English words of Greek origin are found largely in the fields of math and science. Just as the Latin-based words found today in English, many Greek-based words entered the British Isles during the Renaissance. Words of Greek origin continue being formed to fit the needs of new technology. Words like astronaut, megatechnics, and hydrosphere all depend on Greek word parts.

Greek-based words often consist of two parts of equal importance, for example, telescope (tele + scope), hemisphere (hemi + sphere), autograph (auto + graph), and polygon (poly + gon). The two word parts are usually called combining forms because they combine (or compound) to make a word. They may also be called roots. Suffixes are often added to the words as in hemispheric and autobiography or autobiographical.

Letter-sound Correspondences

While Greek-based words use letter-sound correspondences similar to words of Anglo-Saxon and Latin origin, there are some unique patterns. Take the word chlorophyll. English words of Greek origin often contain the “hard” ch (pronounced /k/), the ph (pronounced /f/), and the y pronounced as a short i.
The y often comes at the end of a syllable so gets the open long i sound as in hydrogen and cyclone.

Other patterns indicating the Greek origin include pn (pneumonia), rh (rhinoplasty), mn (mnemonic), pt (pterodactyl), and ps (psychology). Words beginning with x usually come from the Greek language such as xylophone and Xerxes. The pronunciation of x in this position is usually that of /z/.

Students read lists of Greek based words to pick out what is uniquely “Greek” in the words.

Syllable Patterns

Greek-based words are polysyllabic, containing at least two syllables. The most common syllable types in words of Greek origin are closed as in graph, gram and hem/i, and open as in hy/dro, mi/cro, and me/ter. Some Greek combining forms divide between two vowels. For example, the/o, bib/li/o, he/li/o, ma/ni/a, and pho/bi/a all have divisions between two vowels. Remember that dividing after a vowel forms an open syllable with a long vowel sound.

NOTE: The letter i before another vowel has the sound of long e. The same is true in suffixes such as ian (e.g., barbarian) and ium (e.g. auditorium).

Provide students with opportunities to discuss the unique letter-sound correspondences found in words of Greek origin. Have them count syllables and divide words into syllables as they begin reading Greek-based words.