Romanization of Greek

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Romanization of Medieval Greek
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Romanization of Greek is the transliteration (letter-mapping) or transcription (sound-mapping) of text from the Greek alphabet into the Latin alphabet.

History

The conventions for

Greek placenames.[1]

Traditional English renderings of Greek names originated from

ks/ and Η as /h/ and used variant forms of Λ and Σ that became L and S.[2] When this script was used to write the classical Greek alphabet, ⟨κ⟩ was replaced with ⟨c⟩, ⟨αι⟩ and ⟨οι⟩ became ⟨æ⟩ and ⟨œ⟩, and ⟨ει⟩ and ⟨ου⟩ were simplified to ⟨i⟩ (more rarely—corresponding to an earlier pronunciation—⟨e⟩) and ⟨u⟩. Aspirated consonants like ⟨θ⟩, ⟨φ⟩, initial-⟨ρ⟩, and ⟨χ⟩ simply wrote out the sound: ⟨th⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨rh⟩, and ⟨ch⟩. Because English orthography has changed so much from the original Greek, modern scholarly transliteration now usually renders ⟨κ⟩ as ⟨k⟩ and the diphthongs ⟨αι, οι, ει, ου⟩ as ⟨ai, oi, ei, ou⟩.[3]

"Greeklish" has also spread within Greece itself, owing to the rapid spread of digital telephony from cultures using the Latin alphabet. Since Greek typefaces and fonts are not always supported or robust, Greek email and chatting has adopted a variety of formats for rendering Greek and Greek shorthand using Latin letters. Examples include "8elo" and "thelw" for θέλω, "3ava" for ξανά, and "yuxi" for ψυχή.

Owing to the difficulties encountered in transliterating and transcribing both ancient and modern Greek into the Latin alphabet, a number of regulatory bodies have been established. The Hellenic Organization for Standardization (ELOT), in cooperation with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), released a system in 1983 which has since been formally adopted by the United Nations, the United Kingdom and United States.

Tables

The following tables list several romanization schemes from the Greek alphabet to modern English. Note, however, that the ELOT, UN, and ISO formats for Modern Greek intend themselves as translingual and may be applied in any language using the Latin alphabet.

Ancient Greek

The

Byzantine Greek was pronounced distinctly and some have considered "Modern" Greek to have begun as early as the 12th century.[4]

For treatment of

below.

Greek Classical[citation needed] ALA-LC[3]
(2010)
Beta Code[5]
α a a A
αι ae ai AI
β b b B
γ g g G
n[n. 1] n[n. 1]
δ d d D
ε e e E
ει e or i ei EI
ζ z z Z
η e ē H
θ th th Q
ι i i I
κ c k K
λ l l L
μ m m M
ν n n N
ξ x x C
ο o o O
οι oe oi OI
ου u ou OU
o
π p p P
ρ rh[n. 2] rh[n. 2] R
r r
σ
s s S / S1
ς
S / S2 / J
τ t t T
υ y y U
u[n. 3] u[n. 3]
υι ui or yi ui UI
φ ph ph F
χ
ch ch X
ψ ps ps Y
ω o ō W
  1. ^ a b Before another velar stop, i.e. in the combinations γγ, γκ, γξ, γχ
  2. ^ a b In ancient Greek, word-initial rho—a rho at the beginning of a word or name—and the second in a pair of medial rhos were always considered to involve rough breathing whether marked or not.
  3. ^ a b In the diphthongs αυ, ευ, ηυ, ου, υι, ωυ.

Modern Greek

ELOT approved in 1982 the ELOT 743 standard, revised in 2001,[6] whose Type 2 (Greek: Τύπος 2, romanized: Typos 2) transcription scheme has been adopted by the Greek and Cypriot governments as standard for romanization of names on Greek and Cypriot passports. It also comprised a Type 1 (Greek: Τύπος 1, romanized: Typos 1) transliteration
table, which was extensively modified in the second edition of the standard.

International versions of ELOT 743, with an English language standard document, were approved by the UN (V/19, 1987) and the British and American governments. The ISO approved in 1997 its version, ISO 843, with a different Type 1 transliteration system, which was adopted four years later by ELOT itself, while the U.N. did not update its version. So the transcriptions of Modern Greek into Latin letters used by ELOT, UN and ISO are essentially equivalent, while there remain minor differences in how they approach reversible transliteration.

The American Library Association and Library of Congress romanization scheme employs its "Modern Greek" system for all works and authors following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.[3]

In the table below, the special rules for vowel combinations (αι, αυ, ει, ευ, ηυ, οι, ου, ωυ) only apply when these letters function as

accents and diaereses—for example, ϊ—also see the section on romanizing Greek diacritical marks
below.

Greek Transcription Transliteration Notes
ELOT
743
(Type 2 - transcription)
(1982; 2001)
BGN/PCGN[7]
(1962)
ELOT 743, 2nd ed.
(Type 1 - transliteration)[8]

(2001)
UN[9][11]
(1987)
ISO[12][7]
(1997)
ALA-LC[3]
(2010)
α a a a a a a
αι ai e ai ai ai ai
αυ av av au av̱ au au before vowels or voiced consonants
af af before voiceless consonants and word-finally
β v v v v v v
γ g g g g g g
y before front vowels
γγ ng ng gg ṉg gg ng
γκ gk g gk gk gk gk word-initially
ng ng word-medially
γξ nx nx gx ṉx gx nx
γχ nch nkh gch ṉch gch nch
δ d dh d d d d
d in the combination νδρ
ε e e e e e e
ει ei i ei ei ei ei
ευ ev ev eu ev̱ eu eu before vowels or voiced consonants
ef ef before voiceless consonants and word-finally
ζ z z z z z z
η i i ī /  ī ē
ηυ iv iv īu / i¯u i̱v̱ īu ēu before vowels or voiced consonants
if i̱f̱ before voiceless consonants and word-finally
θ th th th th th th
ι i i i i i i
κ k k k k k k
λ l l l l l l
μ m m m m m m
μπ b b mp b mp b word-initially
mp mb mp mp word-medially
ν n n n n n n
ντ nt d nt nt nt  / d_ word-initially
nd nt word-medially and word-finally
nt in the combination ντζ
ξ x x x x x x
ο o o o o o o
οι oi i oi oi oi oi
ου ou ou ou ou ou ou
π p p p p p p
ρ r r r r r r
ς
s s s s s s ς (σίγμα τελικό - final sigma) is used as the final letter in a word.
τ t t t t t t
υ y i y y y y
υι yi i yi yi yi ui
φ f f f f f ph
χ
ch kh ch ch ch ch
ψ ps ps ps ps ps ps
ω o o ō /  ō ō
ωυ oy ou ōy / o¯y o̱y ōy ōu

Diacritical marks

The traditional

monotonic orthography was officially introduced for modern Greek. The only diacritics that remain are the acute accent (indicating stress) and the diaeresis
(indicating that two consecutive vowels should not be combined).

When a Greek diphthong is accented, the accent mark is placed over the second letter of the pair. This means that an accent over the first letter of the pair indicates vowels which should be taken (and romanized) separately. Although the second vowel is not marked with a superfluous diaeresis in Greek, the first-edition ELOT 743 and the UN systems place a diaeresis on the Latin vowel for the sake of clarity.[13][9]

Diacritical marks
Greek Ancient Modern Name
Classical ALA-LC[3]
(2010)
Beta Code[5]
[n. 1]
ELOT[8]

(2001)
UN[9]
(1987)
BGN/
PCGN
 [14]
(1996)
ISO[7]
(1997)
ALA-LC[3]
(2010)
  ́  / ´[n. 2] accent
acute accent
  ̀  \ ` ´ ` grave accent
 ῾  h[n. 3] ( h[n. 3] h[n. 3] h[n. 3] rough breathing
 ᾿  ) ' ' coronis
smooth breathing
 ˜ 
  ̑ 
= ˆ ´ ˆ circumflex
 ¨  [n. 4] + ¨[n. 4] [n. 4] diaeresis
 ͺ  | ¸ ¸ iota subscript
  1. ^ These marks are placed after the letter so that, e.g., Ἐν is written E)N and τῷ is written TW=|.
  2. ^ In systems where the υ in αυ, ευ, and ηυ is romanized as a consonant v or f, the stressed diphthongs αύ, εύ, and ηύ are romanized with the accent mark over the initial vowel. This should be distinguished from Greek άυ, έυ, and ήυ, which would be romanized as separate letters and not as diphthongs: áÿ, éÿ, and íÿ or ī́ÿ or í̱ÿ.
  3. ^ a b c d In the ALA-LC system, the h is supplied even where the rough breathing is not marked in ancient and medieval Greek (for example, initial ρ was always considered to possess rough breathing) but not in Greek after 1453.
    • On a vowel: h before the vowel.
    • On a diphthong: h before the first vowel.
    • On ρ: h after the r.
  4. ^ a b c The diaeresis mark indicates that adjacent vowels should be taken separately and not as a single diphthong.

Apart from the diacritical marks native to Greek itself or used to romanize its characters,

short vowels. Where these are romanized, it is common to mark the long vowels with macrons over the Latin letters and to leave the short vowels unmarked; such macrons should not be confused or conflated with those used by some systems to mark eta and omega as distinct from epsilon, iota, and omicron
.

Numerals

Greece's early Attic numerals were based on a small sample of letters (including heta) arranged in multiples of 5 and 10, likely forming the inspiration for the later Etruscan and Roman numerals.

This early system was replaced by

͵⟩ to denote multiples of 1000. (For a full table of the signs and their values, see Greek numerals
.)

These values are traditionally romanized as

Alexander III of Macedon and transliterated as Aléxandros III o Makedṓn rather than Aléxandros G' or Aléxandros 3. Greek laws and other official documents of Greece which employ these numerals, however, are to be formally romanized using "decimal" Arabic numerals.[8]

Punctuation marks

Ancient Greek text did not mark word division with

; such punctuation (or the lack thereof) are variously romanized, inserted, or ignored in different modern editions.

Modern

erotimatiko, which is shaped like the Latinate semicolon
. Greek punctuation which has been given formal romanizations include:

Punctuation marks
Greek
ELOT[8]

(2001)
ISO[7]
(1997)
Name
 ;  ? ?
erotimatiko
)
 . 
.
.
teleia
)
 ·  ; ;
ano teleia
)
 :  : :
ano kato teleia
)
 ,  , , comma
(komma)
 ! 
!
thavmastiko
)
 ’  ' ' apostrophe
(
apostrofos
)
 ‿ 
͜
-
-
enotikon
)

Uncommon letters

There are many

τ, and ϗ for και—are just silently emended to their standard forms and transliterated accordingly. Letters with no equivalent in the classical Greek alphabet such as heta (Ͱ & ͱ), meanwhile, usually take their nearest English equivalent (in this case, h
) but are too uncommon to be listed in formal transliteration schemes.

Uncommon Greek letters which have been given formal romanizations include:

Uncommon letters
Greek ISO[7] ALA-LC[3] Beta Code[5] Name
Ϝ ϝ
Ͷ ͷ
w w V digamma
Ϙ ϙ
Ϟ ϟ
#3 koppa
Ϡ ϡ
Ͳ ͳ
#5 sampi
Ϻ ϻ #711 san
Ϲ ϲ s s S / S3 lunate sigma
Ϳ ϳ j #401
yot

Standardization

The sounds of

Demetrios" for Δημήτριος) provided that official identification and documents also list the standard forms (as, for example, "Demetrios OR Dimitrios").[18] Other romanization systems still encountered are the BGN/PCGN's earlier 1962 system[12][7] and the system employed by the American Library Association and the United States' Library of Congress.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dubin, Marc. Rough Guide to the Dodecanese & East Aegean Islands, p. vi. Rough Guides (London), 2002.
  2. ^ Jeffery, Lilian H. The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece, p. 79. Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1961.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i The Library of Congress. ALA-LC Romanization Tables: "Greek". 2010.
  4. ^ "Greece" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. XI. 1880.
  5. ^ a b c Thesaurus Linguae Graecae. "The TLG Beta Code Manual 2013". University of California (Irvine), 2013.
  6. ^ Hellenic Organization for Standardization. "ELOT 743, 2ī Ekdosī" ΕΛΟΤ 743 2η Έκδοση [ELOT 743, 2nd ed.] (PDF) (in Greek). Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Pedersen, Thomas T. Transliteration of Non-Roman Scripts: "Greek". 31 July 2005. Accessed 22 April 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τυποποίησης [Ellīnikós Organismós Typopoíīsīs, "Hellenic Organization for Standardization"]. ΕΛΟΤ 743, 2η Έκδοση [ELOT 743, 2ī Ekdosī, "ELOT 743, 2nd ed."]. ELOT (Athens), 2001. (in Greek).
  9. ^ a b c d Department of Technical Co-operation for Development. "Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names: Montreal, 18—31 August 1987", Vol. I. "Report of the Conference", pp. 42–43. United Nations (New York), 1987.
  10. ^ Μπάμπης Κουτρούλης [Bámpīs Koutroúlīs, Babis G. Kutrulis]. Μετατροπή του ελληνικού αλφαβήτου με λατινικούς χαρακτήρες (ΕΛΟΤ 743) [Metatropī́ tou ellīnikoú alfavī́tou me latinikoús charaktī́res (ELOT 743), "Conversion of the Greek alphabet to Latin characters (ELOT 743)"]. Accessed 3 Oct 2014. 2008. (in Greek)
  11. ELOT 743 promulgated in 1982,[10] but since superseded within Greece by the 2001 second edition.[8]
  12. ^ a b c d United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Working Group on Romanization Systems. Report on the Current Status of United Nations Romanization Systems for Geographical Names: "Greek". United Nations (New York), 2003. Accessed 6 Oct 2014.
  13. ^ Μπάμπης Κουτρούλης [Bámpīs Koutroúlīs, Babis G. Kutrulis]. Μετατροπή του ελληνικού αλφαβήτου με λατινικούς χαρακτήρες (ΕΛΟΤ 743) Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine [Metatropī́ tou ellīnikoú alfavī́tou me latinikoús charaktī́res (ELOT 743), "Conversion of the Greek alphabet to Latin characters (ELOT 743)"]. Accessed 3 Oct 2014. 2008. (in Greek)
  14. ^ a b United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Romanization Systems and Policies Archived 2013-02-13 at the Wayback Machine: "Romanization System for Greek". 1996. Accessed 2 Oct 2014.
  15. ^ Jeffery, Lilian H. The local scripts of archaic Greece, p. 23. Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1961.
  16. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "ISO 843:1997 (Conversion of Greek characters into Latin characters)". 2010.
  17. ^ Συνήγορος του Πολίτη [Synī́goros tou Polítī, "The Greek Ombudsman".] "Λατινική γραφή κατά παρέκκλιση ΕΛΟΤ 743 στις ταυτότητες και τα διαβατήρια" [Latinikī́ grafī́ katá parékklisī ELOT 743 stis taftótītes kai ta diavatī́ria, "Latin Script Exceptions to ELOT 743 on Passports and ID Cards"]. Accessed 3 Oct 2014. (in Greek)
  18. ^ Hellenic National Passport Center. Press Releases: "Transliteration of the Passport Holder's Name in Latin Archived 2017-11-14 at the Wayback Machine". 12 Feb 2012. Accessed 3 Oct 2014. (in English)

External links