View source for Social:Letter (alphabet)

{{short description|Grapheme in an alphabetic system of writing}}
{{More citations|date=October 2009}}
A '''letter''' is a segmental [[Symbol|symbol]] of a phonemic [[Social:Writing system|writing system]]. The inventory of all letters forms an [[Social:Alphabet|alphabet]]. Letters broadly correspond to [[Social:Phoneme|phoneme]]s in the [[Social:Spoken language|spoken form of the language]], although there is rarely a consistent and exact correspondence between letters and phonemes.{{Sfn|Rogers|2005|p=13–14}}

The word ''letter'', borrowed from [[Social:Old French|Old French]] ''{{Lang|ang|letre}}'', entered [[Social:Middle English|Middle English]] around 1200 AD, eventually displacing the [[Social:Old English|Old English]] term {{lang|ang|bōcstæf}} (bookstaff). ''Letter'' is descended from the Latin ''{{Wikt-lang|la|littera}}'', which may have descended from the Greek "{{Lang|grc-Grek|διφθέρα|italic=no}}" ({{transl|grc|diphthera}}, writing tablet), via [[Social:Etruscan language|Etruscan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/letter|title=Origin and meaning of letter|last1=Harper|first1=Douglas|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103211458/https://www.etymonline.com/word/letter|archive-date=2017-11-03|url-status=live}}</ref> The word was used to refer interchangeably to a speech sound until the 19th century.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Abercrombie|first=David|year=1949|title=What is a "letter?"|journal=Lingua|volume=2|pages=54–63|doi=10.1016/0024-3841(49)90006-6}}</ref>

== Definition and usage ==
A letter is a type of [[Social:Grapheme|grapheme]], which is a functional unit in a writing system: a letter (or group of letters) represents visually a phoneme (a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular [[Social:Language|language]]). Letters are combined to form written words, just as phonemes are combined to form spoken words.  A sequence of graphemes representing a phoneme is called a multigraph or polygraph. A digraph is a case of polygraphs consisting of two graphemes.{{Sfn|Rogers|2005|p=35}} Examples of digraphs in English include ''ch'', ''sh'', and ''th''. Some phonemes are represented by three letters, called a trigraph, such as {{Lang|de|sch}} in German.

The same letterform may be used in different alphabets but have different sounds. The letters {{angbr|H}}, {{angbr|Η}} and {{angbr|Н}} look rather alike but are the Latin H, Greek eta and Cyrillic en respectively; conversely the letters {{angbr|S}}, {{angbr|Σ}} (sigma) and {{angbr|С}} (Es (Cyrillic)) from these alphabets each represent (approximately) the same [s] sound. The basic Latin alphabet is used by hundreds of languages around the world,{{Sfn|Rogers|2005|p=4}} but there are many other [[Social:Alphabet|alphabet]]s.[[File:NAMA Alphabet grec.jpg|thumb|Ancient Greek letters on a vase]]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, {{angbr|ñ}} is a separate letter, sorted separately from {{angbr|n}}: this distinction is not usually recognised in English dictionaries. (In computer systems, each has its own unique [[Code point|code point]], {{unichar|006E|LATIN SMALL LETTER N|nlink=N}} and {{unichar|00F1|Latin small letter n with tilde|nlink=ñ}}, respectively.)

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 Latin letters have a variety of modern uses in mathematics, science, and engineering.

People and objects are sometimes named after letters, for one of these reasons:
# The letter is an abbreviation, e.g. "G-man" as slang for a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, arose as short for "Government Man"
# Alphabetical order used as a counting system, e.g. Plan A, Plan B, etc.; alpha ray, beta ray, [[Physics:Gamma ray|gamma ray]], etc.
# The shape of the letter, e.g. A-clamp, [[Engineering:A-frame|A-frame]], [[Engineering:D-ring|D-ring]], [[Engineering:F-clamp|F-clamp]], G-clamp, H-block, H engine, [[O-ring]], [[Engineering:R-clip|R-clip]], [[Chemistry:Yarn#Structure|S or Z twist]], U engine, [[Engineering:U-bend|U-bend]], [[Engineering:V engine|V engine]], W engine, X engine, [[Engineering:Z-drive|Z-drive]], a river ''delta'', ''omega'' block
# Other reasons, e.g. [[Physics:X-ray|X-ray]] after "''x'' the unknown" in [[Algebra|algebra]], because the discoverer did not know what they were

== History of alphabetic writing ==
[[File:Early Roman Pictograms.jpg|thumb|Ideographic symbols used in early Roman astronomy representing the zodiac and heavenly bodies]]Before alphabets, phonograms, graphic symbols of sounds, were used. There were three kinds of phonograms: verbal, pictures for entire words, syllabic, which stood for articulations of words, and alphabetic, which represented signs or letters. The earliest examples of which are from Ancient Egypt and Ancient China, dating to around 3,000 BCE. The first consonantal alphabet emerged around 1800 BCE, representing the Phoenicians, Semitic workers in Egypt. Their script was originally written and read from right to left. From the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician alphabet]] came the [[Social:Etruscan alphabet|Etruscan]] and Greek alphabets. From there, the most widely used alphabet today emerged, Latin, which is written and read from left to right.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Isaac |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100584677 |title=The history of the alphabet; an account of the origin and development of letters |date=1899 |publisher=C. Scribner's Sons |location=New York}}</ref>

The Phoenician alphabet had 22 letters, nineteen of which the Latin alphabet used, and the Greek alphabet, which was adapted around 900 BCE, added four letters to the Phoenician list. This Greek alphabet was the first to assign letters not only to consonant sounds, but also to vowels.

The Roman Empire further developed and refined the Latin alphabet, beginning around 500 BCE. During the fifth and sixth centuries, the development of lowercase letters began to emerge in Roman writing. At this point, paragraphs, uppercase and lowercase letters, and the concept of sentences and clauses still had not emerged; these final bits of development emerged in the late 7th and early 8th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mason |first=William Albert |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001181080 |title=A history of the art of writing |date=1920 |publisher=The Macmillan company |location=New York |via=[[HathiTrust]]}}</ref>

Finally, many slight letter additions and drops were made to the common alphabet used in the western world. Minor changes were made such as the removal of certain letters, such as ''thorn'' (Þ þ), ''wynn'' (Ƿ ƿ), and ''eth'' (Ð ð).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Isaac |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001770774 |title=Greeks and Goths: a study on the runes. |date=1879 |publisher=Macmillan and co. |location=London |via=HathiTrust}}</ref>

== Types of letters ==
=== Upper case and lower case ===
{{Main|Social:Letter case}}
[[File:Translations of Semitic Letters.png|thumb|Transliterations and iconography of the first consonantal alphabet, the Semitic script]]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.{{Sfn|Rogers|2005|p=10–11}} They may also serve other functions, such as in the [[Social:German language|German language]] where all nouns begin with capital letters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flippo |first=Hyde |date=February 14, 2020 |title=Capitalization in German |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/capitalization-in-german-4069437 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119124320/https://www.thoughtco.com/capitalization-in-german-4069437 |archive-date=2021-11-19 |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> 

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.<ref name="Typographia">{{cite book |last1=Hansard |first1=Thomas Curson |title=Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing |date=1825 |page=406 |url=https://archive.org/details/typographiaanhi01hansgoog/page/406/mode/2up |access-date=12 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique |first=Marc |last=Drogin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHNtDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |page=37 |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=1980 |isbn=9780486261423 |access-date=2022-03-14 |archive-date=2022-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123174716/https://books.google.com/books?id=oHNtDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{multiple image
 | align = right 
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | header =
 | image1 = Decorated Roman alphabet MET DP855610.jpg
 | image2 = Decorated Roman alphabet MET DP855611.jpg
 | image3 = Decorated Roman alphabet MET DP855612.jpg
 | image4 = Decorated Roman alphabet MET DP855613.jpg
 | caption4 = [[Engineering:Engraving|Engravings]] of decorated Latin letters, from the 18th century (note the lack of a J and a U)
}}
===Diacritics===
In most alphabetic scripts, diacritics (or accents) are a routinely used. English is unusual in not using them except for [[Social:Loanword|loanword]]s from other languages or personal names (for example, ''naïve, Brontë''). The ubiquity of this usage is indicated by the existence of [[Precomposed character|precomposed character]]s for use with computer systems (for example, {{angbr|á}}, {{angbr|à}}, {{angbr|ä}}, {{angbr|â}}, {{angbr|ã}}.)[[File:Typography Line Terms.svg|thumb|Ascenders (as in "h") and descenders (as in "p") make the height of lower-case letters vary.]]
== Examples of letters in writing systems ==
[[File:Venn diagram showing Greek, Latin and Cyrillic letters.svg|thumb|263x263px|[[Venn diagram|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.]]
In the following table, letters from multiple different [[Social:Writing system|writing systems]] are shown, to demonstrate the variety of letters used throughout the world.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|-
! Example alphabet
! Letters in example 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, 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, ফ, ব, ভ, ম, য, ল, শ, ষ, স, হ,ক্ষ, ড়, ঢ়, য়, ৎ, ং, ঃ, ঁ
|-
| Arabic
| (Alphabetical from right to left) {{lang|ar|ﺍ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺏ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺕ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺙ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺝ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺡ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺥ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺩ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺫ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺭ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺯ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺱ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺵ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺹ}}, {{lang|ar|ﺽ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻁ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻅ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻉ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻍ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻑ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻕ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻙ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻝ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻡ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻥ}}, {{lang|ar|هـ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻭ}}, {{lang|ar|ﻱ}}
|-
| 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, Ս, Վ, Տ, Ր, Ց, Ւ, Փ, Ք, Օ, Ֆ
|-
| Syriac
| (Alphabetical from right to left) ܐ, ܒ, ܓ, ܕ, ܗ, ܘ, ܙ, ܚ, ܛ, ܝ, ܟܟ, ܠ, ܡܡ, ܢܢ, ܣ, ܥ, ܦ, ܨ, ܩ, ܪ, ܫ, ܬ
|-
| [[Social:Cyrillic script|Cyrillic script]]
| 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, Э, Ю, Я
|-
| Georgian script
| 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
|-
| Greek
| Α, Β, Γ, Δ, Ε, Ζ, Η, [[Biology:Theta|Θ]], Ι, Κ, Λ, Μ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, Π, Ρ, Σ, Τ, Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, Ω
|-
| [[Social:Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew alphabet]]
| (Alphabetical from right to left) א, ב, ג, ד, ה, ו, ז, ח, ט, י, כ, ל, מ, נ, ס, ע, פ, צ, ק, ר, ש, ת
|-
| Latin alphabet
| 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
|-
| Hangul
| ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ
|-
| Burmese
| က ခ ဂ ဃ င စ ဆ ဇ ဈ ည ဋ ဌ ဍ ဎ ဏ တ ထ ဒ ဓ န ပ ဖ ဗ ဘ မ ယ ရ လ ဝ သ ဟ ဠ အ
|-
| [[Social:Bopomofo|Bopomofo]]
| ㄅ ㄆ ㄇ ㄈ ㄉ ㄊ ㄋ ㄌ ㄍ ㄎ ㄏ ㄐ ㄑ ㄒ ㄓ ㄔ ㄕ ㄖ ㄗ ㄘ ㄙ ㄚ ㄛ ㄜ ㄝ ㄞ ㄟ ㄠ ㄡ ㄢ ㄣ ㄤ ㄥ ㄦ ㄧ ㄨ ㄩ ㄭ
|-
| [[Social:Ogham|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
| ሀ ለ ሐ መ ሠ ረ ሰ ሸ ቀ በ  ተ ቸ ኀ ነ ኘ አ ከ ኸ ወ ዐ ዘ ዠ የ ደ ጀ ገ ጠ ጨ ጰ ጸ ፀ ፈ ፐ
|-
| [[Social:Tifinagh|Tifinagh]] (Amazigh alphabet)
| 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, ⵥ
|-
| Meetei Mayek 
| 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, ꯛ, ꯜ, ꯝ, ꯞ, ꯟ, ꯠ, ꯡ, ꯢ, ꯥ, ꯤ, ꯨ, ꯦ, ꯣ, ꯩ, ꯧ, ꯪ
|}

== See also ==
{{div col}}
* {{Annotated link |Abecedarium}}
* {{Annotated link |Constructed script}}
* {{Annotated link |Character (computing)}}
* {{Annotated link |Collation}}
* {{Annotated link |Diacritic}}
* {{Annotated link |Digraph (orthography)}}
* {{Annotated link |Glyph}}
* {{Annotated link |Grapheme}}
* {{Annotated link |Greek letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering}}
* {{Annotated link |History of the alphabet}}
* {{Annotated link |Letterform}}
* {{Annotated link |Ligature (writing)}}
* {{Annotated link |Orthography}}
* {{Annotated link |Latin letters used in mathematics}}
* {{Annotated link |Typeface}}
* {{Annotated link |Typography}}
* {{Annotated link |Unicode}}
{{div col end}}[[File:Public documents of the legislature of Connecticut, session (1882) (14763332785).jpg|thumb|The American manual alphabet, an example of letters in fingerspelling]]

== References ==

=== Inline citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== General references ===
* {{Citation | last = Millard | first = AR | title = The Infancy of the Alphabet | year = 1986 | journal = World Archaeology | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | pages = 390–398 | doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979978}}
* {{Cite book|title=Language Visible: unraveling the mystery of the alphabet from A to Z|last=Sacks|first=David|publisher=Broadway Books|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7679-1172-6|edition=First|location=New York|oclc=51210302|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/languagevisibleu00sack}}
*{{Cite book|title=Writing Systems|last=Rogers|first=Henry|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2005|isbn=978-0631234647}}

== Further reading ==
* 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}}.
* {{Cite book|title=Alpha beta : how 26 letters shaped the Western world|last=Man |orig-year=1941|first=John|date=2005|publisher=Barnes and Noble|isbn=978-0-7607-6610-1|location=[New York]|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 ==
* [https://www.unicode.org/charts/ Unicode Code Charts]
* [http://jalbanilearning.blogspot.com/ Letters, Characters and Words Counter online]
[[Category:Alphabets]]

it:Lettera (alfabeto)

{{Sourceattribution|Letter (alphabet)}}