Consonants Group 2: Fricatives and Others

This lesson covers the remaining eleven consonants: the fricatives, nasals, liquids, sibilant, and the three unique "double" consonants of Greek.

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Fricatives

Fricatives are sounds produced by forcing air through a narrow channel. Greek has four primary fricatives:

Letter	Name	Uppercase	Lowercase	Sound	Notes
Θ θ	Theta	Θ	θ	"th" as in "think" (voiceless)	NOT like Delta — Theta is voiceless
Φ φ	Phi	Φ	φ	"f" as in "fun"	In Ancient Greek, this was an aspirated "p"
Χ χ	Chi	Χ	χ	"ch" as in German "Bach" or Scottish "loch"	Before "e"/"i" sounds, it softens to "h" as in "hue"
Σ σ/ς	Sigma	Σ	σ (mid) / ς (final)	"s" as in "sun"	The only letter with two lowercase forms

Theta vs Delta — a key distinction:

  Θ θ = "th" as in "THINK"  (voiceless — no vibration in throat)
  Δ δ = "th" as in "THIS"   (voiced — throat vibrates)