Αβγ α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω

Greek

The first true alphabet — the script that took the Phoenician abjad and invented the vowel, ancestor of Latin and Cyrillic.

ISO 15924Grek · 200

TypologyAlphabet — first script to write vowels as full letters

LineagePhoenician → Greek · Proto-Sinaitic Wing, Floor 2

Ancestor ofLatin (via Etruscan), Cyrillic, Coptic, Gothic

DatesAlphabet adopted c. 800 BCE; direction settled left-to-right by ~500 BCE

RegionGreece, the Aegean, and the wider Mediterranean

DirectionLeft to right → (earliest texts ran right-to-left, then boustrophedon)

Users (est.)≈ 13 M (Modern Greek)

Status Living

Noto fontNoto Sans · Noto Serif

Curatorial note

The Greeks borrowed the Phoenician abjad wholesale — they even kept the letter order and the names. Alpha and beta echo ʾālep and bēt, though the Greek names mean nothing in Greek: a fossil of the loan, carried over sound and sequence intact.

Their one radical change made all the difference. Phoenician had letters for consonant sounds Greek did not use, and the Greeks reassigned those surplus signs to vowels — the first script to give vowels full letters of their own. This turned an abjad into a true alphabet and made the unambiguous representation of a non-Semitic language possible.

The Phoenicians gave the world its consonants; the Greeks added the breath between them.

From Greek the tree spreads: it is the parent of Latin (by way of the Etruscans) and of Cyrillic, and through them of most alphabets in daily use today. The precise routes and dates remain actively debated — see the descent diagram in the Hall of Lineages.

The invention of the vowel

Five surplus consonants, reassigned

Αalpha · afrom Phoenician ʾālep (glottal stop), unused in Greek

Εepsilon · efrom hē (h)

Ιiota · ifrom yōd (y)

Οomicron · ofrom ʿayin (ʕ)

Υupsilon · u/yfrom wāw (w)

Α Ε Η Ι Ο Υ Ω The vowel letters Greek added — reusing the borrowed consonants for everything else. Eta and omega were carved out later from consonant signs and length distinctions, completing the set.

The twenty-four letters

Alpha to Omega

Α αalpha · avowel→ Latin A

Β βbeta · bconsonant→ Latin B

Γ γgamma · gconsonant→ Latin C/G

Δ δdelta · dconsonant→ Latin D

Ε εepsilon · evowel→ Latin E

Ζ ζzeta · zconsonant→ Latin Z

Η ηeta · ēvowel→ Latin H

Θ θtheta · thconsonant→ —

Ι ιiota · ivowel→ Latin I

Κ κkappa · kconsonant→ Latin K

Λ λlambda · lconsonant→ Latin L

Μ μmu · mconsonant→ Latin M

Ν νnu · nconsonant→ Latin N

Ξ ξxi · xconsonant→ —

Ο οomicron · ovowel→ Latin O

Π πpi · pconsonant→ Latin P

Ρ ρrho · rconsonant→ Latin R

Σ σ/ςsigma · sconsonant→ Latin S

Τ τtau · tconsonant→ Latin T

Υ υupsilon · u/yvowel→ Latin U V W Y

Φ φphi · phconsonant→ —

Χ χchi · khconsonant→ Latin X

Ψ ψpsi · psconsonant→ —

Ω ωomega · ōvowel→ —

The Latin alphabet came from Greek via the Etruscans, so some Greek letters — Θ Ξ Φ Χ Ψ — left no direct Latin heir. Latin U, V, W and Y all trace back to a single Greek letter, upsilon.

Specimen — Noto Serif

Waterfall on baseline grid

56γνῶθι σαυτόν

40Αα Ββ Γγ Δδ Εε Ζζ Ηη Θθ

26Ιι Κκ Λλ Μμ Νν Ξξ Οο Ππ Ρρ Σσ Ττ

18Υυ Φφ Χχ Ψψ Ωω · α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω

In the building

F1Alphabet Hall — the first true alphabet F2Proto-Sinaitic Wing F3Living Collection F4Specimen Press — set this script live

In the Reading Room

WI·BIO · Paper · Forthcoming

Where Vowels Came From

How five Phoenician consonants Greek didn't need became the letters A, E, I, O, U — and turned an abjad into an alphabet.

Plaque sources: The Unicode Standard (Greek and Coptic block) · ISO 15924 (Grek · 200) · L. H. Jeffery, The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece · B. Powell, Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet · ScriptSource (SIL). User figures are estimates. Compiled 2026-07.