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Greek alphabet

NameGreek alphabet
TypeAlphabet
LanguagesGreek, with many modifications covering many languages
Time~800 BC to the present
Fam1Proto-Sinaitic alphabet
Fam2Phoenician alphabet
ChildrenGothic
Glagolitic
Cyrillic
Coptic
Armenian alphabet
Old Italic alphabet
Latin alphabet
UnicodeU+03FF Greek and Coptic,
U+1FFF Greek Extended
Iso15924Grek
SampleGreekalphabet.svg
Image Size250px

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The Greek alphabet is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the 8th century BC. It is still in use today. It is the first and oldest alphabet in the narrow sense that it notes each vowel and consonant with a separate symbol. The letters were also used to represent Greek numerals, beginning in the 2nd century BC.

The Greek alphabet is descended from the Phoenician alphabet, and is not related to Linear B or the Cypriot syllabary, earlier writing systems for Greek. It has given rise to many other alphabets used in Europe and the Middle East, including the Latin alphabet. In addition to being used for writing Ancient and Modern Greek, its letters are today used as symbols in mathematics and science, as particle names in physics, as components of star names, in the names of fraternities and sororities, in the naming of supernumerary tropical cyclones, and for other purposes.


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