h
/eɪtʃ/
noun
Origin
Phoenician
𐤇 — fence or barrier
Overview
Meaning Now
- The eighth letter of the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet.
Language path
Phoenician → Greek → Etruscan → Latin → English
Earliest form
𐤇 (het)
Earliest period
8th century BCE
Journey
The letter 'h' derives from the Phoenician letter 'het', which depicted a fence or wall. In early Greek, it was used as a consonant /h/ (as 'heta'), but in the Ionic alphabet, it evolved into the long vowel 'eta' (Η). The Romans adopted the symbol back for the glottal fricative sound, solidifying its place in the Latin alphabet.
Evolution
- Phoenician (c. 800 BCE)
𐤇
“fence”
Called 'het'.
- Greek (c. 600 BCE)
Η (eta)
“vowel /ɛː/”
Originally represented a consonant, later repurposed for a vowel.
- Etruscan/Latin (c. 400 BCE)
H
“consonant /h/”
Adopted back as a glottal fricative.
- Modern English
h
“letter /h/”
Connections
Related across languages
Hebrew
ח (chet)
eighth letter
Greek
Η (eta)
seventh letter
Explore next
Related to h
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.