alpha

pronunciation

antique

[ a ]

modern

[ a ]

Equivalents

Latin

Aa

Cyrillic

А а

Hebrew

א

Arabic

ا

Phoenician

?

Armenian

Աա

transcription

From the ancient world

a

From the modern

a

Coding
Capitals
Unicode number	U + 0391
Unicode name	GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA
HTML	& # 913;
HTML entity	Α
Minuscule
Unicode number	U + 03B1
Unicode name	GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA
HTML	& # 945;
HTML entity	α

Alpha ( ancient Greek ἄλφα , today Neugriechisch άλφα alfa ; Majuskel Α, minuscule α) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and has a numerical value of Figure 1.

origin

Ox head (protosinaitic)
Phoenician Aleph
Greek alpha

The sign goes back to the Phoenician letter alef , which in turn originally represented a bull's head. If you turn a large alpha upside down or turn a small one 90 degrees counterclockwise, you can still see a bull's head very well.

The Hebrew aleph and the Arabic alif develop from the same symbol, the Latin A and the Cyrillic А from the Greek letter .

Use in Greek

Examples

Ancient Greek :
- Ἀρχὴ μεγίστη τοῦ βίου τὰ γράμματα Archē megistē tou biou ta grammata. ("The best beginning in life are the letters.")
- Ἀριστοτέλης Aristoteles
- Ἀλέξανδρος Γʹ ὁ Μακεδών Alexandros Gʹ ho Makedōn ( Alexander ΙΙΙ., The Macedonian )
Modern Greek : Αθήνα Afina ( Athens )

See other ancient and modern Greek examples in List of Greek Phrases / Alpha .

Meaning as a syllable

The α- corresponds in its function as Alpha privativum the German prefix un- , with which it is also according to the history of identical.
It can also have a reinforcing effect in pre-classical texts ( alpha intensum ).

Use of the name

Beginning, one

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, therefore alpha stands for “beginning”, even more symbolically for “ spirit ” (colloquially also the “highest”, “greatest”, “best”).

Beta is the second letter, hence the word alphabet .
Omega is the last letter: The phrase "the Alpha and Omega " (literally: "the Alpha and the Omega") means "beginning and end", "Everything", " God ".

Alpha is also the number one of the Greek numerical system, from which many technical terms are derived:

In a hierarchy, the word alpha animal (leader) denotes the highest level and the word omega animal the lowest level.
In software development, the alpha version is a very early first executable program version that precedes the beta version, which is then tested in use.

Use in spelling alphabet

In ICAO alphabet of air traffic is alfa for A . This spelling system is also used in NATO . The terms Point Alpha and Checkpoint Alpha are derived from this.

Use as formula symbols and in technical languages

In mathematics , α generally serves as an angle designator . In particular, α is the angle belonging to corner A in the polygon by convention .
In physics
- is called alpha radiation is a form of radioactivity called, see also alpha decay and alpha particles ,
- for mechanics , α is the symbol for the angular acceleration ,
- in thermodynamics for the expansion coefficient and the heat transfer coefficient ,
- and in quantum physics , α stands for the fine structure constant .
In astronomy
- α (alternatively also RA) means the right ascension , one of the two coordinates in the equatorial coordinate system ,
- and also stands (mostly) for the brightest star of each constellation - z. B. α Centauri (abbreviated α Cen) or α Cyg (α Cygni, Deneb ) - see Bayer designation .
In chemistry , α stands for the degree of dissociation of an acid or base or for a descriptor in chemical nomenclature.
In medicine, alpha waves are the type of brain wave in a certain frequency range, see electroencephalography .
In molecular biology, Alfa is the abbreviation for anti as a name for a target epitope, see also antibodies .
In financial market theory , α denotes the alpha factor (Jensen alpha), the measure of an extra return ( positive alpha ) or a reduced return ( negative alpha ), measured against the comparative value (the benchmark ). The process of moving the alpha from the beta of a portfolio is called portable alpha .
In computer graphics the α-channel for the transparency of an object, the other three channels are the color channels ( RGB , CYM, YUV etc.)
In statistics , the α error describes the probability of incorrectly rejecting an actually correct null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis , for example on the basis of sample results that are not representative of the examined population or that randomly deviate from the population values.

Cronbach's Alpha , a measure from multivariate statistics.

Use in company and brand names

Frequently, examples:

Alfa Laval - u. a. Milking machines
Alpha Industries - American apparel manufacturer
Alfa Romeo - Italian automobile manufacturer
proALPHA - software company, commercial ERP system

Latin alpha

The Latin alpha (Ɑ / ɑ) is a letter of the Latin writing system used in the IPA and in African languages, derived from the Greek alpha.

Web links

Commons : Alpha (letter) - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Wiktionary: Alpha - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations