Greek Cataloging Manual

2010 new & revised

Vernacular	Romanization	Vernacular	Romanization
Upper case letters		Lower case letters
Α	A	α	a
Β	B (Ancient and Medieval) V in Modern Greek;	β	b (Ancient and Medieval)
Γ	G	γ γγ γκ γξ γχ	g ng gk (initially and finally)* nk (medially) nx nch
Δ	D	δ	d
Ε	E	ε	e
Ζ	Z	ζ	z
Η	Ē	η	ē
Θ	Th	θ	th
Ι	I	ι	i
Κ	K	κ	k
Λ	L	λ	l
Μ	M	μ	m
Μπ (initial only)*	B	μπ	b (initially) mp (medially and finally)
N	N	ν	n
Ντ (initial only)*	D	ντ	d (initially) nt (medially and finally)
Ξ	X	ξ	x
Ο	O	ο	o
Π	P	π	p
Ρ	R	ρ	r
‘ Ρ	Rh (see Breathing Marks)	‘ p	rh (see Breathing Marks)
Σ, C	S	σ, c, ς (final)	s
Τ	T	τ	t
Υ	Y	υ	y (u in dipthongs αυ, ευ, ηυ, ου, θι, and ωυ)*
Φ	Ph	φ	ph
X	Ch	χ	ch
Ψ	Ps	ψ	ps
Ω	Ō	ω	ō

CATalog Note

For the purposes of this table, texts written before 1454 are considered Ancient or Medieval Greek, and texts written after 1453 are considered Modern Greek

The table presented here is the new revised version accepted by ALA/ Library of Congress in 2010: it is the romanization scheme followed by Princeton. The present form is the product of lengthy consultation and review by the Greek librarian community. The major polemic lay in the retention or elimination of the romanized dasia (romanized as the letter h when preceding vowels, and diphthongs [for more, see Breathing Marks) which is no longer printed in Modern Greek monotonic publications. The Library of Congress proposed the elimination of the romanized h in an effort to streamline and create a globally uniform romanization scheme. After collaborative consideration, the idea of eliminating the romanized h was dropped, given the widespread retrospective conversion throughout library catalogs that would have been needed to incorporate the change. The history of the 2004 proposal to change the romanization table and arguments against its implementation can be viewed here, background; a comparison of romanization systems and examples of their use can be viewed here, table.