F, letter corresponding to the sixth letter of the Greek, Etruscan and Latin alphabets, known to the Greeks as digamma.

The sound represented by the Greek language was a labial semivowel similar to English w. This sound had disappeared from the early Ionian and Athenian Greek dialects, so that the Ionic alphabet, which was eventually used in Greece, did not contain digamma. Nevertheless, it has been preserved for some time in many local dialects and alphabets, including the one from which the Etruscan one was derived (and through it the Latin alphabet) was derived.

None of the various Greek forms found in the Semitic alphabets. Its origin in the Greek alphabet is the subject of dispute, some argue that it comes from semiotic vau and others less convincing, arguing that it is simply limited to the previous letter E by the absence of horizontal stroke. In both cases, most likely, the Greeks are not the innovators, since the shape of the letter is found in the Lydian alphabet. The letter was probably contained in the Asiatic alphabet, from which the Greek, Lithuanian and Etruscan originated.

Download F Letter PNG images transparent gallery.