Why Is ‘A’ the First Letter of the Alphabet?
Our modern English alphabet, consisting of 26 letters, is sometimes taken for granted. But if someone were to say that the letter “a” was no longer the first letter in the sequence, the outcry and ensuing chaos would be swift and widespread. For all of us, “a” naturally comes first
— in the alphabet, in school grades, and in expressions such as “A to Z” and “A-list.” Even the word “alphabet” comes from the Greek alphabetos, itself from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the alphabet. But why is “a” the first letter, and not “b,” or “m,”...
