![]() The study of the circle eventually led to the development of astronomy, geometry and calculus. Many have ascribed divine qualities to circles. In mathematics, the number 0, or simply zero, most likely derived its shape from the sun and the moon. While the English alphabet has stayed true to the original Egyptian graphic, it’s interesting to note that the Afaka script, a Ndyuka language, and the Ol Chiki script, a Santali language, use the same shape to denote a similar sound. The shape of the letter in both alphabets is attributed to the shape of the mouth when making the sound, not any sort of universal or geographic relationship. ![]() The long /o/ is a close-mid rounded vowel and creates the sound heard in :boat” and “remote.” The letter takes on a slight phonetic variation when followed by the consonant /w/ as in “prowl.” An example of the short /o/ sound is best exemplified by “‘fox.” Unlike the letter C, O has a clearly-defined phonetic identity. The vowel characters we utilize in our modern English alphabet are thought to originate from the Greeks who borrowed the letter and adapted it for the Greek O, or omicron, which literally means “small o.” In contrast, the Greek word omega means “great O.” The sound is probably a derivation of the Arabic letter called ‘Ayn. Let’s look at the distinct astrological and optical inspirations that created these seemingly identical symbols.ĭerived from the Semitic letter ayin and inspired by the circular eye-shaped Egyptian hieroglyph for “eye,” the letter O is the fourth most popular letter in the English alphabet. ![]() While the two share the same shape, the origin of both number and letter are quite different. Long, long ago, typewriters made no distinction between the number 0 and the letter O. ![]()
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