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Psi (letter)


Psi (uppercase Ψ, lowercase ψ; Greek: Ψι Psi) is the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet and has a numeric value of 700. In both Classical and Modern Greek, the letter indicates the combination /ps/ (as in English word "lapse").

For Greek loanwords in Latin and modern languages with Latin alphabets, psi is usually transliterated as "ps". In English, the letter is pronounced /ˈs/ or sometimes /ˈps/. (In Greek, it is pronounced [ˈpsi].)

The letter's origin is uncertain. It may or may not derive from the Phoenician alphabet. It appears in the 7th century BC, expressing /ps/ in the Eastern alphabets, but /kʰ/ in the Western alphabets (the sound expressed by Χ in the Eastern alphabets). In writing, the early letter appears in an angular shape (Greek Psi straight.svg). There were early graphical variants that omitted the stem ("chickenfoot-shaped psi" as: Greek Psi V-shaped.svg or Greek Chi 05.svg).


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