1-A. List of the greek alphabet
It is important to understand correlation between greek and roman alphabet,
because transliteration from greek to roman alphabet, or vice versa, is helpful for understanding etymology of medical terminology.
| lower case | upper case | name | corresponding roman alphabet |
 |
A |
alpha | a |
 |
B |
beta | b |
 |
 |
gamma | g |
 |
 |
delta | d |
 |
E |
epsilon | e (short vowel) |
 |
Z |
zeta | z |
 |
H |
eta | e (long vowel) |
 |
 |
theta | th |
 |
I |
iota | i |
 |
K |
kappa | k |
 |
 |
lambda | l |
 |
M |
mu | m |
 |
N |
nu | n |
 |
 |
xi | ks, x |
 |
O |
omicron | o (short vowel) |
 |
 |
pi | p |
 |
P |
rho | r, rh* |
, ** |
 |
sigma | s |
 |
T |
tau | t |
 |
 |
upsilon | y |
 |
 |
phi | ph |
 |
X |
chi | ch |
 |
 |
psi | ps |
 |
 |
omega | o (long vowel) |
Notes:
*When
comes at the head of the word (e.g. 



, rheuma > rheumatism)
(see 1-D Accent, breathing)
**When sigma comes at the end of the word (e.g. 




, stenos > stenosis)

masasaki@iwate-med.ac.jp