Template:grc-ipa-rows/documentation

The documentation below is preserved for historical reasons, in case an old revision of an Ancient Greek entry needs to be deciphered.

Usage
To embed Ancient Greek IPA into an Ancient Greek entry, use this template and add one or more arguments, where each argument is a token code, like so: And it looks like:

Each token code specifies an individual token template with this format, where   stands in for the actual code: Each token template will be embedded four times, one for each phonological period&mdash;Classical, Koine and Byzantine pronunciation&mdash;each like this, using   as the token code: This templating system is extremely useful but also requires a certain knowledge of Ancient and Modern Greek alike. It allows IPA to be embedded relatively easily and quickly into Ancient Greek entries in Wiktionary. The token system makes the pronunciations more consistent across articles and makes maintenance for us easier.

Vowels
The supported vowel token codes are: To represent the polytonic diacritic, append either  ,   or   to the code name. For example: Short vowels   should ideally not take   since Ancient Greek doesn't support the circumflex tone over short vowels. Using   (though they work) is discouraged and any one of   should be used instead as appropriate.

The light breathing diacritic (such as ἀ from α) is silent and no token is assigned to it. For the heavy breathing diacritic (such as ἁ from α), use a separate token   before the vowel token, like so:

  are supported aliases for  . However, there are no aliases like  for  , so do not use those.

Word-final αι οι are always short, so use   for those occasions. Likewise, for Koine-era words where a loaned ου is not intended to be a long vowel, use  . The irregular unstressed final-syllable diphthong εω is represented by  .

Consonants
These token codes can be used for the consonants:

and  actually indicate the same pronunciation in all phonological periods, and   simply redirects to.

does not represent the modern spelling ζζ, but instead it represents ζ as pronounced between vowels in the Koine period. For ζζ σζ etc., use.

The κ-prefixed token codes are specifically useful for Ancient Greek words that begin with the prefix ἐκ-. If they are in the table above, use them. If not, just use  as a separate token before the consonant that follows.

In general, any combinations of δ θ τ before σ or ζ are silenced in the Classical period, and treated as if there is nothing between σ/ζ and what comes before. The tokens  and   represent τσ and τζ. In the Classical period, τ is not pronounced before σ or ζ, and is suppressed in the tokens for that period, but they are not silenced in Koine onwards. The additional templates  and   (note the parentheses in the token code) should always be used before σ ζ τσ τζ etc., as they are silenced in the Classical period but not since Koine.

The tokens  (note again the parentheses as part of the token code) should be used when ν or μ occur before σ ζ θσ δσ etc. In these situations in Classical pronunciation, the ν or μ is silenced and lengthens the preceding vowel if it is not already long. should be used only and always after short vowels, ᾰ ε ῐ ο ῠ, and Classical IPA will indicate that the preceding vowel is pronounced long. elsewhere. The shorthand tokens  should be used for νσ νζ ντσ ντζ in the same circumstances.

Fortunately, the special tokens described in the previous two paragraphs are seldom needed because Ancient Greek spelling did not typically allow for δ θ μ ν τ before σ ζ, with the exception of many transcribed Hebrew names, certain names of Latin origin (such as Κωνσταντῖνος), and only a handful of native Greek exceptions (such as Τίρυνς).

The token  should always be used before , to indicate its voiced pronunciation. are also available for the same purpose.

Even Ancient Greek words pronounced by modern people in Greece and Cyprus are subject to at least some of the rules of Modern Greek sandhi, including palatalization of γ κ χ before the modern front vowels αι ε ει ευ η ηυ ι οι υ υι. For any of the token codes that end with, always change the ending to corresponding   before   (the codes that correspond to the modern Greek front vowels). Palatalization should not happen before, the codes that correspond to the modern Greek back vowels.

αυ ευ ηυ
Special rules govern the pronunciation of these three diphthongs that affect the contemporary pronunciations of Classical Greek since the Koine period. Before vowels or voiced consonants and not at the end of a word, the normal tokens   can be used. But before voiceless consonants and at the end of a word, variant forms   should always be used, to indicate that, since the Koine period, the υ of these diphthongs are pronounced as a voiceless consonant. (Since the Byzantine period, the normal (voiced) υ is pronounced, while the voiceless υ is pronounced .)

Furthermore, the modern absence of doubled consonants in the pronunciation of many modern Greek regions also effects the pronunciations of these diphthongs before β and φ. For example, since Greek mainland speech does not geminate doubled consonants, the υ in these situations is actually completely silent. However, in Cyprus, where doubled consonants are still geminated, the υ with β and φ are pronounced and. The tokens   are available for these cases.

All these additional tokens can still take diacritics, so that   etc. all work as expected.