Upcasing.md

Rules for processing Greek capitalization: Accents and Dialytika

NOTE: the following is only about monotonic Greek.

When writing Greek in all uppercase letters (e.g., for titles, signs, or emphasis), there are a few key orthographic rules to follow, particularly concerning accents (τόνοι) and the dialytika (διαλυτικά - the two dots placed horizontally above a vowel, like an umlaut).

Rule 1: Remove Accents (Τόνοι)

The simplest rule is that all accents (τόνοι) are removed when a word is written in uppercase.

• Modern Greek uses a single accent mark (τόνος), which can appear on one of the last three syllables of a word.

Examples:

• άνθρωπος becomes ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ
• Ελλάδα becomes ΕΛΛΑΔΑ
• τραπέζι becomes ΤΡΑΠΕΖΙ

Exception: the disjoint preposition ή (a single-letter word) keeps the accent and becomes Ή.

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Rule 2: Keep Dialytika (Διαλυτικά)

The dialytika ( ¨ ) is used over an iota (ι) or upsilon (υ) to indicate that it should be pronounced as a separate vowel sound, rather than forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel.

If a lowercase word already has a dialytika on an ι or υ, that dialytika is kept when the word is capitalized.

Examples:

• γαϊδούρι (ga-i-doúri) becomes ΓΑΪΔΟΥΡΙ
• προϋπόθεση (pro-y-póthesi) becomes ΠΡΟΫΠΟΘΕΣΗ

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Rule 3: Add Dialytika, due to the removal of accents

Crucially, dialytika MUST BE ADDED to an uppercase Iota (Ι) or Upsilon (Υ) if:

1. it is preceded by another vowel (Α, Ε, Η, Ο, Ω); AND
2. in the lowercase form, these two vowels were pronounced separately (i.e., did not form a diphthong), because the preceding vowel was accented; AND
3. without the dialytika in uppercase, the vowel pair would misleadingly look like a standard diphthong (e.g., ΑΙ, ΕΙ, ΟΙ, ΑΥ, ΕΥ, ΟΥ).

The purpose of adding the dialytika in such cases is to preserve the correct pronunciation by preventing the vowels from being read as a single diphthong sound after the accent (which originally separated them) has been removed.

Examples:

• τσάι (tsá-i - tea): The accent on ά separates it from ι. In uppercase: ΤΣΑΪ. (Without dialytika, ΤΣΑΙ would look like the diphthong /e/).
• Μάιος (Má-ios - May): The accent on ά separates it from ι. In uppercase: ΜΑΪΟΣ.
• νεράιδα (nerá-i-da - fairy): The accent on ά separates it from ι. In uppercase: ΝΕΡΑΪΔΑ.

Note that regular diphthongs in lowercase do not require adding dialytika in uppercase.

Examples:

• Αιγαίο becomes ΑΙΓΑΙΟ (ΑΙ is a diphthong)
• Ευρώπη becomes ΕΥΡΩΠΗ (ΕΥ is a diphthong)
• αυτοκίνητο becomes ΑΥΤΟΚΙΝΗΤΟ (ΑΥ is a diphthong)

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Summary of Dialytika on Uppercase Ι/Υ

• If lowercase has αϊ, εϊ, ηϊ, οϊ, ωϊ, υϊ or αϋ, εϋ, ηϋ, οϋ, ωϋ, then uppercase keeps it: ΑΪ, ΕΪ, ΗΪ, ΟΪ, ΩΪ, ΥΪ or ΑΫ, ΕΫ, ΗΫ, ΟΫ, ΩΫ.
• If lowercase has an accented vowel followed by ι/υ that is pronounced separately (e.g., άι, έι, όι, άυ, έυ), then uppercase ADDS the dialytika to the Ι/Υ: ΑΪ, ΕΪ, ΟΪ, ΑΫ, ΕΫ.

This system ensures that the pronunciation cues present in lowercase (either through existing dialytika or the placement of accents) are not lost when words are converted to uppercase.