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You will need to learn every word with its spelling. There are some rules but they are not enough to explain why words are spelled the way they are; spelling is historic. Something you will see for example in the next lessons is that active voice verbs in the first person always end in -ω, like κάνω-to do, θέλω-to want. No exceptions.
The accent shows which syllable is stressed in a word and is the first thing a Greek ear pays attention to. They simply do not understand if the stress is wrong. If you ask for a "táxi" the Greeks think that you want law and order because τάξη is order and taxi is ταξί
Αccent is used
with all words which have more than one syllable if they are written in lower-case letters
with one-syllable question words to distinguish them from pronouns or conjunctions: πού/where, που/ that, who
with words written in capital letters when the stress is on the first letter
It is a good idea to learn the stress, orthography and gender (if a noun) together with every new word
I typed "hi and colour" which I thought would work? Or is hi considered different to hee for phonetics?
When you look at the hints shown under the words it's best to always choose the first one. The others might work in other contexts. So, here "hee" what's expected. Here are some links you might like: https://www.duolingo.com/topic/936
That is actually a really poor suggestion because we ought to be typing answers without looking at the hints if we can.
Hello. As a contributor, I would like to let you and all the other learners know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with looking at the hints. In fact, in many exercises, looking at the hints is the only way for a learner to be introduced to newly seen words. This is why the team is particularly careful and diligent with them, as we expect learners to look at them and learn from them. Besides, in many cases, looking at the hints can give you not only an idea of possible synonyms or constructions you may not have been aware of, but also warn you about what synonyms have been entered into the database so far, so that you avoid getting your answer marked wrong because of it.
Of course, trying to complete an exercise is a great way to test your memory, once you've gone through a lesson, if you wish, but in no means is looking at hints considered cheating on this platform.
Please note that I said "if we can." That means, after we have been through exercises or if we can make an educated guess based on what we already know, we shouldn't have to check the hints to see if an answer that is actually corrected has been added to the hints. If we get something wrong, that's a good way to learn. The problem comes in when we get something wrong that is actually right.
This skill is intended to familiarize the learner with the Greek alphabet, there is no set/authoritative formula for the English equivalent letter.
Read the other comments on this page to get some idea of which letters we equate with the Greek. This, in particular, should help: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/22040507
Chi the English name of the Greek letter Χ, χ, Greek name χει/ χι
Xi the Εnglish name of the Greek letter Ξ, ξ, Greek name ξει/ ξι
For some unknown reason Duo has rebaptized the letters. I find it bewildering
That is because "chi" in English sounds like the "ch*ildren", or "change" etc. The actual sound is closer the h**appy". There is no official designation for the transliteration of the Greek alphabet we tried to make the sounds as close to natural as possible.
I looked it up here:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet
Enzyclopaedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-alphabet
both use "chi" for χ. I cannot remember having seen "hee" in british or american scientific literature. Very common: "Chi-squared test."
sorry when I insist...
Perhaps I do not understand your policy. I thought, that I should write the translation of the asked character and not its approximate pronounciation..
The Britannica shows chi for Classical Greek and for Modern Greek...on the same site
**Χ χ khi kh approximate pronunciation Ger. Buch neither of which is what you hear in Greek.
The Greek letter and its pronunciation are quite simply that of the H as in "happy, and honey" And the letter sounds like "Hee" that's what we learn in school in Greece.
Thank you for your kind reply. "Xi" is the letter of the alphabet so there is no translation. We are trying to introduce the proper pronunciation for each letter.
Instead of Wikipedia which can be very unreliable or the Brittanica dictionary where you found the Classic Greek and not the Modern Greek try this which we have prepared for learners.
https://www.duolingo.com/comment/22040507
This includes other links you might find helpful.
There are standard names of the Greek letters which have been used for centuries in history, mathematics, ... everywhere: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet One can give the pronounciation separately.
These new names are bewildering, Who knows what the letter "hee" is? With "chi" there is a good chance. Try to google them
We have done a good deal of research for this course and have come up with numerous versions of the letters. There is no official version and using an incorrect one would be unfair.
Some, such as mathematic Π coming out as pie (the food), Β sounding like bayta, a very frequent one is Γ like W in "woman" etc that we have become accustomed to these does not make them right.
Very few courses on the internet are as full as Duo and we are aiming to make it also as correct.
>https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-alphabet
gives "chi" in the Classical Greek Alphabet
and on the same page for *
Modern Greek Alphabet*
it gives: **Χ χ khi kh approximate pronunciation Ger. Buch neither of which is what you hear in Greek.<
The Greek letter as pronounced by Greeks is quite simply as shown here:htttp://www.xanthi.ilsp.gr/filog/ch1/alphabet/alphabet.asp?vletter=22
https://forvo.com/search/%CF%87/ Try this to hear native speakers. Type in a variety of words with X just be sure it is Modern GReek.
Actually, they are correct in English. English pronunciation of the Greek alphabet is not the same as Greek pronunciation. Those are translations, not transliterations. Transliteration has no place in this course.
Jaye! Oxford Learner's dictionary gives chi the 22nd letter and xi the 14th letter of the Greek Alphabet and does not know the nouns 'hee' and 'xee'
As for Britannica it does not seem to be reliable. Greek numerals 6=ς'not ζ' as Britannica has, ξ' = 60 not 7, seven??? as Br. says.
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/xi?q=xi http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/chi?q=chi
If we're meant to translate the letters into what English uses to name those letters, we should use the standard names that others have posted. Otherwise, a pretty wide range should be allowed. In any case, it's not a useful exercise and should be removed entirely. Perhaps a matching exercise for letters to sounds would be more useful? Duolingo is notoriously terrible with transliteration. The Korean alphabet is even worse.
Before the sounds [ι] and [ε], the letter "χ" is pronounced like the German "ch" in "ich". So the transliteration "hee" is not acceptable. In other situations, the letter "χ" is articulated like "κ" but without stopping the flow of air. So it's neither the "h" of "happy" nor the "ch" of "loch" : even if these English sounds may seem close to the Greek sound, the articulation is different. Try with "χα χα" (= ha ha when laughing) saying "κα κα" first and then letting the air flow.
This is why transliteration is not useful - the letter doesn't have just one appropriate transliteration. It's context-dependent. Let's just learn the alphabet without having to try to write the sounds of letters in English, shall we?
"hi and color" was not accepted (03/30/19), but "hi" is often accepted as a translation for χι.
