Phi (letter)

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Phi uc lc.svg
Common letters
Αα Alpha Νν Nu
Ββ Beta Ξξ Xi
Γγ Gamma Οο Omicron
Δδ Delta Ππ Pi
Εε Epsilon Ρρ Rho
Ζζ Zeta Σσς Sigma
Ηη Eta Ττ Tau
Θθ Theta Υυ Upsilon
Ιι Iota Φφ Phi
Κκ Kappa Χχ Chi
Λλ Lambda Ψψ Psi
Μμ Mu Ωω Omega
Uncommon letters
Greek Digamma normal.svg Digamma Qoppa Q-and-Z-shaped.svg Qoppa
Greek San straight.svg San Greek Sampi 2 shapes.svg Sampi
Other letters
Greek Stigma.svg Stigma Bactrian Sho.svg Sho
Greek Eta tack.svg Heta

Greek alphabet

Phi (uppercase/lowercase Φ φ), is the letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "ph" sound in Ancient Greek. This sound changed to "f" some time in the 1st century AD, and in Modern Greek the letter denotes the "f" sound. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 500. The Cyrillic letter Ф came from Phi. In English, φ is pronounced like "f" but transliterated (re-written) as "ph" in words which originate in Ancient Greek. In those words which originate in Modern Greek, such as feta cheese, φ is translitterated as "f". The letter Phi is used in the golden Ratios and Phi represents the number aproximately: 1.618033988749.