Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is a set of letters used to represent the written Greek language. Originating around the 9th century BC, it was based upon the Phoenician consonantal alphabet[1] (which also gave rise to the Hebrew and Arabic alphabets). The Greek alphabet was the first true alphabet, representing both consonants and vowels, each with their own symbol.[1] The Latin and Cyrillic alphabets are largely based on Greek with some modifications.[1]
Originally Greek was only written with what are today considered capitol letters. The lower case letters are based on handwritten forms developed during the Byzantine period of Greek history.[2] In the case of sigma, the lowercase form varies depending on whether it occurs it occurs at the end of the word (ς).
The modern Greek alphabet is as follows:
| Name Letter |
Alpha Αα |
Beta Ββ |
Gamma Γγ |
Delta Δδ |
Epsilon Εε |
Zeta Ζζ |
Eta Ηη |
Theta Θθ |
|
| Name Letter |
Iota Ιι |
Kappa Κκ |
Lambda Λλ |
Mu Μμ |
Nu Νν |
Xi Ξξ |
Omicron Οο |
Pi Ππ |
|
| Name Letter |
Rho Ρρ |
Sigma Σσς |
Tau Ττ |
Upsilon Υυ |
Phi Φφ |
Chi Χχ |
Psi Ψψ |
Omega Ωω |
In many cases, the modern phonetic values of the letters match with the initial letters of their names in English. However, since some letters have shifted in pronunciation, this is not always the case. For example, in Ancient Greek the letter beta was pronounced like the Latin letter B, whereas in Modern Greek it is pronounced like the Latin letter V.[3]
The original Greek alphabet also included the letters digamma[4] (Ϝϝ), san (Ϻϻ), and qoppa (Ϙϙ).[5] Digamma was dropped due to the loss of the sound it represented in Greek (/w/), and san and qoppa were dropped in favor of sigma and kappa. Qoppa was preserved in certain Eastern dialects, and eventually evolved into the Latin letter Q. It is still used occasionally as a Greek numeral, albeit in a different form (Ϟϟ).
Significance in Christianity
In the Christian Bible, the letters alpha and omega together are an appellation for God, specifically in the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega" (Revelation 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13).