Letter (alphabet)

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Ancient Greek letters on a vase

Engravings of decorated Latin letters, from the 18th century (note the lack of a J and a U)

A letter is a segmental symbol of a phonemic writing system. The inventory of all letters

forms the alphabet. Letters broadly correspond to phonemes in the spoken form of the
language, although there is rarely a consistent, exact correspondence between letters
and phonemes.[1]
The word letter, borrowed from Old French letre, entered Middle English around 1200
AD, eventually displacing the native English term bōcstaf (bookstaff). Letter is
descended from the Latin littera, which may have descended from the Greek "διφθέρα"
(writing tablet), via Etruscan.[2]

Contents

 1Definition and usage

o 1.1Classical definition
 2Types of letters
o 2.1Examples of alphabets and their letters
o 2.2Upper case and lower case
o 2.3Typeface and font
 3Letter frequencies
 4History of alphabetic writing
 5See also
 6References
 7Sources
 8Further reading
 9External links

Definition and usage[edit]

Further information: Grapheme, Glyph, and Character (symbol)
A letter is a type of grapheme, which is a contrastive unit in a writing system. The
contemporary English-language alphabet consists of 26 letters, each of which
corresponds to one or more sounds. Letters are combined to form words. A letter is
classified as either a consonant or a vowel, depending on how its sound is produced
(vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y and w— with y and w only sometimes classed as vowels[clarification
needed]
). The basic Roman alphabet is used by hundreds of languages around the world. [3]
There are more phonemes in English–about 44–than there are letters of the alphabet.
[4]
 A letter may therefore be associated with more than one phoneme, with the phoneme
determined by the surrounding letters or etymology of the word. Regional accents have
a significant effect; the letter a can range from five to twelve sounds depending on the
origin of the speaker.[5] As an example of positional effects, the letter c is pronounced [k]
before a, o, u, or consonants (e.g. critical), but is pronounced [s]
before e, i, or y (e.g. democracy). Conversely, the same phoneme may be shared by
more than one letter, as shown by the c and s in fence and tense.
A sequence of graphemes representing a phoneme is called a polygraph. A digraph is a
case of polygraphs consisting of two graphemes.[6] Examples of digraphs in English
include ch, sh, and th. A phoneme can also be represented by three letters, called
a trigraph[citation needed]. An example is the combination sch in German.
Specific names are associated with letters, which may differ with language, dialect, and
history. Z, for example, is usually called zed in all English-speaking countries except the
US, where it is named zee. As elements of alphabets, letters have prescribed orders,
although this too may vary by language. In Spanish, for instance, ñ is a separate letter,
sorted after n. In English, n and ñ are classified alike[citation needed].
Letters may also have a numerical or quantitative value. This applies to Roman
numerals and the letters of other writing systems. In English, Arabic numerals are
typically used instead of letters. Greek and Roman letters are used as mathematical
symbols in equations and expressions[citation needed].
People and objects are sometimes named after letters, for one of these reasons:

1. The letter is an abbreviation, e.g. "G-man" as slang for

a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, arose as short
for "Government Man"
2. Alphabetical order used as a counting system, e.g. Plan
A, Plan B, etc.; alpha ray, beta ray, gamma ray, etc.
3. The shape of the letter, e.g. A-clamp, A-frame, D-
ring, F-clamp, G-clamp, H-block, H engine, O-ring, R-
clip, S or Z twist, U engine, U-bend, V engine, W
engine, X engine, Z-drive, a river  delta, omega block
4. Other reasons, e.g. X-ray after "x the unknown"
in algebra, because the discoverer did not know what
they were
Classical definition[edit]
Two pages from the manuscript of the Leys d'Amors, 14th century

The Consistori del Gay Saber was the first literary academy in the world and held
the Floral Games to award the best troubadour with the violeta d'aur top prize. Guilhem
Molinier, a member of the academy, gave a definition of the letter in his Leys
d'Amors (1328–1337), a book aimed at regulating then-flourishing Occitan poetry:

Letra votz no es devisabla. A letter is an indivisible sound

E per escriure convenabla. That is fit for writing;
Letra per miels esser exposta. A letter, to define it better,
Es menor part de votz composta. Is the smallest part of a composite sound.

Types of letters[edit]
The American manual alphabet, an example of letters in fingerspelling.

Examples of alphabets and their letters[edit]

Venn diagram of letters in the Greek, Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Certain letters appear in two or more of these
alphabets, although they may not represent the same sound.

Worldwide there are many alphabets used at present, with Arabic, Cyrillic, and Latin in
widest use[citation needed]. The following alphabets, abjads, and individual letters are discussed
in related articles. Each represents a different script:

Example
hideLetters in example alphabet
alphabet

Assamese অ, আ, ই, ঈ, উ, ঊ, ঋ, এ, ঐ, ও, ঔ, ক, খ, গ, ঘ, ঙ, চ, ছ, জ, ঝ, ঞ, ট, ঠ, ড, ঢ, ণ, ত, থ, দ, ধ, ন, প,
alphabet ফ, ব, ভ, ম, য, ৰ, ল, ৱ, শ, ষ, স, হ,ক্ষ, ড়, ঢ়, য়, ৎ, ং, ঃ, ঁ

Bengali অ, আ, ই, ঈ, উ, ঊ, ঋ, এ, ঐ, ও, ঔ, ক, খ, গ, ঘ, ঙ, চ, ছ, জ, ঝ, ঞ, ট, ঠ, ড, ঢ, ণ, ত, থ, দ, ধ, ন, প,
alphabet ফ, ব, ভ, ম, য, ল, শ, ষ, স, হ,ক্ষ, ড়, ঢ়, য়, ৎ, ং, ঃ, ঁ

Arabic (Alphabetical from right to left)  ,‫ﻕ‬ ,‫ﻑ‬ ,‫ﻍ‬ ,‫ﻉ‬ ,‫ﻅ‬ ,‫ﻁ‬ ,‫ﺽ‬ ,‫ﺹ‬ ,‫ﺵ‬ ,‫ﺱ‬ ,‫ﺯ‬ ,‫ﺭ‬ ,‫ﺫ‬ ,‫ﺩ‬ ,‫ﺥ‬ ,‫ﺡ‬ ,‫ﺝ‬ ,‫ﺙ‬ ,‫ﺕ‬ ,‫ﺏ‬ ,‫ﺍ‬

alphabet ‫ﻱ‬ ,‫ﻭ‬ ,‫هـ‬ ,‫ﻥ‬ ,‫ﻡ‬ ,‫ﻝ‬ ,‫ﻙ‬

Armenian Ա, Բ, Գ, Դ, Ե, Զ, Է, Ը, Թ, Ժ, Ի, Լ, Խ, Ծ, Կ, Հ, Ձ, Ղ, Ճ, Մ, Յ, Ն, Շ, Ո, Չ, Պ, Ջ, Ռ, 
alphabet Ս, Վ, Տ, Ր, Ց, Ւ, Փ, Ք, Օ, Ֆ
Syriac (Alphabetical from right to left)  ,‫ܪ‬ ,‫ܩ‬ ,‫ܨ‬ ,‫ܦ‬ ,‫ܥ‬ ,‫ܣ‬ ,‫ܢܢ‬ ,‫ܡܡ‬ ,‫ܠ‬ ,‫ܟܟ‬ ,‫ܝ‬ ,‫ܛ‬ ,‫ܚ‬ ,‫ܙ‬ ,‫ܘ‬ ,‫ܗ‬ ,‫ܕ‬ ,‫ܓ‬ ,‫ܒ‬ ,‫ܐ‬
alphabet ‫ܬ‬ ,‫ܫ‬

А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й, К, Л, М, Н, О, П, Р, С, Т, У, Ф, Х, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ъ, Ы, Ь, 
Cyrillic script
Э, Ю, Я

Georgian
ა, ბ, გ, დ, ე, ვ, ზ, თ, ი, კ, ლ, მ, ნ, ო, პ, ჟ, რ, ს, ტ, უ, ფ, ქ, ღ, ყ, შ, ჩ, ც, ძ, წ, ჭ, ხ, ჯ, ჰ
script

Greek
Α, Β, Γ, Δ, Ε, Ζ, Η, Θ, Ι, Κ, Λ, Μ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, Π, Ρ, Σ, Τ, Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, Ω
alphabet

Hebrew
(Alphabetical from right to left) ‫ת‬ ,‫ש‬ ,‫ר‬ ,‫ק‬ ,‫צ‬ ,‫פ‬ ,‫ע‬ ,‫ס‬ ,‫נ‬ ,‫מ‬ ,‫ל‬ ,‫כ‬ ,‫י‬ ,‫ט‬ ,‫ח‬ ,‫ז‬ ,‫ו‬ ,‫ה‬ ,‫ד‬ ,‫ג‬ ,‫ב‬ ,‫א‬
alphabet

Latin
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
alphabet

ㄱㄲㄴㄷㄸㄹㅁㅂㅃㅅㅆㅇㅈㅉㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎㅏㅐㅑㅒㅓㅔㅕㅖㅗㅘ
Hangul
ㅙㅚㅛㅜㅝㅞㅟㅠㅡㅢㅣ

Burmese ကခဂဃငစဆဇဈညဋဌဍဎဏတထဒဓနပဖဗဘမယရလဝသဟဠအ

ㄅㄆㄇㄈㄉㄊㄋㄌㄍㄎㄏㄐㄑㄒㄓㄔㄕㄖㄗㄘㄙㄚㄛㄜㄝㄞㄟㄠㄡ
Bopomofo
ㄢㄣㄤㄥㄦㄧㄨㄩㄭ

Ogham   ᚁ ᚂ ᚃ ᚄ ᚅ ᚆ ᚇ ᚈ ᚉ ᚊ ᚋ ᚌ ᚍ ᚎ ᚏ ᚐ ᚑ ᚒ ᚓ ᚔ ᚕ ᚖ ᚗ ᚘ ᚙ ᚚ ᚛ ᚜

Ethiopic ሀለሐመሠረሰሸቀበተቸኀነኘአከኸወዐዘዠየደጀገጠጨጰጸፀፈፐ

Tifinagh (Am
ⴰ, ⴱ, ⵛ, ⴷ, ⴹ, ⴻ, ⴼ, ⴳ, ⴳⵯ, ⵀ, ⵃ, ⵉ, ⵊ, ⴽ, ⴽⵯ, ⵍ, ⵎ, ⵏ, ⵓ, ⵄ, ⵖ, ⵅ, ⵇ, ⵔ, ⵕ, ⵙ, ⵚ, ⵜ, ⵟ, ⵡ, ⵢ, ⵣ
azigh
alphabet) , ⵥ
 ꯀ, ꯁ, ꯂ, ꯃ, ꯄ, ꯅ, ꯆ, ꯈ, ꯉ, ꯊ, ꯋ, ꯌ, ꯍ, ꯎ, ꯏ, ꯐ, ꯑ, ꯒ, ꯓ, ꯔ, ꯕ, ꯖ, ꯗ, ꯘ, ꯙ, ꯚ,
Meetei
(Lonsum) ꯛ, ꯜ, ꯝ, ꯞ, ꯟ, ꯠ, ꯡ, ꯢ,(Cheitap
Mayek
mayek) ꯥ, ꯤ, ꯨ, ꯦ, ꯣ, ꯩ, ꯧ, ꯪ

The International Phonetic Alphabet is used to represent exact pronunciation, for

example, [ʔ], which is named a glottal stop.
For other writing systems and their letters, see List of writing systems.
Upper case and lower case[edit]
Main article: Letter case
A letter can have multiple variants, or allographs, related to variation in style
of handwriting or printing. Some writing systems have two major types of allographs for
each letter: an uppercase form (also called capital or majuscule) and a lowercase form
(also called minuscule). Upper- and lowercase letters represent the same sound, but
serve different functions in writing. Capital letters are most often used at the beginning
of a sentence, as the first letter of a proper name or title, or in headers or inscriptions.
[7]
 They may also serve other functions, such as in the German language where
all nouns begin with capital letters[citation needed].
In practical terms, tests have proven that lowercase words are easier to read. They also
take up less space on the page, a considerable benefit when materials such as paper
and ink were scarce and valuable[citation needed].
The terms uppercase and lowercase originated in the days of handset type for printing
presses. Individual letter blocks were kept in specific compartments of drawers in a type
case. Capital letters were stored in a higher drawer or upper case [citation needed].
Typeface and font[edit]
Main articles: Typeface and Calligraphy
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this
section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (May 2019)  (Learn how and when to remove this
template message)

A typeface, or font, is a single, stylistically consistent set of designs for an alphabet. A

particular font may alter standard forms of characters, may present them with different
optical weight, or may angle or embellish their forms. In calligraphy, letters are
artistically handwritten and may or may not be consistent throughout a work.
Typography has traditionally been considered an art form, encompassing both letter
design and the relationship of the letters to one another. Type designers strive for clarity
and beauty in individual letterforms, as well as character in a font. Old fonts such as
Bodoni, Caslon, and Garamond have been in wide use for centuries, with only slight
modifications. Advances in print capabilities, new ways of viewing the written word, and
changing aesthetics have led to refinements of classic typefaces as well as the
introduction of entirely new designs. In the early nineteenth century, sans serif
typefaces were first created. Serifs are the finishing strokes of letters, small extensions
considered to enhance readability. Sans serif fonts give a modern and informal
impression, but are slightly less legible as text than serif faces. Without serifs, an
uppercase I (i) is indistinguishable from a lowercase l (L).

Letter frequencies[edit]
Main article: Letter frequencies
The average distribution of letters, or the relative frequency of each letter's occurrence
in text in a given language, can be obtained by analyzing large amounts of
representative text. This information can be useful in cryptography and for other
purposes, such as song lyrics. Letter frequencies vary in different types of writing [citation
needed]
.

History of alphabetic writing[edit]

Main article: History of the alphabet
Before there were alphabets there were pictographs: small pictures representing objects
and concepts. Ancient Egyptian examples date to about 3000 BCE. [8] Pictographs could
communicate basic ideas, but were general and ambiguous if they were
comprehensible at all. Tense, for example, could not be specified, and symbols do not
necessarily carry meaning across cultures. Memorization of tens of thousands of
symbols is a daunting task; children from cultures that use logograms–word symbols–to
represent words take years longer to learn to read and write than children learning an
alphabet. The relative ease of memorizing 26 letters contributed to the spread of
literacy throughout the world. [citation needed]
The first consonantal alphabet found emerged around 1800 BCE to represent the
language of the Phoenicians, Semitic workers in Egypt (see Middle Bronze Age
alphabets), and was derived from the alphabetic principles of the Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Our present Roman system derives from this Phoenician alphabet, which had 22 letters.
Nineteen of our present letters evolved from the early Phoenician forms; letter shapes
and order of appearance correspond closely. The Greek alphabet, adapted around 800
BCE, added four letters. This was the first alphabet assigning letters not only
to consonant sounds, but also to vowels.[9] The Roman Empire brought the development
and refinement of our Roman alphabet, beginning around 500 BCE. The Romans
added or dropped certain letters to accommodate Greek and Etruscan words; they also
experimented with styles such as cursive when writing in ink. By about the fifth century
CE, the beginnings of lowercase letterforms began to emerge in Roman writing, but
they did not come into common use until the end of the Middle Ages, a thousand years
later.
More recently, the development of SMS (Short Message Service) technology is
eliminating use of unnecessary letters in informal communication. Time pressure and
limited character counts have introduced common abbreviations and variations such as
gr8fl (grateful) and lite, as well as acronyms like idk (I don't know) and the
ubiquitous LOL. [citation needed]
See also[edit]

 Language portal

 Abecedarium
 Artificial script
 Character (computing)
 Collation
 Diacritic
 Digraph (orthography)
 Glyph
 Grapheme
 Greek letters used in mathematics
 History of the alphabet
 Letterform
 Ligature
 Orthography
 Roman letters used in mathematics
 Typeface
 Typography
 Unicode

References[edit]
1. ^ Rogers 2005, p. 13-14.
2. ^ Harper, Douglas.  "Origin and meaning of letter".  Online Etymology
Dictionary.  Archived  from the original on 2017-11-03.
3. ^ Rogers 2005, p. 4.
4. ^ Sacks 2003, p. 5
5. ^ Sacks 2003, p. 49
6. ^ Rogers 2005, p. 35.
7. ^ Rogers 2005, p. 10-11.
8. ^ Healey, J.F. (1990). The Early Alphabet. Reading the past.
University of California Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-520-07309-8.
Retrieved 21 May 2019.
9. ^ Millard 1986, p. 396

Sources[edit]
 Millard, AR (1986), "The Infancy of the Alphabet", World
Archaeology, 17 (3): 390–
398, doi:10.1080/00438243.1986.9979978
  Sacks, David (2003). Language Visible: unraveling the
mystery of the alphabet from A to Z (First ed.). New York:
Broadway Books. ISBN 978-0-7679-1172-
6. OCLC 51210302.
 Rogers, Henry (2005). Writing Systems. Blackwell
Publishing. ISBN 978-0631234647.

Further reading[edit]
 Clodd, Edward (1904). The Story of the Alphabet. [New
York]: McClure, Phillips & Co.
 Daniels, Peter T, and William Bright, eds (1996). ISBN 0-
19-507993-0.
 Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams
(2014). An Introduction to Language (Tenth Ed.). [Boston]:
Wadsworth Cengage. ISBN 978-1-1333-1068-6.
 Man, John (2005) [1941]. Alpha beta : how 26 letters
shaped the Western world. [New York]: Barnes and
Noble. ISBN 978-0-7607-6610-1. OCLC 60936567.
 Powell, Barry B. (1991). Homer and the Origin of the Greek
Alphabet. ISBN 978-0-521-58907-9 | ISBN 0-521-58907-X.
 Robinson, A (2003). "The Origins of Writing" in Crowley,
David and Paul Heyer Communication in History :
Technology, Culture, Society (Fourth Ed). [Boston]: Allyn
and Bacon pp 34–40.

External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Letters.

Look up letter in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.

 Unicode Code Charts

 Letters, Characters and Words Counter online

Integrated Authority File (Germany)

Categories: 
 Alphabets
 Typography
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