Α

Alpha in a capital letter Etymologicum Magnum (1499).

Alpha (uppercase Α, lowercase α; Ancient Greek call ἄλφα álpha /ál.pʰa/, in modern Greek άλφα alpha /ˈal.fa/) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In ancient Greek alpha was called [ˈalpʰa], a name derived from the ancient Phoenician letter ʾalp, &# 39;ox'. Its graphic origin is an inverted ox head. Capital alpha has an identical form of the two main letters that arose from it: Latin A and Cyrillic А.

Because it is the first letter of the alphabet, alpha was used to denote the beginning of something, as opposed to omega, which symbolized the end. For example, "I am the Alpha and the Omega."

In the Greek numeral system it has a value of 1 (Α΄).

History

Evolution of the letter and its graphic form in different writing systems

The Phoenician alphabet was adopted by the Greeks in the early 8th century BC, perhaps in Eubea. Most lyrics of the Phoenician alphabet were adopted in Greek with almost the same sounds they had in their original version fenicia, but precisely the first lyrics fenicia, ’āleph (), represented the occlusive glotal [fire] also called saltillo, a sound other than the Greek language, so the lyrics were adopted as representation of the vowel [a], which is the second sound of the phenician name of the lyrics. Likewise, hēt [h] and yayin []] are consonant fenicias who became Greek vowels, epsilon [e] and omicron [o]respectively.

In the first Greek inscriptions after the Dark Age, around the centuryVIIIa. C., the lyrics appear on the side, as its Phoenician model. In subsequent inscriptions, it appears rotated 90° and as in the modern capital form. However, the various archaic Greek alphabets use local varieties that are distinguished by the shortening of a stretch or by the angle of the lines: in Corinth, Egina, Sicyon; in Cnido, Jonia, Milos, Rhodes, Santorini; in Achaia, Arcadia, Atica, Corinth, Crete, Delos, Ithaca, Mégara, Naxos, Paros; in Argos, Eubea, Laconia, Tesalia, Tirinto; in Achaia, Beocia, etc.

The current form of the letter comes from the alphabet used in Ionia, which was gradually adopted by the rest of the ancient Greek world. On this, Athens approved an official decree for its adoption in the year 403 BC. c.; although its use was common in Greek cities before the mid-century V a. c.

Epigraphic variants

In archaic epigraphic sources the following variants appear:

Use

In ancient Greek, alpha was pronounced [a] and could be phonemically long ([aː]) or short ([a]). In case of ambiguity between long and short, the modern convention is to write them respectively with macron and breve: Ᾱᾱ, Ᾰᾰ.

• =ρα = =ρ = hōrā Greek pronunciation:/[h́ shaving]/ "a time."
• γλισα = γλισ = glôssa Greek pronunciation:/[ll̂ meant]/ "language"

In Modern Greek, vowel length has been lost and all cases of alpha simply represent the [a] sound.

In the orthography of the polytonic system of Greek, alpha, like other vowel letters, can appear with several diacritics: any of the three accent symbols (ά, ὰ, ᾶ), and any of the two accent marks. respiration (ἁ, ἀ), as well as combinations thereof. It can also be combined with the subscript iota (ᾳ).

Greek Grammar

In the Attic-Ionian dialect of Ancient Greek, long alpha [aː] evolved into [ɛː] (eta). In Ionian, the change occurred in all positions. In Attic, the change did not occur after epsilon, iota, or rho (ε, ι, ρ; e, i, r). In Doric and Aeolian, long alpha is preserved in all positions.

• Doric, wind, attic χ ch rā - Ionic χερ ch rē“country”
• Draric, wind φ, μ, phā 'mā - Attic, Ionic φγμ ph phmē“report”

The privative alpha is the Ancient Greek prefix ἀ-/ἀν- (a-/an-) added to words to negate them. It comes from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (syllabic nasal) and is cognate to English un- and Latin in-. For example, atheist, is composed of θεὸς (theos, “god”) prefixed with this type of alpha. If the word begins with a vowel, the prefix is an-, for example anesthesia from αἰσθήσεις (aistheseis, "feeling")

The copulative alpha is the Greek prefix ἁ-/ἀ- (ha-/a-). It comes from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥.

Symbolism

Plutarch

Plutarch, in Moralia, presents a discussion of why the letter alpha ranks first in the alphabet. Ammonius asks Plutarch what he, being a Boeotian, has to say about Cadmus, the Phoenician who supposedly settled in Thebes and introduced the alphabet to Greece, placing alpha first because it is the Phoenician name for the ox, which, unlike Hesiod, who in Works and Days recommends to Greek farmers "first of all, get a house, then a woman and third, an ox and a plow", the Phoenicians did not consider the second or the third, but the first of all needs. "Nothing at all," replied Plutarco. Then he added that he preferred to be assisted by Lamprias, his own grandfather, than by Dionysus's grandfather, that is, Cadmus. Because Lamprias had said that the first articulated sound that is made is "alpha", because it is very simple and straightforward -the air that comes out of the mouth does not require any movement of the tongue- and, therefore, this It is the first sound that children make.

According to Plutarch's natural order of attributing vowels to the planets, alpha was related to the Moon.

Alpha and Omega

Alpha and omega hanging from the cross of Victoria on the bridge of Cangas de Onís, Spain.

Being the first letter of the alphabet, alpha, as a Greek number, came to represent the number 1. Therefore, alpha, both as a symbol and as a term, is used to refer to the "first", "primary" or "main" (more significant) occurrence or state of a thing.

In the New Testament God declares that He is:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the one who is, was and must come.

Revelation 22:13

In science

• In the Greek numeration system it has values of 1 (α-plus) and 1000 ().α).
• Alpha-operatory is used to designate those sciences in whose fields the gnoseological or corporeal subject does not appear.
• The letter α tiny is used as a symbol for angular acceleration in physics.
• It is also used to refer to the alpha particle, emitted in some radioactive processes.
• It also symbolizes in particle physics the constant of fine structure.
• Alpha is normally used as an adjective to indicate the first or most significant occurrence, such as the female or male alpha, the alpha star of a constellation.
• In software development, the alpha version of a program or video game indicates that it is still in development, but that it already has minimal functionality.
• The alpha channel of a computer image is incorporated into the RGB channels to define levels of transparency.
• In the book A happy world Aldous Huxley, alpha individuals are the upper caste, so they do the jobs that require more intelligence.
• Alpha can name the attenuation coefficient of a wave.
• Alpha is also the letter A in the phonetic alphabet of NATO.
• It is called alpha to the first version of a software product that, even without implementing all the features specified in the requirements of it, is sent to the verifiers.
• In statistics "Alfa" represents significance coefficient, if its derivative planing and control of production (student in engineering and administration)
• The alpha letter is used in the diatric representation system to designate the main plane in the resolution of an exercise.
• Alpha is also commonly used to designate angles in the trigonometric field.
• It is the symbol used in Chemistry to represent the dissociation factor.
• In virology, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated Alpha as a variant of concern, a mutation of the SARS-CoV-2, virus that produces COVID-19 disease, found in September 2020 in the United Kingdom.

Video Games

• In the video game EarthBound, the Alpha letter is used (together with other letters of the Greek alphabet), to classify the level of each PSI, being this the lowest level and that all PSIs possess it.
• In the video games saga of Pokémon the species of Pokémon god, (Arceus), is: "Alpha".
• The public company Sony uses the letter "Alfa" to designate the DSLR camera models, following the absorption of Konica-Minolta in 2006.
• In the psx video game G-Darius is used to name the first area in the game.
• In the version of the game Pokémon Zafiro, Pokémon Zafiro Alfa.
• In the Digimon franchise there is a digimon belonging to the order, being this leader, of the Royal Knights called Alphamon.

Unicode

• Alpha of the Greek alphabets and Coptic

For accented characters, see polytonic system.

• Latin Alfa and AFI

• Alpha mathematics and technique