Alpha (letter)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Alpha.

Greek alphabet
Α α Alpha	Ν ν Nu
Β β Beta	Ξ ξ Xi
Γ γ Gamma	Ο ο Omicron
Δ δ Delta	Π π Pi
Ε ε Epsilon	Ρ ρ Rho
Ζ ζ Zeta	Σ σ ς Sigma
Η η Eta	Τ τ Tau
Θ θ Theta	Υ υ Upsilon
Ι ι Iota	Φ φ Phi
Κ κ Kappa	Χ χ Chi
Λ λ Lambda	Ψ ψ Psi
Μ μ Mu	Ω ω Omega
Obsolete letters
Ϝ ϝ Digamma	Ϻ ϻ San
Ϙ ϙ Qoppa	Ϡ ϡ Sampi
Ϛ ϛ Stigma	Ϸ ϸ Sho

Alpha (upper case Α or ; lower case α or ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 1. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Aleph . Letters that arose from Alpha include the Latin A and the Cyrillic letter А.

In both Classical Greek and Modern Greek, alpha represents the Open front unrounded vowel, /a/.

Plutarch in Moralia presents a discussion on the question of why the letter alpha stands first in the alphabet. Plutarch's speaker suggests that Cadmus, the Phoenician who reputedly settled in Thebes and introduced the alphabet to Greece, "placed alpha first because it is the Phoenician name for ox, which they, like Hesiod, considered not the second or third, but the first of necessities." This refers to a passage in Works and Days by Hesiod, who advised the early Greek farmers, "First get an ox, then a woman." A simpler explanation is that it was the first letter in the Phoenician alphabet.

According to Plutarch's natural order of attribution of the vowels to the planets, alpha was connected with the Moon. Oxen were also associated with the Moon in both early Sumerian and Egyptian religious symbolism, possibly due to the crescent shape of their horns.

Alpha, both as a symbol and term, is used to refer to or describe a variety of things, including the first or most significant occurrence of something. Jesus declares himself to be the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Revelation 22:13, KJV, and see also 1:8).

The uppercase letter alpha is not generally used as a symbol because it tends to be rendered identically to the uppercase latin A.

[edit] Common notational uses

Main article: Alpha

Alpha is used extensively in physics and chemistry to represent many things, such as alpha particles and alpha carbon.