Phoenician
Letter |
Name |
Meaning |
Sound |
Greek
Letter |
Latin
Letter |
Notes |
 |
Aleph |
ox |
glottal
stop |
A |
A |
The Greeks converted this symbol from a glottal stop to the vowel a called alpha. |
 |
Beth |
house |
b |
B |
B |
The Greeks renamed the symbol beta. It is now pronounced as b or v depending on the language. |
 |
Gimel |
camel |
hard g |
G |
C
G |
The Greeks renamed the symbol gamma, pronouncing it as a cross between a hard g and a French r. The Etruscans changed the pronunciation from hard g to hard c, and wrote it as C. The Romans also used C and created a new letter to represent the hard g by adding a flourish to the C, giving G. In English, C is pronounced k or c, and G is pronounced as a hard g or soft g. In Turkish, C is pronounced as soft g while in Portuguese, G can be pronounced as zh. |
 |
Daleth |
door |
d |
D |
D |
The Greeks renamed the symbol delta and changed the pronunciation to a soft th. |
 |
He |
|
soft h |
E |
E
F |
The Greeks converted the symbol from a soft h to the vowel e called epsilon which was borrowed by the Romans. The Etruscans created the letter F by removing a line from E and changed the pronunciation to f. This was also borrowed by the Romans. |
 |
Waw |
|
w |
U |
Y |
The Greeks converted the symbol from a w to the vowel i called Ipsilon. This was borrowed by the Romans for writing Greek words. In French this letter is still called "The Greek I". |
 |
Heth |
wall |
hard h |
H
Q |
H |
The Greeks created two letters from this symbol: the vowel eta (pronounced as an e or i) and the theta (pronounced as a hard th). The Romans changed the pronunciation to h. In Spanish, H is not pronounced. |
 |
Yodh |
hand |
hard y |
I |
I
J |
The Greeks converted the symbol from a hard y to the vowel i called iota. This was borrowed by the Romans for the vowel i and the consonant y at the beginning of words. This latter use began to be written as J during the Middle Ages in Europe. The modern letter J is now pronounced as a soft g in English, a h in Spanish, a zh in French and a y in German. |
 |
Kaph |
|
k |
K |
K |
The Greeks renamed the symbol kappa. |
 |
Lamedh |
|
l |
L |
L |
The Greeks renamed the symbol lamda. |
 |
Mem |
water |
m |
M |
M |
The Greeks renamed the symbol mu. In some African languages M behaves like a vowel. |
 |
Nun |
fish |
n |
N |
N |
The Greeks renamed the symbol nu. |
 |
Ayin |
eye |
gutteral |
O
W |
O |
The Greeks converted the symbol from a gutteral to the vowel short o called omicron. A slight variation produced the letter omega (pronounced as long o). Only the letter O was used by the Romans. |
 |
Pe |
mouth |
p |
P |
P |
The Greeks renamed the symbol pi pronouncing it as a b or p. The Greek letter P was pronounced as r but this was changed by the Romans to the modern p. |
 |
Qoph |
monkey |
q |
F |
Q |
The Phoenician q was pronounced at the back of the throat as opposed to the k at the front. This difference does not exist in European languages. The Greeks renamed the symbol phi after changing its pronunciation to f (often written ph). The Romans pronounced it as k and began to write it followed by a U as QU. |
 |
Resh |
head |
r |
R |
R |
The Greeks renamed the symbol rho. The Romans added the line to the Greek P to create the modern R. |
 |
Sin |
tooth |
sh |
S |
S |
The Greeks renamed the symbol sigma and pronounced it as s. |
 |
Taw |
mark |
t |
T |
T |
The Greeks renamed the symbol tau. |
 |
Wau |
|
wu |
Y |
U
V
W |
The Greeks renamed the symbol psi pronouncing it as a ps. The Romans wrote it as V and pronounced it as v or u or w. During the Middle Ages in Europe, the V form began to split into the two newer forms, U and W. In German, V is pronounced as f and W as v. |
 |
Samekh |
fish |
s |
X
X |
X |
The Greeks created two letters from this symbol, ksi (pronounced ks) and chi (pronounced as a hard h). The letter X later became part of the Roman alphabet with a pronunciation of ks or h or z. |
 |
Zayin |
sword |
z |
Z |
Z |
The Greeks renamed the symbol zeta. |
