Breathings

Consonants

Vowels

Note on ου: In classical Attic this was a single sound (monophthong) written with two letters (digraph). In some words this long vowel derived from a true diphthong, always spelled ΟΥ in the old Attic alphabet (genuine diphthong). In some other words this vowel resulted from the process of contraction (as in the genitive ending -ους from -εος) or compensatory lengthening (as in the accusative ending -ους from *-ονς), and was spelled Ο in the old Attic alphabet (spurious diphthong). The distinction between spurious and genuine is important for interpreting inscriptions and for understanding some contracts in Attic inflections.