User:Gilgamesh~enwiki/Modern Greek transcription

This is a Latin alphabet transcription system for the Modern Greek language.

Background
Modern Greek spelling has mostly regular pronunciation, in that, if you know how the typical pronunciation rules for any given spelling, you can pronounce most words right just by guessing. However, a dilemma with Modern Greek is that, under the influence of Katharevousa in the 19th and 20th centuries, there have been some subtle phonemic splits. Before the introduction of Katharevousa, the common Greek speech, called Demotic (not to be confused with Dermotic ^_^), was essentially a heavily-evolved derivative of common ancient Greek, with a greater divergence of grammar and pronunciations. Katharevousa was a sort of compromise between Ancient and Modern Greek, attempting to purge the modern language of loanwords and retaining a more conservative ancient system of grammar adapted to modern pronunciation, but with pronunciations prescribed in a very highly articulated fashion.

Since formal Katharevousa was abandoned, the situation remains somewhat complicated—the modern formal language is now essentially reverted Demotic at its core, but having absorbed a multitude of words of prescribed pronunciation under the influence of Katharevousa. A result of this is that a given spelling could follow subtly different pronunciation rules, depending on whether (a) the word is of organic Demotic origin, (b) the word is of a Katharevousa-style origin with a prescribed pronunciation, or (c) the word is adapted from a foreign language and spelt in Greek as closely as the Greek writing system allows. As such, the Greek writing system no longer perfectly describes the nuances of pronunciation of every single given word at face value, without knowing the prescribed pronunciation of each word beforehand.

Most standard Latin alphabet transcription systems for Modern Greek are relatively simple, directly reflecting phoneme-by-phoneme how a Greek word is spelt, but not necessarily providing any more insight in how it is pronounced. The standard United Nations transcription system and the U.S. Board of Geographic Names transcription systems both reflect the Greek spellings, but provide no additional clue of exact refined pronunciation.

This new system I've developed attempts to bridge as many of these spelling-pronunciation gaps as possible, by allowing certain Greek spellings to be transcribed more than one different way, depending on their pronunciation, and to a lesser degree depending on their origin. The system also tries to take into account conservative preservations that are kept in certain regional dialects that may not be reflected in standard Modern Greek as it is spoken in Athens. An example of this are doubled consonants, which are preserved in Cyprus, but are no longer preserved in Athens.

Examples
Αγιά Σοφιά = Aghjá Sofjá Άγκυρα = Ángira Αδριανούπολη = Adhrianúpoli Αθήνα = Athína Αιγαίο = Eghéo Αίγινα = Éghina (Ézina) Αίγυπτος = Éghiptos Αιολίδα = Eolídha Αίτνη = Étni Αιτωλία = Etolía Ακαρνανία = Akarnanía Αλβανία = Alvanía Αλεξάνδρεια = Aleksándhria Αλικαρνασσός = Alikarnassós Ανατολή = Anatolí Αντιόχεια = Andiókhia Αργολίδα = Argholídha Αρμενία = Armenía Ασία = Asía Αττική = Attikí (Aticí) Αφρική = Afrikí Αχαγιά = Akhajá Αχαΐα = Akhaía Βιθυνία = Vithinía Βοιωτία = Viotía Βόσπορος = Vósporos Βουλγαρία = Vulgharía Βυζάντιο = Vizzándio Γυαλί = Jalí Γεωργία = Gheorghía Γεώργιος = Gheórghios (Jórjos) Δαμασκός = Dhamaskós Δαρδανέλλια = Dhardhanéllia Δελφοί = Dhelfí Δωδεκάνησα = Dhodhekánisa Ελλάδα = Elládha Ερμούπολη = Ermúpoli Ευαγγέλιο = Evangélio Εύβοια = Évvia Ευρώπη = Evrópi Έφεσος = Éfesos Ζάκυνθος = Zákinthos Ήπειρος = Ípiros Θεσσαλία = Thessalía Θεσσαλονίκη = Thessaloníki Θήβα = Thíva Θράκη = Thráki Ιεροσόλυμα = Ierosólima Ιθάκη = Itháki Ικόνιο = Ikónio Ίμβρος = Ímvros Ιόνια = Iónia Ιούλιος = Iúlios Ισραήλ = Izraíl Ιταλία = Italía Ιωάννινα = Ioánnina Ιωνία = Ionía Καππαδοκία = Kappadhokía Καρία = Karía Κατάνη = Katáni Κεφαλονιά = Kefalonjá Κερασούντα = Kerasúnda Κέρκυρα = Kérkira Κολχίδα = Kolkhídha Κόρινθος = Kórinthos Κρήτη = Kríti Κύθηρα = Kíthira (Chíthira) Κυκλάδες = Kikládhes (Cikládhes) Κύμη = Kími (Kúmi) Κύπρος = Kípros Κωνσταντίνος = Kostandínos Κωνσταντινούπολη = Kostandinúpoli Κως = Kos Λακωνία = Lakonía Λάρισα = Lárisa Λέσβος = Lézvos Λευκάδα = Lefkádha Λευκωσία = Lefkosía Λίβανος = Lívanos Μακεδονία = Makedhonía Μάνη = Máni (Mánji) Μαρμαρά = Marmará Μαυροβούνιο = Mavrovúnio Μέγαρα = Méghara Μεσσήνη = Messíni Μεσσηνία = Messinía Μήλος = Mílos Μύκονος = Míkonos Νάξος = Náksos Νάπολη = Nápoli Νίκαια = Níkea Παλαιστίνη = Palestíni Πάτρα = Pátra Πειραιάς = Pireás Πελοπόννησος = Pelopónnisos (Pelopónnjisos) Πόντος = Póndos Προύσα = Prúsa Ολυμπία = Olimbía Όλυμπος = Ólimbos Ρήγιο = Ríghio Ρόδος = Ródhos Ρώμη = Rómi Σαλαμίνα = Salamína Σαμψούντα = Sampsúnda Σαντορίνη = Sandoríni Σάρδεις = Sárdhis Σεβαστιανός = Sevastjanós Σερβία = Servía Σικελία = Sikelía Σινώπη = Sinópi Σμύρνη = Zmírni Σπάρτη = Spárti Συρία = Siría Τάραντας = Tárandas Τένεδος = Ténedhos Τουρκία = Turkía Τραπεζούντα = Trapezzúnda Τρίπολη = Trípoli Τροία = Tría Τρωάδα = Troádha Τσακωνιά = Cakonjá Φθιώτιδα = Fthiótidha Φώκαια = Fókea (Fócha) Χαλκηδόνα = Khalkidhóna Χαλκίδα = Khalkídha Χαλκιδική = Khalkidhikí Χανιά = Hanjá Χίος = Khíos