Lambda

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Lambda (/ˈlæmdə/;[1] uppercase Λ, lowercase λ; Greek: λάμ(β)δα, lám(b)da) is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced alveolar lateral approximant IPA: [l]. In the system of Greek numerals, lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is derived from the Phoenician Lamed. Lambda gave rise to the Latin L and the Cyrillic El (Л). The ancient grammarians and dramatists give evidence to the pronunciation as [laːbdaː] (λάβδα) in Classical Greek times.[2] In Modern Greek, the name of the letter, Λάμδα, is pronounced [ˈlam.ða].

In early Greek alphabets, the shape and orientation of lambda varied.[3] Most variants consisted of two straight strokes, one longer than the other, connected at their ends. The angle might be in the upper-left, lower-left ("Western" alphabets) or top ("Eastern" alphabets). Other variants had a vertical line with a horizontal or sloped stroke running to the right. With the general adoption of the Ionic alphabet, Greek settled on an angle at the top; the Romans put the angle at the lower-left.

The HTML 4 character entity references for the Greek capital and small letter lambda are Λ and λ respectively.[4] The Unicode code points for lambda are U+039B and U+03BB.

The Greek alphabet on a black figure vessel, with a Phoenician-lamed-shaped lambda. The gamma has the shape of modern lambda.

Symbol[edit]

Upper-case letter Λ[edit]

Examples of the symbolic use of uppercase lambda include:

Lower-case letter λ[edit]

Lower-case lambda

Examples of the symbolic use of lowercase lambda include:

Litra symbol[edit]

The Roman libra and Byzantine lítra (λίτρα), which served as both the pound mass unit and liter volume unit, were abbreviated in Greek using lambda with modified forms of the iota subscript ⟨λͅ⟩. These are variously encoded in Unicode. The Ancient Greek Numbers Unicode block includes 10183 GREEK LITRA SIGN (𐆃) as well as 𐅢, which is described as 10162 GREEK ACROPHONIC HERMIONIAN TEN[16] but was much more common as a form of the litra sign. A variant of the sign can be formed from 0338 COMBINING LONG SOLIDUS OVERLAY and either 039B GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA (Λ̸) or 03BB GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA (λ̸).[17]

Character encodings[edit]

Unicode uses the (Modern Greek-based) spelling "lamda" in character names, instead of "lambda", due to "the pre-existing names in ISO 8859-7, as well as preferences expressed by the Greek National Body".[18]

  • Greek Lambda / Coptic Laula
Character information
Preview Λ λ
Unicode name GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA GREEK LETTER SMALL CAPITAL LAMDA COPTIC CAPITAL LETTER LAULA COPTIC SMALL LETTER LAULA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 923 U+039B 955 U+03BB 7463 U+1D27 11414 U+2C96 11415 U+2C97
UTF-8 206 155 CE 9B 206 187 CE BB 225 180 167 E1 B4 A7 226 178 150 E2 B2 96 226 178 151 E2 B2 97
Numeric character reference Λ Λ λ λ ᴧ ᴧ Ⲗ Ⲗ ⲗ ⲗ
Named character reference Λ λ
DOS Greek 138 8A 162 A2
DOS Greek-2 182 B6 229 E5
Windows-1253 203 CB 235 EB
TeX \Lambda \lambda
  • Mathematical Lambda
Character information
Preview 𝚲 𝛌 𝛬 𝜆 𝜦 𝝀
Unicode name MATHEMATICAL BOLD
CAPITAL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL BOLD
SMALL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL ITALIC
CAPITAL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL ITALIC
SMALL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL BOLD ITALIC
CAPITAL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL BOLD ITALIC
SMALL LAMDA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 120498 U+1D6B2 120524 U+1D6CC 120556 U+1D6EC 120582 U+1D706 120614 U+1D726 120640 U+1D740
UTF-8 240 157 154 178 F0 9D 9A B2 240 157 155 140 F0 9D 9B 8C 240 157 155 172 F0 9D 9B AC 240 157 156 134 F0 9D 9C 86 240 157 156 166 F0 9D 9C A6 240 157 157 128 F0 9D 9D 80
UTF-16 55349 57010 D835 DEB2 55349 57036 D835 DECC 55349 57068 D835 DEEC 55349 57094 D835 DF06 55349 57126 D835 DF26 55349 57152 D835 DF40
Numeric character reference 𝚲 𝚲 𝛌 𝛌 𝛬 𝛬 𝜆 𝜆 𝜦 𝜦 𝝀 𝝀
Character information
Preview 𝝠 𝝺 𝞚 𝞴
Unicode name MATHEMATICAL SANS-SERIF
BOLD CAPITAL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL SANS-SERIF
BOLD SMALL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL SANS-SERIF
BOLD ITALIC CAPITAL LAMDA
MATHEMATICAL SANS-SERIF
BOLD ITALIC SMALL LAMDA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 120672 U+1D760 120698 U+1D77A 120730 U+1D79A 120756 U+1D7B4
UTF-8 240 157 157 160 F0 9D 9D A0 240 157 157 186 F0 9D 9D BA 240 157 158 154 F0 9D 9E 9A 240 157 158 180 F0 9D 9E B4
UTF-16 55349 57184 D835 DF60 55349 57210 D835 DF7A 55349 57242 D835 DF9A 55349 57268 D835 DFB4
Numeric character reference 𝝠 𝝠 𝝺 𝝺 𝞚 𝞚 𝞴 𝞴

These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "lambda". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Herbert Weir Smyth. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. I.1.c
  3. ^ "Epigraphic Sources for Early Greek Writing". Poinikastas.CSAD.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  4. ^ "HTML 4.01 Specification. 24. Character entity references in HTML 4". World Wide Web Consortium.
  5. ^ Philodemus (2003). On Poems. Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 9780199262854.
  6. ^ Nelkon, Michael (1977). Fundamentals of Physics. St. Albans, Hertfordshire: Hart-Davis Educational. p. 329.
  7. ^ "Encyclopedia Astronautica: Lambda". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  8. ^ Wankat Separation Process Engineering 2nd ed, Prentice Hall
  9. ^ "Half-Life on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Valve. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
  10. ^ "Half-Life 2 on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Valve. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
  11. ^ Rapp, Linda (2004). "Gay Activists Alliance" (PDF). glbtq.com.
  12. ^ "1969, The Year of Gay Liberation". The New York Public Library. June 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  13. ^ Goodwin, Joseph P. (1989). "It Takes One to Know One". More Man Than You'll Ever Be: Gay Folklore and Acculturation in Middle America. Indiana University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0253338938.
  14. ^ Rapp, Linda (2003). "Symbols" (PDF). glbtq.com.
  15. ^ Haggerty, George E., ed. (2000). Gay Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia (Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures, Volume II) (1 ed.). London: Garland Publishing. p. 529. ISBN 0-8153-1880-4. OCLC 750790369.
  16. ^ Unicode Ancient Greek Numbers block.
  17. ^ "Thesaurus Linguae Graecae" (PDF). Stephanus.TLG.UCI.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16.
  18. ^ "Unicode Mail List Archive: RE: Greek letter "LAMDA"?".