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Beta (letter)
Encyclopedia
Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet
. In Ancient Greek
, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive
/b/. In Modern Greek
, it represents the voiced labiodental fricative
/v/.
The letter Beta was derived from the Phoenician letter
Beth
. Letters that arose from Beta include the Roman letter ⟨B
⟩ and the Cyrillic letters ⟨Б
⟩ and ⟨В
⟩.
In the system of Greek numerals
Beta has a value of 2.
name of the corresponding letter in Phoenician, which was the common Semitic
word *bayt ('house'). In Greek, the name was bêta, pronounced bɛ̂ːta in Ancient Greek. It is spelled βήτα in the modern monotonic orthography, and pronounced ˈvita. In English, the name is pronounced either /ˈbeɪtə/ (US) or /ˈbiːtə/ (UK)).
is used within a word: is printed .
In typesetting technical literature, it is a commonly made mistake to use the German letter ß
(a double-s ligature) as a replacement for β. The two letters resemble each other in some fonts, but they are unrelated.
, ⟨B⟩ symbolizes non-standardized partial slope coefficients, whereas ⟨β⟩ represents standardized (standard deviation-score form) coefficients
; in both cases, the coefficients reflect the change in the criterion Y per one-unit change in the value of the associated predictor X.
, Greek minuscule beta denotes a voiced bilabial fricative
[β].
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
. In Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive
Voiced bilabial plosive
The voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is b. The voiced bilabial plosive occurs in English, and it is the sound denoted by the...
/b/. In Modern Greek
Modern Greek
Modern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...
, it represents the voiced labiodental fricative
Voiced labiodental fricative
The voiced labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is v....
/v/.
The letter Beta was derived from the Phoenician letter
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
Beth
Bet (letter)
Bet, Beth, Beh, or Vet is the second letter of many Semitic abjads, including Arabic alphabet , Aramaic, Hebrew , Phoenician and Syriac...
B
B is the second letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is used to represent a variety of bilabial sounds , most commonly a voiced bilabial plosive.-History:...
⟩ and the Cyrillic letters ⟨Б
Be (Cyrillic)
Be is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the voiced bilabial plosive , like the English pronunciation of ⟨b⟩ in "bee"...
⟩ and ⟨В
Ve (Cyrillic)
Ve is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced labiodental fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨v⟩ in "very"....
⟩.
In the system of Greek numerals
Greek numerals
Greek numerals are a system of representing numbers using letters of the Greek alphabet. They are also known by the names Ionian numerals, Milesian numerals , Alexandrian numerals, or alphabetic numerals...
Beta has a value of 2.
Name
Like the names of most other Greek letters, the name of beta was adopted from the acrophonicAcrophony
Acrophony is the naming of letters of an alphabetic writing system so that a letter's name begins with the letter itself. For example, Greek letter names are acrophonic: the names of the letters α, β, γ, δ, are spelled with the respective letters: ....
name of the corresponding letter in Phoenician, which was the common Semitic
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
word *bayt ('house'). In Greek, the name was bêta, pronounced bɛ̂ːta in Ancient Greek. It is spelled βήτα in the modern monotonic orthography, and pronounced ˈvita. In English, the name is pronounced either /ˈbeɪtə/ (US) or /ˈbiːtə/ (UK)).
Uses
Typography
In some high-quality typesetting, especially in the French tradition, a typographic variant of the lowercase letter without a descenderDescender
In typography, a descender is the portion of a letter that extends below the baseline of a font. The line that descenders reach down to is known as the beard line....
is used within a word: is printed .
In typesetting technical literature, it is a commonly made mistake to use the German letter ß
ß
In the German alphabet, ß is a letter that originated as a ligature of ss or sz. Like double "s", it is pronounced as an , but in standard spelling, it is only used after long vowels and diphthongs, while ss is used after short vowels...
(a double-s ligature) as a replacement for β. The two letters resemble each other in some fonts, but they are unrelated.
Math and science
Beta is often used to denote a variable in mathematics and physics, where it often has specific meanings for certain applications, such as representing beta radiation. In regression analysisRegression analysis
In statistics, regression analysis includes many techniques for modeling and analyzing several variables, when the focus is on the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables...
, ⟨B⟩ symbolizes non-standardized partial slope coefficients, whereas ⟨β⟩ represents standardized (standard deviation-score form) coefficients
Standardized coefficient
In statistics, standardized coefficients or beta coefficients are the estimates resulting from an analysis carried out on variables that have been standardized so that their variances are 1. Therefore, standardized coefficients refer to how many standard deviations a dependent variable will change,...
; in both cases, the coefficients reflect the change in the criterion Y per one-unit change in the value of the associated predictor X.
International Phonetic Alphabet
In the International Phonetic AlphabetInternational Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
, Greek minuscule beta denotes a voiced bilabial fricative
Voiced bilabial fricative
-See also:* List of phonetics topics...
[β].
Meteorology
- The name Beta was used as a name during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season2005 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, repeatedly shattering numerous records. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with an estimated 3,913 deaths and record damage of about $159.2 billion...
as Hurricane Beta.
Technical notes
| description | character | Unicode | HTML |
|---|---|---|---|
| GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA | Β | U+0392 | Β Β |
| GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA | β | U+03B2 | β β |
| GREEK BETA SYMBOL | ϐ | U+03D0 | ϐ |
| MODIFIER LETTER SMALL BETA | ◌ᵝ | U+1D5D | ᵝ |
| GREEK SUBSCRIPT SMALL LETTER BETA | ◌ᵦ | U+1D66 | ᵦ |