Theta Explained

Theta (; uppercase Θ or ; lowercase θ or ; Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: {{linktext|θῆτα thē̂ta in Greek, Modern (1453-); pronounced as /tʰɛ̂ːta/; Modern: Greek, Modern (1453-);: {{linktext|θήτα thī́ta in Greek, Modern (1453-); pronounced as /ˈθita/) is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 9.

Greek

In Ancient Greek, θ represented the aspirated voiceless dental plosive in Greek, Modern (1453-); pronounced as /t̪ʰ/, but in Modern Greek it represents the voiceless dental fricative in Greek, Modern (1453-); pronounced as /θ/.

Forms

In its archaic form, θ was written as a cross within a circle (as in the Etruscan or), and later, as a line or point in circle (or).

The cursive form was retained by Unicode as, separate from . (There is also). For the purpose of writing Greek text, the two can be font variants of a single character, but are also used as distinct symbols in technical and mathematical contexts. Extensive lists of examples follow below at Mathematics and Science. is also common in biblical and theological usage e.g. instead of πρόθεσις (means placing in public or laying out a corpse).

Latin

In Latin script used for the Gaulish language, theta inspired the tau gallicum . The phonetic value of the tau gallicum is thought to have been pronounced as /[t͡s]/.[1] Theta itself is used alongside Latin letters in Halkomelem, an indigenous North American language.

Cyrillic

The early Cyrillic letter fita (Ѳ, ѳ) developed from θ. This letter existed in the Russian alphabet until the 1918 Russian orthography reform.

International Phonetic Alphabet

In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), pronounced as /[θ]/ represents the voiceless dental fricative, as in thick or thin. It does not represent the consonant in the, which is the voiced dental fricative counterpart, represented in the IPA by pronounced as /[ð]/ (cf. Eth). A similar-looking lower-case symbol, pronounced as /[ɵ]/, which is called barred o, is the IPA symbol for the close-mid central rounded vowel.

Mathematics and science

Lower case

The lowercase letter θ is used as a symbol for:

Upper case

The uppercase letter Θ is used as a symbol for:

Symbolism

In ancient times, Tau was used as a symbol for life or resurrection, whereas the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet (ninth in the archaic form anciently used for numeration), theta, was considered the symbol of death.[3] A quotation attributed to the ancient Roman author Ennius (though possibly spuriously) said of it: "oh, theta, a letter much unluckier than the others".[4]

According to Porphyry of Tyros, the Egyptians used an X within a circle as a symbol of the soul; having a value of nine, it was used as a symbol for Ennead. Johannes Lydus says that the Egyptians used a symbol for Kosmos in the form of theta, with a fiery circle representing the world, and a snake spanning the middle representing Agathos Daimon (literally: good spirit).[5]

Abbreviation

See main article: Theta nigrum. In classical Athens, it was used as an abbreviation for the Greek θάνατος (Thanatos, "death") and as it vaguely resembles a human skull,[5] theta was used as a warning symbol of death, in the same way that skull and crossbones are used in modern times.[5] It survives on potsherds used by Athenians when voting for the death penalty.[5] Petrus de Dacia in a document from 1291 relates the idea that theta was used to brand criminals as empty ciphers, and the branding rod was affixed to the crossbar spanning the circle.[6] For this reason, the use of the number 9 was sometimes avoided where the connotation was felt to be unlucky—the mint marks of some Late Imperial Roman coins famously have the sum ΔΕ or ΕΔ (delta and epsilon, that is 4 and 5) substituted as a euphemism where a Θ (9) would otherwise be expected.

Character encodings

These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style.

See also

Notes and references

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: L2/19-179: Proposal for the addition of four Latin characters for Gaulish. 2019-05-26. Michael. Everson. Chris. Lilley.
  2. Feferman . Solomon . 2010 . Schindler . Ralf . The Proof Theory of Classical and Constructive Inductive Definitions. A Forty Year Saga, 1968 – 2008 . Ways of Proof Theory . 7-30.
  3. Mednikarova . Iveta . The Use of Θ in Latin Funerary Inscriptions . . 136 . 2001 . 267–276 . 20190914 .
  4. Book: Ennius . Quintus . Ennius . Goldberg . Sander M. . Manuwald . Gesine . Gesine Manuwald . Fragmentary Republican Latin, Volume I: Ennius, Testimonia. Epic Fragments. . 2018 . Harvard University Press . Cambridge, MA . 456-457.
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