path: root/doc/greektrans.txt

                TRANSLITERATING GREEK into ASCII

     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".

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               Usual in            Traditional
               B-Greek             (uses macrons and digraphs)


alpha              A                    a
beta               B                    b
gamma              G                    g
delta              D                    d
epsilon            E                    e
zeta               Z                    z
eta                H                    e with macron
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                    u
phi                F                    ph
chi                C                    ch
psi                Y                    ps
omega              W                    o with macron

rough breathing    h                    h
iota-subscript     i                   (i)