TRANSLITERATING GREEK INTO ASCII TEXT
The following information is from the Biblical
Greek Mailing List (B-Greek). It represents the closest thing to a standard
for typing Greek words using only ASCII characters. I have made minor
corrections and stylistic improvements to this document.
The B-Greek transliteration scheme at a glance:
![]()
B-Greek has from the beginning allowed every poster to use any scheme he/she
found comfortable, since we all could usually figure out what text was meant.
For those who wish some guidance, a generally accepted scheme has evolved on the
List, with two or three matters still not fully settled.
(1) CAPITALS are used when transliterating Greek letters, on a one-to-one basis,
reserving lower-case {i} to represent iota-subscript and lower-case {h} to
represent rough breathing. No accents, no smooth breathings. And no distinction
between medial and final Sigma.
(2) If accents are really necessary, to distinguish otherwise identical words,
acute is represented by {/}, grave by {\}, and circumflex either by tilde {~
[preferable]} or {=}--always AFTER the vowel over which it would be written.
(3) A few characters without Roman single-character form are usually done with
almost-look-alike Roman characters otherwise unused:
Theta
= Q
Eta
= H
Psi
= Y (Upsilon is
always U)
Omega = W
(4) Digraphs (in the usual Roman transliteration) are handled in three different
ways to avoid two-letter transliterations, all involving otherwise-unused Roman
letters:
THeta
uses Q ("look-alike," as above).
PSi
uses Y ("look-alike,"
as above).
PHi
uses F (sound equivalence).
CHi
uses C (first letter of
traditional digraph).
(5) Xi and Chi: There being no single Roman letter for "Xi" other than
X, the "look-alike" use of X for "Chi" is confusing, though
some use it. And some seem to like to use C for "Sigma." Since S is
otherwise unused, and poses no confusion whatever, using C for "Sigma"
makes for problems in decoding back to Greek, especially since it is the only
letter available for "Chi" (unless X is used, thus posing a problem
for "Xi"). And occasionally someone uses P for "Rho,"
making problems for how to represent "Pi."
| Name | B-Greek | Traditional |
| Alpha | A | a |
| Beta | B | b |
| Gamma | G | g |
| Delta | D | d |
| Epsilon | E | e |
| Zeta | Z | z |
| Eta | H | ē |
| Theta | Q | th |
| Iota | I | i |
| Kappa | K | k |
| Lambda | L | l |
| Mu | M | m |
| Nu | N | n |
| Xi | X | x |
| Omicron | O | o |
| Pi | P | p |
| Rho | R | r |
| Sigma | S | s |
| Tau | T | t |
| Upsilon | U | y (not in diphthongs); u (in diphthongs |
| Phi | F | ph |
| Chi | C | ch |
| Psi | Y | ps |
| Omega | W | ō |
| rough breathing |
h | h |
| iota subscript |
(i) |