Greek Orthography/ Spelling rules. Omikron or Omega? Lesson 25.

Greek Orthography/ Spelling rules. Omikron or Omega?

Lesson 25.

                One of the most difficult things for the Greek language learners is the correct

                spelling of the words. Six different vowels to write the sound «i», two different

                vowels to write the sound «e» and two vowels to write the sound «ο». Even

                for the majority of the native speakers it is difficult to write correct all the greek

                words.

Nevertheless, even if you have to memorize some words, there are some grammar

rules and I will try to concentrate them for you.

We will start with the sound “o”. We can write this sound with two different vowels,

omicron and omega. In the ancient greek language their pronunciation was

different. O-mikron (μικρός=short, small) means short o, and o-mega (μέγας= big,

long, great) means long o. Today we pronounce both of them with the same way,

like short o. Let’s see the rules:

1.       The active verbs in Present tense and in Future tenses in first singular person

end in omega: παίζω, γράφω. Ιt is the easiest way, when we have a word without personal pronouns or articles, to understand if it is a verb or a noun.

2.       The verbs ending in –ono have also omega in the second from the end syllable

and they maintain it in all persons and tenses. (ανακυκλώνω, ανακύκλωσα,

ανακύκλωνα, θα ανακυκλώσω, θα ανακυκλώνω, έχω ανακυκλώσει, είχα

ανακυκλώσει, θα έχω ανακυκλώσει).

3.       Τhe Present active participle’s ending is –ontas.

Ο Γιώργος πήγε στο σχολείο τραγουδώντας.

Ο Γιώργος πήγε στο σχολείο κλαίγοντας.

When do we write the ending’s “o” with omikron and when do we write it with

omega? When the ending’s “o” is stressed, it is written with omega, when it

is not stressed, it is written with omikron.  

4.       The neutral nouns ending in –o are written with omikron: βιβλίο, αυτοκίνητο,

τηλέφωνο.

5.       Τhe masculine and neutral definite article in all cases in Singular is written with

omikron. In Plural we have the sound “o” only in Genitive (των). This article is

same for masculine, feminine and neutral and it is always written with omega.

6.       As the definite article in Genitive Plural is same in all genders and it is always written with omega, the following noun’s ending too is written with omega:

των εβδομάδων (feminine noun), των ανθρώπων (masculine noun), των

σπιτιών (neutral noun).

7.       The local adverbs ending in “o” are written with omega.

εδώ: here, έξω: outside, κάτω: down, πάνω: up, πίσω: behind/ back,

γύρω: around/ about, τριγύρω: all around.

8.       The local adverbs, the adverbs of manner and the adverbs of time ending

in –os are written with omega.

καλώς: well, τελείως: completely/utterly, απλώς: simply/ merely, ασφαλώς:

safely/ certainly, ευτυχώς: fortunately/ luckily, δυστυχώς: unfortunately,

νοτίως: southwards, βορείως: northwards, συνήθως: usually, σπανίως:

rarely/seldom, αμέσως: immediately/right away.