Al′pha and O′mega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, sometimes used to signify the beginning and the end, or the first and the last of anything; also as a symbol of the Divine Being (Rev. i, 8; xxi, 6; xxii, 13). They were also formerly the symbol of Christianity, and engraved accordingly on the tombs of the ancient Christians. Some of these engravings are to be seen in the Louvre.
Al′phabet (from Alpha and Beta, the two first letters of the Greek alphabet), the series of characters used in writing a language, and intended to represent the sounds of which it consists. The English alphabet, like most of those of modern Europe, is derived directly from the Latin, the Latin from the ancient Greek, and that from the Phœnician, which again is believed to have had its origin in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, although Egyptologists are not unanimous on this point. There is little evidence in support of the theory that the Phœnician alphabet had developed from the Assyrian cuneiform. Some scholars, like Sir Arthur Evans, are of opinion that the Philistines established on the coast of Palestine had brought the alphabet over from Crete, and that from them it passed to the Phœnicians. The names of the letters in Phœnician and Hebrew must have been almost the same, for the Greek names, which, with the letters, were borrowed from the former, differ little from the Hebrew. By means of the names we may trace the process by which the Egyptian characters were transformed into letters by the Phœnicians. Some Egyptian character would, by its form, recall the idea of a house, for example, in Phœnician or Hebrew beth. This character would subsequently come to be used wherever the sound b occurred. Its form might be afterwards simplified, or even completely modified, but the name would still remain, as beth still continues the Hebrew name for b, and beta the Greek. Our letter m, which in Hebrew was called mim, water, has still a considerable resemblance to the zig-zag wavy line which had been chosen to represent water, as in the zodiacal symbol for Aquarius. The letter o, of which the Hebrew name means eye, no doubt was originally intended to represent that organ. While the ancient Greek alphabet gave rise to the ordinary Greek alphabet and the Latin, the Greek alphabet of later times furnished elements for the Coptic, the Gothic, and the old Slavic alphabets. The Latin characters are now employed by a great many nations, such as the Italian, the French, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the English, the Dutch, the German, the Hungarian, the Polish, &c., each nation having introduced such modifications or additions as are necessary to express the sound of the language peculiar to it. The Greek alphabet originally possessed only sixteen letters, though the Phœnician had twenty-two. The original Latin alphabet, as it is found in the oldest inscriptions, consisted of twenty-one letters; namely, the
vowels a, e, i, o, and u (v), and the consonants b, c, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, x, z. The Anglo-Saxon alphabet had two characters for the digraph th, which were unfortunately not retained in later English; it had also the character æ. It wanted j, v, y (consonant), and z. The German alphabet consists of the same letters as the English, but the sounds of some of them are different. Anciently certain characters called Runic were made use of by the Teutonic nations, to which some would attribute an origin independent of the Greek and Latin alphabets. Wimmer, the Danish scholar, is, however, of opinion that the runes were developed from the Latin alphabet. While the alphabets of the west of Europe are derived from the Latin, the Russian, which is very complete, is based on the Greek, with some characters borrowed from the Armenian, &c; it is called azbouka, from the first two letters az, a, and bouki, b. Among Asiatic alphabets, the Arabian (ultimately of Phœnician origin) has played a part analogous to that of the Latin in Europe, the conquests of Mohammedanism having imposed it on the Persian, the Turkish, the Hindustani, &c. The Sanskrit or Devanāgari alphabet is one of the most remarkable alphabets of the world. As now used it has fourteen characters for the vowels and diphthongs, and thirty-three for the consonants, besides two other symbols. Our alphabet is a very imperfect instrument for what it has to perform, being both defective and redundant. An alphabet is not essential to the writing of a language, since ideograms or symbols may be used instead, as in Chinese. See Writing.—Bibliography: E. Clodd, The Alphabet (Useful Knowledge Series, Hodder & Stoughton); Canon J. Taylor, The Alphabet; Philippe Berger, Histoire de l'Écriture dans l'Antiquité.
Alphē′us (now Rufia), the largest river of Peloponnesus, flowing westwards into the Ionian Sea. In Greek mythology Alphēus is supposed to have been the son of Oceanus and Tethys.
Alphon′so, the name of a number of Portuguese and Spanish kings. Among the former may be mentioned Alphonso I, the Conqueror, first King of Portugal, son of Henry of Burgundy, the Conqueror and first Count of Portugal; born 1110, fought successfully against the Spaniards and the Moors, named himself King of Portugal, and was as such recognized by the Pope; died 1185.—Alphonso V, the African, born in 1432; succeeded his father, Edward I, 1438; conquered Tangiers in 1471; died 1481. During his reign Prince Henry the Navigator continued the important voyages of discovery already begun by the Portuguese. Under him was drawn up an important code of laws.—Among kings of Spain may be mentioned Alphonso X, King of Castile and Leon, surnamed the Astronomer, the Philosopher, or the Wise (El Sabio); born in 1226; succeeded in 1252. Being grandson of Philip of Hohenstaufen, son of Frederick Barbarossa, he endeavoured to have himself elected Emperor of Germany, and in 1257 succeeded in dividing the election with Richard, Earl of Cornwall. On Richard's death in 1272 he again unsuccessfully contested the imperial crown. Meantime his throne was endangered by conspiracies of the nobles and the attacks of the Moors. The Moors he conquered, but his domestic troubles were less easily overcome, and he was finally dethroned by his son Sancho, and died two years after, 1284. Alphonso was the most learned prince of his age. Under his direction or superintendence were drawn up a celebrated code of laws, valuable astronomical tables which go under his name (Alphonsine Tables), the first general history of Spain in the Castilian tongue, and a Spanish translation of the Bible.—Alphonso V of Aragon, I of Naples and Sicily, born in 1385, was the son of Ferdinand I of Aragon, the throne of which he ascended in 1416, ruling also over Sicily and the Island of Sardinia. Queen Joanna of Naples made him her heir, but after her death in 1435 her will was disputed by René of Anjou. Alphonso now proceeded to take possession of Naples by force, which he succeeded in doing in 1442, and reigned till his death in 1458. He was an enlightened patron of literary men, by whom, in the latter part of his reign, his Court was thronged.—Alphonso XII, King of Spain, the only son of Queen Isabella II and her cousin Francis of Assisi, was born in 1857 and died in 1885. He left Spain with his mother when she was driven from the throne by the revolution of 1868, and till 1874 resided partly in France, partly in Austria. In the latter year he studied for a time at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, being then known as Prince of the Asturias. His mother had given up her claims to the throne in 1870 in his favour, and in 1874 Alphonso came forward himself as claimant, and in the end of the year was proclaimed by General Martinez Campos as king. He now passed over into Spain and was enthusiastically received, most of the Spaniards being by this time tired of the republican Government, which had failed to put down the Carlist party. Alphonso was successful in bringing the Carlist struggle to an end (1876), and henceforth he reigned with little disturbance. His minister Canovas del Castillo ruined, however, Alphonso's popularity when he advised the king to conclude an alliance with Bismarck and Germany. He married first his cousin Maria de las Mercedes, daughter of the Duc de Montpensier; second, Maria Christina, Archduchess of Austria, whom he left a widow with two daughters and a son.—Alphonso XIII, King of Spain, born in 1886, the posthumous son of
Alphonso XII. His mother was appointed regent during his minority, and acted as such until 1902. On attaining his sixteenth year, the king assumed personal charge of the Government. In 1906 (31st May) he married Princess Ena, daughter of Princess Henry of Battenberg, a daughter of Queen Victoria.
Alpine Club, an association of English gentlemen, originating in 1856 or 1857, having as their common bond of union a delight in making the ascent of mountains, in the Alps or elsewhere, difficult to ascend, and in investigating everything connected with mountains. Similar associations now exist in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France.
Alpine Crow, or Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocŏrax alpīnus), a European bird closely akin to the chough of England.
Alpine Museum, a museum established at Munich in 1911 by the German and Austrian Alpine Club. Its purpose is to spread knowledge about the Alps, and to disseminate the results of scientific research by means of exhibits and literary publications. Not only alpine geology, botany, and zoology, but also industry, custom, and costumes are well demonstrated in the exhibits.
Alpine Plants, the name given to those plants whose habitat is in the neighbourhood of the snow, on mountains partly covered with it all the year round. As the height of the snow-line varies according to the latitude and local conditions, so also does the height at which these plants grow. The mean height for the alpine plants of Central Europe is about 6000 feet; but it rises in parts of the Alps and in the Pyrenees to 9000 feet, or even more. The high grounds clear of snow among these mountains present a very well marked flora, the general characters of the plants being a low dwarfish habit, a tendency to form thick turfs, stems partly or wholly woody, and large brilliantly-coloured and often very sweet-smelling flowers. They are also often closely covered with woolly hairs. In the Alps of Middle Europe the eye is at once attracted by gentians, saxifrages, rhododendrons, primroses of different kinds, &c. Ferns and mosses of many kinds also characterize these regions. Some alpine plants are found only in one locality. Considerable success has attended the attempt to grow alpine plants in gardens, the first necessity being a situation where there is plenty of sunlight, and which is free from the shade of trees.