Α/α

Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; , , or ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which is the West Semitic word for "ox". Letters that arose from alpha include the Latin letter A and the Cyrillic letter А. Uses Greek In Ancient Greek, alpha was pronounced and could be either phonemically long ([aː]) or short ([a]). Where there is ambiguity, long and short alpha are sometimes written with a macron and breve today: . = "a time" = "tongue" In Modern Greek, vowel length has been lost, and all instances of alpha simply represent the open front unrounded vowel .