alphabet

Everyday

1. The alphabet is the set of letters used to write a language, put in a fixed order. tree →
2. An alphabet is any such set of letters, like the Greek alphabet. tree →
3. The basics of something are sometimes called its alphabet. tree →

In the lessons

In literacy the English alphabet has 26 letters from A to Z: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 21 consonants (y can act as both). Alphabetical order is used in dictionaries, registers and indexes. Other alphabets: Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic. Phrases: «alphabet song», «in alphabetical order».

Examples

• The English alphabet has 26 letters. tree →
• Can you say the alphabet backwards? tree →
• Put these words in alphabetical order. tree →
• The Greek alphabet starts with alpha and beta. tree →
• Little children sing the alphabet song. tree →
• Z is the last letter of the alphabet. tree →
• Chinese is not written with an alphabet. tree →
• The eighth letter from the end of the alphabet is S, and therefore the snail received the second prize. tree →

Note

The word comes from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters. Adjective: alphabetical. In maths, the alphabet has 26 letters, so the middle is between M (13th) and N (14th). Not all writing systems are alphabets.

In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: In Sefer Yetzirah, the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are the tools God used to make the world, each one carved, weighed and combined. In the primary lessons: In literacy the English alphabet has 26 letters from A to Z: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 21 consonants (y can act as both). Alphabetical order is used in dictionaries, registers and indexes. Other alphabets: Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic. Phrases: «alphabet song», «in alphabetical order».

Examples

• Drawing the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet around the edge of a circle, it takes 231 lines, here called שְׁעָרִים sheʽarim ‘gates’, to connect every possible combination of 2 letters. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
• 7:1 Thus for instance, they imagined that the name of Jehovah, יהוי, is by reversing the alphabet; מצפץ (mzpz); mem signifies the letter jod, zaddi, the letter he, and pe, the letter wav. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
• ") See -Alphabet of Ben Sira", ed. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

The word comes from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters. Adjective: alphabetical. In maths, the alphabet has 26 letters, so the middle is between M (13th) and N (14th). Not all writing systems are alphabets.