The Greek Alphabet

The Greek alphabet is very old. People in Greece have used it for about 2,800 years. It has 24 letters. The Greek alphabet was one of the first to have letters for both vowels and consonants. This made writing much easier for everyone.

Famous Greek Letters

You may have seen Greek letters before. Alpha is the first letter and looks like a capital A. Omega is the last letter. The word 'alphabet' actually comes from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters. Scientists use Greek letters for many symbols. For example, pi is a Greek letter used in math.

Where It Came From

The Greek alphabet grew out of an older alphabet used by traders called the Phoenicians. The Greeks added vowels to make it better. Later, the Romans took the Greek alphabet and changed it to make the Roman alphabet. That is the alphabet English uses today. So we can thank the Greeks for a lot!

Fun Facts

• The Greek alphabet has both capital and small letters.
• College clubs in the United States often use Greek letters for names.
• Scientists name some stars with Greek letters like alpha and beta.

Did You Know?

The word 'alphabet' comes from the Greek letters alpha and beta. That is how the Greek letters became part of our everyday word.