The Greek alphabet began to be used continuously from the end of the 9th-beginning of the 8th century BC. e. According to researchers, this system of written signs became the first, which included both consonants and vowels, as well as signs used to separate them. What were the ancient Greek letters? How did they come about? Which letter completes the Greek alphabet, and which one begins? About this and much more later in the article.
How and when did the Greek letters appear?
It must be said that in many Semitic languages, letters have independent names and interpretations. It is not clear when exactly the borrowing of signs occurred. Researchers offer various dating of this process from 14 to 7 centuries BC. e. But most authors converge on the 9th and 10th centuries. Later dating is somewhat implausible, since the earliest finds of Greek inscriptions may date back to about the 8th century BC. e. or even earlier. In 10-9 centuries, the North Semitic fonts had a certain similarity. But there is evidence that the Greeks borrowed the written system specifically from the Phoenicians. This is also plausible because this Semitic group was most widely settled and was actively engaged in trade and navigation.
general information
The Greek alphabet includes 24 letters. In some dialects of the pre-classical era, other signs were also used: Heta, sampi, stigma, koppa, san, digamma. Of these, the three letters of the Greek alphabet at the end were also used to write numbers. In the Phoenician system, each symbol was called the word that began with it. So, for example, the first written sign is "aleph" (bull, then), the next is "bet" (house), the third is gimel (camel), and so on. Subsequently, when borrowing for greater convenience, changes were made to almost every name. The letters of the Greek alphabet thus became somewhat easier, having lost their interpretation. So, Aleph became alpha, beta - beta, Gimel - gamma. Subsequently, when some characters were changed or added to the writing system, the names of Greek letters became more meaningful. So, for example, "omicron" - a small o, "omega" (the last character in the written system) - respectively, - a large o.
Innovations
Greek letters formed the basis for the creation of basic European fonts. Moreover, initially the system of written signs was not just borrowed from the Semites. The Greeks made their own changes to it. So, in the Semitic writing, the direction of the characters was either from right to left, or in turn in accordance with the direction of the lines. The second way of writing began to be called "boostrofedon". This definition is a combination of two words, from Greek it is translated as "bull" and "turn". Thus, a visual image of the animal is formed, dragging the plow along the field, changing direction from furrow to furrow. As a result, the direction from left to right became a priority in Greek writing. It, in turn, caused a number of corresponding changes in the form of some symbols. Therefore, Greek letters of a later type are a mirror image of Semitic characters.
Value
On the basis of the Greek alphabet, a large number of written sign systems were created and subsequently developed that spread throughout the Middle East and Europe and were used in writing in many countries of the world. Cyrillic and Latin were no exception. It is known that, for example, when creating the Old Slavonic alphabet , mainly Greek letters were used. In addition to the symbols used to write the language, they were used as international mathematical symbols. Today, Greek letters are used not only in mathematics, but also in other exact sciences. In particular, stars are called these symbols (for example, the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet “tau” was used to designate Tau Kita), elementary particles and so on.
Archaic Greek letters
These characters are not part of the classical writing system. Some of them (sampi, koppa, digamma), as mentioned above, were used for numerical records. At the same time, two - sampi and koppa - are used today. In Byzantine times, the digamma was replaced by the ligature of stigma. In a number of archaic dialects, these symbols nevertheless had a sound meaning and were used when writing words. The most important representatives of the Greek direction is the Latin system and its variants. In particular, they include Gaelic and Gothic writing. Along with this, there are other fonts that are directly or indirectly related to the Greek alphabet. Among them, the ogamic and runic systems should be noted.
Symbols used for other languages
In some cases, Greek letters were used to fix completely different languages (for example, Old Slavonic). In this case, new characters were added to the new system - additional characters reflecting the existing sounds of the language. Over time, in such cases, separate written systems were often formed. So, for example, happened with the Cyrillic alphabet, Etruscan and Coptic alphabets. But often the system of written characters remained essentially unchanged. That is, when it was created, Greek letters were predominantly present and only in a small number - additional characters.
Spread
The Greek alphabet had several varieties. Each species was associated with a particular colony or city-state. But all these varieties belong to one of the two main categories used in the western and eastern Greek spheres of influence. The difference between the varieties was sound functions, which were attributed to symbols added to those already contained in the written system. So, for example, in the east the sign "psi" was pronounced as ps, in the west as kh, while the sign "chi" in the east was pronounced kh, in the west - ks. The classical Greek script was a typical example of the Ionic or Oriental type of writing system. Officially, it was adopted in 404 BC. e. in Athens and subsequently spread throughout Greece. Direct descendants of this font are modern writing systems, such as, for example, Gothic and Coptic, preserved only in church use. They can also be attributed to the Cyrillic alphabet, adopted for Russian and a number of other languages. The second main type of Greek writing system - the western - was used in some areas of Italy and other western colonies belonging to Greece. It is believed that this type of writing laid the foundation for the Etruscan font, and through it - the Latin font, which became the main one in the territory of Ancient Rome and Western Europe.