Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Greek)

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This page is a naming conventions guideline for Wikipedia, reflecting how authors of this encyclopedia address certain issues. This guideline is intended to help you improve Wikipedia content. Feel free to update this page as needed, but please use the discussion page to propose major changes.

Shortcut: WP:GREEK

This is a policy in development for a consistent transcription of Greek names and terms. As with all Wikipedia naming conventions, particularly common uses take precedence over standard rules - so the Classical post of Strategos (Στρατήγος) is not spelled 'Strategus'. Note that this page is for Wikipedia's policy, as opposed to the encyclopedic page, which may nevertheless be useful to readers.

Contents 1 Ancient Greek 1.1 Vowel clusters 1.2 Equivalence changes 1.2.1 Nouns 2 Modern Greek (Koine Greek) 2.1 Alphabet 2.2 Vowel clusters 2.3 Consonant clusters 2.4 Diacritics 3 Words occurring in both Modern and Ancient Greek

[edit] Ancient Greek

The normal English practice is to use the Roman standard, rather than attempting a phonetic transcription. To compensate for this, articles should, wherever possible, include an IPA equivalent. Under normal circumstances, this will be for the pronunciation in 5th century Athens, however articles about Spartans may use a Doric. Please do not attempt to give IPA entries unless you are reasonably sure thay are not anachronistic - using Modern or Koine Greek pronunciation of Classical Greek names will serve only to confuse.

Some names have significantly different variations as used by Roman authors, and these should be avoided where there a more accurate Greek version can be used, e.g. Odysseus, not "Ulixes". Heracles and Hercules would normally be one article, Heracles, following the original. However, Roman mythology portrays a rather different character, so the articles are separate.

The Roman standard is as follows:

Greek	English
α	a
β	b
γ	g, n before γ,κ,ξ,χ
δ	d
ε	e
ζ	z
η	e
θ	th
ι	i
κ	c
λ	l
μ	m
ν	n
ξ	x
ο	o
π	p
ρ	r, rh initially
σ	s
τ	t
υ	y
φ	ph
χ	ch
ψ	ps
ω	o

Initial rough breathings should be included as h.

[edit] Vowel clusters

Greek	English
αι	ae
ᾳ	a
ει	variable: to be discussed
ῃ	e
οι	oe
ῳ	o
αυ	au
ευ	eu
ηυ	eu
ου	u
αη	aë
ωη	oë

Other vowel clusters are unaffected (e.g. Thyestes for Θυεστής) Any vowel with a diaeresis in Greek is given a diaeresis in English.

[edit] Equivalence changes

Greek morphology with Latin equivalents are also adjusted. Conventional names often ignore regular endings, so Plutarch, for 'Plutarchus', but Aristarchus, not 'Aristarch'.

[edit] Nouns

These deal only with nominative forms unless indicated.

Greek	English
-η (feminine)	-a
-η (neuter)	-e
-αι	-ae
-ος	-us
-ρος	-er (usually)
-οι	-i
-ων	-o (usually)
-ων (genitive plural)	-on (e.g. Σατυρίκων for the Satyricon)

[edit] Modern Greek (Koine Greek)

[edit] Alphabet

Modern Greek personal names should always be transliterated according to the preference of the owner, should they express one; otherwise, they follow the standard rules as follows, except when a different name is commonly used in English (e.g. "Athens", "Crete", "Corfu"). See also Transliteration of Greek to the Latin alphabet.

Specifically, the Koine Greek in the table represents the New Testament Koine Greek, deriving from a dialect spoken in 1st-century Iudaea and Galilaea, assumed to be similar to the dialect in Alexandria.

Greek	English	IPA	Judean Koine
α	a	a	(ɑ)
β	v	v	(β)
γ	g, n (before γ, ξ, κ)	ɣ, ŋ, j	(ɣ, ʝ)
δ	d	ð, d	(d)
ε	e	e	(ɛ)
ζ	z	z	(zː)
η	i	i	(e)
θ	th	θ	(tʰ)
ι	i	i
κ	k	k
λ	l	l
μ	m	m
ν	n	n
ξ	x	ks
ο	o	o
π	p	p
ρ	r	r	(ʁ)
σ	s	s, z
τ	t	t
υ	y	i	(y)
φ	f	f	(pʰ)
χ	ch	x, ç	(kʰ)
ψ	ps	ps
ω	o	o

[edit] Vowel clusters

Note: an accent on the first vowel, or a diaeresis on the second vowel, indicates that the two vowels are pronounced separately. Examples: Οινόη, Χαϊδάρι.

Greek	English	IPA	Judean Koine
αι	ai	e	(ɛ)
ει	ei	i
οι	oi	i	(y)
αυ	av, af (before θ, κ, ξ, π, σ, τ, φ, χ, ψ, and at end)	av, af	(ɑw)
ευ	ev, ef (before θ, κ, ξ, π, σ, τ, φ, χ, ψ, and at end)	ev, ef	(ɛw)
ηυ	iv, if (before θ, κ, ξ, π, σ, τ, φ, χ, ψ, and at end)	iv, if	(ew)
ου	ou	u
αη	ai
ωη	oi

[edit] Consonant clusters

Greek	English
γκ	g (at beginning), gk (in middle)
μπ	b (at beginning), mp (in middle)
ντ	nt

[edit] Diacritics

Modern Greek uses two diacritics: the acute accent (indicating stress) and the diaeresis (indicating that two consecutive vowels should not be combined). In some transliteration systems these are kept, but this is certainly not common practice. No diacritics should be used in Wikipedia article titles.

[edit] Words occurring in both Modern and Ancient Greek

This is particularly relevant to place names. The page Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names) should be consulted first.

If the article concerns a concept that is significant in the Hellenistic period or before (i.e. would merit its own article even if the modern concept did not), use the archaic spelling. If the article concerns a modern concept merely derived from an ancient word, use the modern version. If a modern word whose meaning has no overlap with the ancient word from which it derives, create two articles, but consider including a disambiguation message at the top of each page.