Alpha: Difference between revisions

'''Alpha''' {{IPAc-en|'|æ|l|f|ə}}<ref>{{OED|alpha}}</ref> (uppercase {{Script|Grek|'''Α'''}}, lowercase {{Script|Grek|'''α'''}}; {{lang-grc|ἄλφα}}, ''álpha'', or {{lang-ell|άλφα|álfa}}) is the first [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] of the [[Greek alphabet]]. In the system of [[Greek numerals]], it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] letter [[Aleph#Origin|aleph]] [[Image:phoenician aleph.svg|20px|aleph]], which is the [[West Semitic]] word for "[[ox]]".<ref>{{cite book | last=Brookes | first=I. | title=Chamber Concise Dictionary | publisher=Allied Pub (p) Limited | year=2004 | isbn=978-81-86062-36-4 | url=https://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=iwWuY9tAVq8C | page=30}}</ref> Letters that arose from alpha include the [[Latin script|Latin]] letter [[A]] and the [[Cyrillic]] letter [[A (Cyrillic)|А]].