Greek to English
English gets its word alphabet from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta. The Etruscans altered the Greek alphabet until it became what we know as the Roman Alphabet. From the Roman alphabet we get the alphabets used in the so-called modern languages. Of course, modern is a fairly relative term.
From Greek Alpha to English A /e/
The Etruscans appreviated the alphabet so that in the Roman Alphabet, the alpha was written the same way, but instead of calling it alpha, they chopped off all but the first letter having the sound /a/ as in father. After the alphabet came to the British Isles, it underwent what historical linguists call the Great English Vowel Shift and the /a/ as in father shifted to the sound /e/ as in obey.
From Greek Beta to English B /bi/
In the letter Beta, the b was not what linguists call a stop, like the English b, but a fricative--something between a v and a b. It was a voiced vibration of the lips. A friend of mine at Clovis High School, Minos Athanasiadas, told me that the Greek Alphabet changed along the lines ot the English. Whereas it was originally pronounced with the /e/ as in they originally, it was influenced by the English, as the English letter E with the sound /e/ as shifted to the sound /i/ as in the Spanish word si. Also, in English, the letter b changed from the bilabial (2 lip) fricative to a bilabial stop.
From the Greek Gamma to the English C and G
From the Greek letter Gamma, the voiced uvular fricative was abbreviated to two Etrusco/Roman letters cae and ge and then into English as C /si/ and G /dzi/. Have you ever noticed that both C and G each have 2 sounds, one in front of the vowels e or i, and the other in front of a, o, and u.
From the Greek Delta to the English D /di/
From the Greek letter Delta, the voiced interdental fricative
was abbreviated the Etrusco/Roman letter D /de/ and then into
English as the voiced alveolar stop D /di/.
From the Greek Epsilon to the English E /i/
From the Greek letter Epsilon, the front mid lax vowel was abbreviated the Etrusco/Roman letter E /e/ and then into English as the front high tense vowel E /i/.
From the Greek Zeta to the English Z /zi/
From the Greek letter Zeta, the voiced alveolarl fricative was abbreviated the Etrusco/Roman letter Z /ze/ and then into English as the voiced alveolar stop Z /zi/. When the Romans first encountered the alphabet, they saw not need for this letter. However, the transliteration of Greek names made it necessary, so they added it to the end of the alphabet.
From the Greek Eta to the English H /et∫/
From the Greek letter Eta, the front mid tense vowel was changed to the Etrusco/Roman voiceless glottal fricative consonant H /he/ and then into English as the voiced alveolar stop H /et∫/.
From the Greek Theta to the English TH
From the Greek letter Theta, the bilabial fricative consonant was changed to an unknown Etrusco/Roman letter, from which came the old English letter thorne which has long since dropped out of the English alphabet and replaced by the blend th.
From the Greek Iota to the English I and J
From the Greek letter Iota, the front mid tense vowel was changed to the Etrusco/Roman voiceless glottal fricative consonant H /he/ and then into English as the voiced alveolar stop H /et∫/.
From the Greek Kappa to the English K /ke/
From the Greek letter Kappa, the voiceless uvular stop consonant was changed to the Etrusco/Roman voiceless uvular fricative consonant K /ka/ and then into English as the voiced alveolar stop K /ke/.
From the Greek Lambda to the English L /εl/
From the Greek letter Lambda, the alveolar lateral consonant became the Etrusco/Roman the alveolar lateral consonant L /εl/ and then into English as the same.
From the Greek Mu to the English M /εm/
From the Greek letter Mu, the voiced bilabial nasal consonant became the Etrusco/Roman voiced bilabial nasal consonant M /εm/ and then into English as the same.
From the Greek Nu to the English N /εn/
From the Greek letter Nu, the voiced alveolar nasal consonant became the Etrusco/Roman voiced alveolar nasal consonant N /εn/ and then into English as the same.
From the Greek Ksi or Xi to the English X /εks/
From the Greek letter Ksi (or Xi), the voiceless uvular fricative consonant became the Etrusco/Roman voiceless uvular/sonorant affricate X /ekis/ and then into English as X /eks/.
From the Greek Omicron to the English O /o/
From the Greek letter Omicron, the back mid lax vowel consonant became the Etrusco/Roman back mid tense vowel O /o/ and then into English as the same.
From the Greek Pi /pai/ to the English P /pi/
From the Greek letter Pi, the voiceless bilabial stop consonant became the Etrusco/Roman voiceless bilabial stop consonant P /pe/ and then into English as P /pi/.
From the Greek Rho to the English R /ar/
From the Greek letter Rho, consonant became the Etrusco/Roman Ere /ere/ and then into English as R /ar/.
From the Greek Sigma to the English S /εs/
From the Greek letter Sigma, the voiceless sibilant consonant became the Etrusco/Roman voiceless sibilant S /εse/ and then into English as S /es/.
From the Greek Tau to the English T /ti/
From the Greek letter Tau, the voiceless alveolar stop consonant became the Etrusco/Roman voiceless alveolar T /te/ and then into English as T /ti/.
From the Greek Upsilon to the English U, V, W, & Y
From the Greek letter Upsilon, the back high tense vowel became the Etrusco/Roman U /u/ as well as the consonants V/ve/ W /doble u/, and Y /i grek/ and then into English as V/vi/ W /d∧b∂l ju/, and Y /wai/.
From the Greek Phi No Relation to English
The Greek letter Phi has no one equivalent in English.
From the Greek Chi No Relation to English
The Greek letter Chi has no one equivalent in English.
From the Greek Psi No Relation to English
The Greek letter Psi has no one equivalent in English.
From the Greek Omega to the English O /o/
From the Greek letter Omega, the back mid tense vowel became the Etrusco/Roman back mid tense vowel O /o/ and then into English as the same/.
