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Digamma (upper case , lower case ) is an archaic letter of the Greek Alphabet , used primarily as a Greek Numeral . The letter had the phonetic value of a Voiced Labial-velar Approximant . Its original name is unknown, but was probably (wau). It was later called 'digamma' (double Gamma ) because of its shape. It is attested in archaic and dialectal Ancient Greek Inscription s, and is occasionally used as a symbol in later Greek mathematical texts. It is also used as the Greek Numeral 6. In ancient usage, the numeral had the same form as the letter digamma. However, in medieval and modern usage, the numeral has normally been written in the graphic form of a Stigma (, ), which historically is completely distinct from digamma; it is a medieval Ligature of Sigma and Tau . To complete the confusion, in modern times, the sequence στ or ΣΤ is sometimes used instead of the stigma symbol. Digamma, like Y , derives from the Phoenician letter Waw , and in its turn gave rise to the Roman Letter F . THE SOUND IN GREEK
In Ionic , had probably disappeared before Homer 's epics were written down ( 7th Century BC ), but its former presence can be detected in many cases because its omission left the Meter defective. An example is the word (king) found in the Iliad , which would originally have been Also (wine) was used in the meter where a word starting with a consonant would be expected. Further evidence coupled with cognate-analysis shows that was earlier [woinos (cf. Latin ''vinum'' and English "wine"). Digamma Club was the original name of the Fox Club , a Harvard University Final Club . |