Raman spectra of the chalcopyrite compound CuGaTe2 were obtained between 80 and 300K. Lines observed at 54, 76, 155, 170, 211 and 220cm−1, and at 70, 204 and 224cm−1 were assigned to E and B2 modes, respectively. The most intense line at 135cm−1, and others at 64, 148, and 190cm−1, are assigned to A1 mode and to B1 symmetry, respectively. The highest-frequency phonon mode at 272cm−1 is attributed to a combination of E and B2 modes. It is suggested that the line at 117cm−1 is due to the chalcopyrite-forbidden A2 mode activated by structural disorder. A broad, but weak, band observed between 80 and 110cm−1 is tentatively attributed to scattering, due to free holes or collective excitations. A shift to higher frequency with increasing temperature, of A1, B2 and E modes below 120K, is explained due to the contribution of the negative value of the thermal expansion coefficient of chalcopyrites at low temperatures. The temperature variation of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the A1 mode could be explained by considering the decay of the Raman phonon in a combination of two phonons, in addition to the contribution, at low temperatures, of a thermal expansion term.