Old and polytonic Greek
until the 1982 reform · Greek church registers, island records, inscriptions
Alphabet
The letters as they are drawn. Compare them with the record: it is the shape that counts, not the size.
ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ
αβγδεζηθικλμνξοπρςστυφχψω
ἀἁάὰᾶ
ᾳῃῳ
Reading traps
| What you think you see | What it may be | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|---|
| σ | ς · ϲ | Sigma is written ς at the end of a word, σ elsewhere, and ϲ (lunate) in manuscripts. Three shapes of a single letter. |
| η | ν · ι | In a written minuscule, η, ν and ι shrink to a single stroke. The length of the descender decides. |
| θ | ο · ω | θ, ο and ω are three rounds; the θ carries an inner bar, the ω opens at the top. |
| γ | τ · υ | γ drops below the line, τ does not. υ looks like a rounded γ and stays on the line. |
| β | μ | The written β closes into two bowls; the μ drops one stroke on the left. |
| ἀ | ἁ | The smooth breathing (ἀ) and the rough breathing (ἁ) differ by which way the comma faces. The rough one adds an h to the sound. |
Ligatures and vanished letters
| ς | reads σ | final sigma; the same letter as σ |
| ᾳ | reads αι | iota subscript: the vowel stands for a diphthong |
| ῃ | reads ηι | iota subscript: the vowel stands for a diphthong |
| ῳ | reads ωι | iota subscript: the vowel stands for a diphthong |
| ϗ | reads καί | abbreviation of “and”, very frequent in registers |
Write it to compare
Type a name you think you recognize: it appears in this script, to be set against the strokes in front of you.
Decoder
Type what you think you read, in today's letters. The decoder offers the neighbouring readings — one substitution at a time, because two stacked guesses can no longer be checked.
Everything is computed in your browser: no name you look up in a record leaves your device. The fonts are free (SIL Open Font License, or GPL with font exception) and served by Geneacta, never by a third party.