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The '''Greek alphabet''' is a set of [[alphabet|letters]] used to represent the written [[Greek language]]. Originating around the 9th century BC, it was based upon the Phoenician consonantal alphabet<ref name="physlink">http://www.physlink.com/reference/GreekAlphabet.cfm</ref> (which also gave rise to the [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] and Arabic alphabets). The Greek alphabet was the first true alphabet, representing both consonants and vowels, each with their own symbol.<ref name="physlink" /> The [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] and [[Cyrillic alphabet]]s are largely based on Greek with some modifications.<ref name="physlink" />
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 Empire|Byzantine period]] of [[Greece|Greek]] history.<ref>http://biblaridion.blogspot.com/2005/08/greek-miniscule-script.html</ref> 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:
{| align=center cellpadding=10 style="text-align:center;"
|-
|align="left"|''Name''<br />''Letter''||Alpha<br />Αα||Beta<br />Ββ||Gamma<br />Γγ||Delta<br />Δδ||Epsilon<br />Εε||Zeta<br />Ζζ||Eta<br />Ηη||Theta<br />Θθ||
|-
|align="left"|''Name''<br />''Letter''||Iota<br />Ιι||Kappa<br />Κκ||Lambda<br />Λλ||Mu<br />Μμ||Nu<br />Νν||Xi<br />Ξξ||Omicron<br />Οο||Pi<br />Ππ||
|-
|align="left"|''Name''<br />''Letter''||Rho<br />Ρρ||Sigma<br />Σσς||Tau<br />Ττ||Upsilon<br />Υυ||Phi<br />Φφ||Chi<br />Χχ||Psi<br />Ψψ||Omega<br />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.<ref>http://www.omniglot.com/writing/greek.htm</ref>
The original Greek alphabet also included the letters digamma<ref>Earlier known as "wau" (ϝαυ)</ref> (Ϝϝ), san (Ϻϻ), and qoppa (Ϙϙ).<ref>http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/nonattic.html</ref> 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==
[[Image:Alphaomega.jpg|thumb|100px|"I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." (Revelation 1:8)]]
In the [[Christianity|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).
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Greece]]
[[Category:Linguistics]]
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 Empire|Byzantine period]] of [[Greece|Greek]] history.<ref>http://biblaridion.blogspot.com/2005/08/greek-miniscule-script.html</ref> 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:
{| align=center cellpadding=10 style="text-align:center;"
|-
|align="left"|''Name''<br />''Letter''||Alpha<br />Αα||Beta<br />Ββ||Gamma<br />Γγ||Delta<br />Δδ||Epsilon<br />Εε||Zeta<br />Ζζ||Eta<br />Ηη||Theta<br />Θθ||
|-
|align="left"|''Name''<br />''Letter''||Iota<br />Ιι||Kappa<br />Κκ||Lambda<br />Λλ||Mu<br />Μμ||Nu<br />Νν||Xi<br />Ξξ||Omicron<br />Οο||Pi<br />Ππ||
|-
|align="left"|''Name''<br />''Letter''||Rho<br />Ρρ||Sigma<br />Σσς||Tau<br />Ττ||Upsilon<br />Υυ||Phi<br />Φφ||Chi<br />Χχ||Psi<br />Ψψ||Omega<br />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.<ref>http://www.omniglot.com/writing/greek.htm</ref>
The original Greek alphabet also included the letters digamma<ref>Earlier known as "wau" (ϝαυ)</ref> (Ϝϝ), san (Ϻϻ), and qoppa (Ϙϙ).<ref>http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/nonattic.html</ref> 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==
[[Image:Alphaomega.jpg|thumb|100px|"I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." (Revelation 1:8)]]
In the [[Christianity|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).
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Greece]]
[[Category:Linguistics]]