Chapter 3. Diphthongs

Pronouncing diphthongs

1. A diphthong consists of two vowels that produce but one sound. The second vowel is always an i or an u. They are pronounced as follows. [The diphthong wu is used in Classical Greek, but occurs in the New Testament only in the name MwushV where there is always a diaeresis indicating that it is not a diphthong.]

ai as in aisle	ai[rw
ei as in eight	eij
oi as in oil	oijkiva
au as in sauerkraut	aujtovV
ou as in soup	oujdev
ui as in suite	uiJovV
eu, hu as in feud	eujquvV or hu[xanen. Some suggest that the pronunciation of hu is the same as saying "hey you" if you run the words together.
ui and hu are less common than the others.

2. An improper diphthong is made up of a vowel and an iota subscript. An iota subscript is a small iota written under the vowels a, h, or w (a/, h/, w/) and normally is the last letter in a word. This iota has no effect on the pronunciation but is essential for translation, so pay close attention to it.

a/ w{ra/

h/ grafh:/

w/ lovgw/

3. If a word begins with a diphthong, the breathing mark is placed over the second vowel of the diphthong (aijtevw).

If a capitalized word begins with a diphthong, the breathing mark is still over the second vowel (Aijtevw).

If the word begins with two vowels that do not form a diphthong, the breathing mark stands in front of the capital ( =Ihsou:V).

4. In some words we find two vowels that normally form a diphthong, but in this case do not. To show that these two vowels are pronounced as two separate sounds, a diaeresis is placed over the second vowel . A diaeresis is two small dots. The ai normally forms a diphthong, but in this word the diaeresis indicates that it forms two separate sounds: =H sa i& aV. Cf. naïve in English.