Ahh, good question. That's because gamma, at least in modern greek, is pronounced like a soft 'g'. The difference between hard 'g' and the greek 'γ' is sort of similar to the difference between the Dutch guttural as pronounced in Utrecht versus the 'zachte g' found down south: the hard 'g', as pronounced in English, is analogous to the real throaty guttural, while the greek 'γ' is, on its own, more like the 'zachte g'. Does that analogy make sense?Kowalczyk schreef:I see. But the first letter in Γιαννης is a gamma, right? And there is no such thing as a G-sound in Yannis... (it's not 'Jannis' or 'Giannis' or something). Why does the G-sound disappear? (after that we'll revert to footie...)aveslacker schreef: However, because he is "our" Yannis, I used the familiar form, Γιαννης, which indicates affection and familiarity
K.
So putting the soft 'g' of the letter 'γ' next to a long vowel like 'ι' or diphthong like 'ει' makes an english 'y' sound, or something close to it.
In order to make the hard 'g' in Greek, you must put two gammas together, like Αγγελος, as in Αγγελος Χαριστεας, or Angelos Charisteas (to bring another Greek into the mix). And yes, this is also the same constuction used to create the english 'ng'. Incidentally, the greek 'χ' (chi) is pronounced like the Dutch 'zachte g'.
Make sense?
