identification cards, life event certificates, diplomas etc. the mother’s name also appears, in the possessive case – της Ελένης, της Κατερίνας.

Greek – European method of writing the date:

Ελληνικό – Ευρωπαϊκό μέθοδo για το γραψιμό της ημερομηνίας

One will find that all dates are written day/ month/ year It is believed that this is the logical series, going from the day to the more encompassing time period, the month and then to the larger time period, the year. This can be confusing for people who write the date, month/day/year.

Source – Πηγή

Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη, ΝΕΟΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΚΗ, Αθήνα, Οργανισμός Εκδόσεως Διδακτικών Βιβλίων, 1996.

Note – Σημείωμα :

Anyone planning to read many Greek genealogical documents is advised to purchase a Greek - English dictionary and a Greek grammar book.