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Greek Accent

Part of learning how to read and write Greek properly is becoming familiar with not only the letters, but also with the Greek accentuation. In written Greek, that stressed syllable is indicated by placing one mark above the vowel of that syllable. This mark is the acute (´).

I. Basic Terminology

When studying Greek, you will likely encounter the following terms, which will help you understand where and how the accent is applied:

  • The last three syllables of a Greek word are called ultima (last), penult (second to last), and antepenult (third to last).
  • Oxytone is a word that has an acute on the ultima.
  • Paroxytone is a word that has an acute on the penult.
  • Proparoxytone is a word that has an acute on the antepenult.
  • A word with only one syllable is called monosyllabic.
  • A word with two syllables is called disyllabic.
  • A word with three syllables is called trisyllabic
  • A word with more than three syllables is called polysyllabic.

II. The Accent Rules

- Only one of the the last three syllables of a Greek word may be stressed. This is also known as the Antepenult Rule.

- Although the above rule is true, there are certain monosyllabic words that lose their stress when pronounced after a proparoxytone word. The proparoxytone word then gets an extra accent to the ultima (when written) and as a result, it is closely pronounced with the monosyllabic word that follows.

- Monosyllabic words don’t get an accent mark in written speech. There are, however, very few words that are an exception to this rule.

Learning to place the accent mark correctly on Greek words should be a component of any Greek lesson that you take. Many people learning Greek find that hearing native speakers can help them tremendously with that. You can immerse yourself in the language by listening to Greek podcasts or finding opportunities to communicate with speakers. This will get you accustomed to the pace at which the language is naturally spoken and it will help you develop your Greek pronunciation, so that you can communicate in the language more authentically.