Is there a shorthand way of pronouncing Greek abbreviations?

[andytheo]

Hi all

Can someone tell me whether there is a short hand way of pronouncing abbreviations in Greek?

I ask because the names of Greek letters are relatively long (eg many have 3-syllable names). What do yuo do with abbrevaitions like OKTYΓY that can't be pronounced as a word (ie not an acronym).

Thanks in advance

Andreas

[spiros]

OKTYΓY can be pronounced οκτυγύ. I do not see a problem with that. When it comes to consonant-based acronyms you can spell the letters, i.e. Δ.Σ. (Δέλτα Σίγμα / Δου Σου). The latter way is more informal.

— Ελληνικά αρκτικόλεξα και ακρώνυμα υπό το πρίσμα των σύγχρονων επικοινωνιακών αναγκών (Κώστας Βαλεοντής)
— Κατασκευή βάσης δεδομένων ελληνικών ακρωνυμίων σε ελληνικά νομικά κείμενα (Τσιμπούρης Χαράλαμπος, Κυριάκος Σγάρμπας)
— Προφορά ελληνικών αρκτικόλεξων και ακρωνυμίων
— Γλωσσάρι με τονισμό ακρωνυμίων
— αρκτικόλεξο vs ακρωνύμιο

[Kennedy]

Is there a rule of thumb, though, for acronyms, that says how to pronounce them? When I saw ΕΥΔΑΠ for the first time I read it as "εβδάπ", but then I heard Greeks pronounce it as "εουδάπ". How would I know? :-/

[spiros]

In fact is it pronounced "εϋδάπ" /eiδap/.

Some common abbreviations have an apparently deviant pronunciation for a certain reason. I.e. in this case the full acronym expands as Εταιρεία ΎΔρευσης και ΑΠοχέτευσης.

Does it make sense now?

[Kennedy]

Oh, that definitely helps! Thanks a lot, Spiro! : D

[andytheo]

OKTYΓY can be pronounced οκτυγύ. I do not see a problem with that. When it comes to consonant-based acronyms you can spell the letters, i.e. Δ.Σ. (Δέλτα Σίγμα / Δου Σου). The latter way is more informal.

OKTYΓY was a crap example but you understood what I was talking about Spiro!

So would Δ and Σ always be pronounced Δου and Σου. What about other letters?

Andreas

[spiros]

I thought what I said was clear:

When it comes to consonant-based acronyms you can spell the letters, i.e. Δ.Σ. (Δέλτα Σίγμα / Δου Σου). The latter way is more informal.

Hence, the formal way is the former.

[banned8]

The "ου" sound is the (very) informal vowel sound to accompany any consonant in abbreviations (not acronyms). I think the best example is ΚΚΕ (the Greek Communist Party), officially pronounced kappa-kappa-epsilon, and informally "kou-kou-e" (το κόμμα σου, λαέ). Similarly, ΚΚΣΕ (the Soviet Communist Party) was known as "kou-kou-se".

Jocularly, κ.λπ., instead of being read out as "και τα λοιπά", may become "κου-λου-που-κου-λου-που".

I may rise to the challenge of trying to formulate a rule of how acronyms are pronounced, but it'll have to wait.

[andytheo]

Hi Spiro

It's not clear from your answer whether these are the sounds that are only used for these letters, ie would they be understood by everyone. Also, it's not clear what the sounds are for other letters.

I suppose my question is this: is there a systemetic, albeit informal or jocular (and I would like to know which), way of prononuncing abbreviations (not acronyms, which by definition are abbreviations that can be read out as words).

In other alphabets, the names of letters are very short, ussually one syllable. In Greek, they are often three syllables. I find it hard to believe that there isn't a shorthand systematic way of pronouncing letters like epsilion, omicron, ypsilon, kappa, sigma, omega, etc.

Nickel - you indicate that for consonants, you add -ou systematically and that the register is v informal. I would like to know the rules if you have the time to explain.


Andreas