# Is there an alphabet song for Greek? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282 "2008-09-12T15:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/1 "2008-09-12T15:30:39Z")
Is there an [alphabet song](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_song) for the Greek alphabet (either as the Greeks pronounce the letters, or as the letters are pronounced in English)? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/2 "2016-04-01T10:40:33Z")
OK, board rules entitle me to one bump per unanswered thread, so I think I’ve waited long enough… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/3 "2016-04-01T10:48:49Z")
I don’t know, sorry. I’d like to know the answer too. All I can tell you is I set the Arabic alphabet to the conventional song melody to teach my kids, and found that the 28 letters of Arabic fit the tune better than the Latin 26. The song has 4 phrases, with 7 notes per phrase, so it fits Arabic like a glove. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/4 "2016-04-01T11:01:28Z")
[There are a few](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=greek+alphabet+song), courtesy of Youtube. Many are by college students trying to learn the Greek alphabet for fraternity/sorority purposes. Not sure if there is a standard one taught to Greek children. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/5 "2016-04-01T11:42:51Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I don’t know, sorry. I’d like to know the answer too. All I can tell you is I set the Arabic alphabet to the conventional song melody to teach my kids, and found that the 28 letters of Arabic fit the tune better than the Latin 26. The song has 4 phrases, with 7 notes per phrase, so it fits Arabic like a glove. The names of Arabic letters are all monosyllabic? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/6 "2016-04-01T11:50:44Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The names of Arabic letters are all monosyllabic? All except the first one, alif. That fits into a couple of eighth notes instead of one quarter note. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/7 "2016-04-01T12:02:37Z")
Neat, thank you. One of the reasons it’s hard to fit the Spanish alphabet into that “alphabet song” is the added letter, but another is that we use a lot more syllables… ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/8 "2016-04-01T17:10:47Z")
My Greek colleague says he knows of no such song that was taught when he was a child. He doesn’t know if there is one now. He has no children and has lived outside of Greece for more than 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/9 "2016-04-01T17:20:43Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > OK, board rules entitle me to one bump per unanswered thread, so I think I’ve waited long enough… Not very patient, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/10 "2016-04-01T17:38:19Z")
I learned the Greek alphabet with the following lyrics squeezed into the tune of the English alphabet song: Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta; Eta-theta-iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu. Xi, omicron; pi, rho, sigma; Tau, upsilon; phi-chi-psi, omega. οἶδα νῦν τά γράμματα: τοῖς θεοὶς ἡ ἑκᾰτόμβη ἔστω! (“Now I know the characters: let there be a hundred-oxen thank-offering to the gods!”) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/11 "2016-04-01T20:26:58Z")
I learned them in these groups: Alpha beta gamma delta Epsilon zeta eta theta Iota kappa lambda mu Nu xi omicron Pi rho sigma tau Phi chi psi omega. I’ts not consistently metric, but each of the six phrases were easy. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/12 "2016-04-02T03:50:57Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I don’t know, sorry. I’d like to know the answer too. All I can tell you is I set the Arabic alphabet to the conventional song melody to teach my kids, and found that the 28 letters of Arabic fit the tune better than the Latin 26. The song has 4 phrases, with 7 notes per phrase, so it fits Arabic like a glove. I had a teach-yourself-Hebrew once, that seemed to be addressed to a younger audience, that showed a Hebrew alef-bet song, set to the same tune as the conventional English song (which, of course, is the same tune as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”). I only followed it about halfway through until it seemed to break down. I suspect it ended up fitting about as well as the English song, which is to say, poorly. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Room](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_room/32/5069_2.png) [@Little\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Room)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/13 "2016-04-02T05:14:42Z")
As much as I sing the alphabet song in my head when I need to orient myself in the alphabet…I don’t know how others get by without one 😛 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/14 "2016-04-02T13:31:11Z")
[QUOTE=Senegoid;19’228252] I suspect it ended up fitting about as well as the English song, which is to say, poorly. [/QUOTE] If the objection is the “elemenohpee” run, if you don’t mind it not rhyming, you can actually make the letters fit the tune more neatly if you break the lines ABCDEFG \* HIJKLMN \* OPQ \* RST \* UVWXYZ." That said, it’s too far engrained in culture and, besides, I like that “elemenohpee” run. Gives the song some rhythmic variation. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/15 "2016-04-02T14:51:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > If the objection is the “elemenohpee” run, if you don’t mind it not rhyming, you can actually make the letters fit the tune more neatly if you break the lines ABCDEFG \* HIJKLMN \* OPQ \* RST \* UVWXYZ." That said, it’s too far engrained in culture and, besides, I like that “elemenohpee” run. Gives the song some rhythmic variation. Besides, elemenopy is the study of the alphabet. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/16 "2016-04-02T23:42:36Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Besides, elemenopy is the study of the alphabet. In case anyone hasn’t noticed yet, [**Elemenopy**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) is also a poster on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Shaggy\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Shaggy\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shaggy_Z)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/17 "2016-04-03T01:03:37Z")
I learned it to the tune of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” with a few filler words thrown in to make it fit. Alpha beta gamma delta epsilon and zeta too. Eta theta iota kappa lambda mu and nu and xi. Omicron and pi and rho and sigma tau and upsilon. Phi chi psi omega. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-alphabet-song-for-greek/463282/18 "2016-04-04T07:13:24Z")
> [@Shaggy\_Z](#): > > I learned it to the tune of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” with a few filler words thrown in to make it fit. > > Alpha beta gamma delta epsilon and zeta too. > Eta theta iota kappa lambda mu and nu and xi. > Omicron and pi and rho and sigma tau and upsilon. > Phi chi psi omega. It took me a bit to get that to work. Start with Alpha replacing the “mine” of “Mine Eyes.” And then make sure to start the next line before the downbeat. And I like how you set up “too” in the first line to make you think you’d rhyme with mu or nu, but then it’s Xi. The same letter that gets in my way whenever I try to push the song into the traditional alphabet song. “Mu no omicron” fits perfectly with L-M-N-O-P.