𓃾 α

The first letter 'alpha' in modern Alphabets

Originally read al'Pha, so not just 'a', but 'pha','fai'

This is reflected in the Futhark, the rune alphabet:

The Fe rune ᚠ (Old Norse fé; Old English feoh) represents the f-sound in the Younger Futhark and Futhorc alphabets. It cognates to English fee, wealth, fee with the original meaning of Vieh : "sheep" or "cattle" (Dutch Vee, German Vieh, Latin pecum, Sanskrit pashu).

𓃾 α ἄλφα 𐤀 ʾ “aleph”

𒀠𒁍 al-pu bull ox 𒁍 ≈ α

𒀠𒁍 al eph ef eƒ e ⋍ a/o

𒀖 AP •alp alpha ≈ 𒀖 ≈ 𒌋𒋰 ≈ 𒌋𒑙 ≈ 𒀫 aˡbūru Apis bull 𓃒 water-buffalo

𐤀𐤋𐤐 ʾlp, “bull, ox, head of cattle”

𓃾 α al'pha : das Vieh,
𓃾 α al'phal : the bull
𓃾 α al'par פר : the bull
𓃾 α al'phais : bos (buffallo) 𓐑𓊪𓃒 'Apis' Bull < bos < boc < byk:
𓃾 α al'byk : der Bock “bull” Proto-Slavic *bykъ. Proto-Turkic *buka “bull” bika буга
⇔ bucêt “to sound, to buzz” Latvian bukti “to moo” bukas “bittern” Welsh bugad “lowing, bellowing”

𒀀 alpha < al.pal ⇔ Apis bull late reading:
𒀭𒊹𒆕𒀀 Assurbanipal Aššur-bāni-apli or Aššur-bāni-habal

al'pha constructs were common :

𒆷𒁀𒊒 | old | la-ba-ru l'parajo 𐀞𐀨𐀍 pa-ra-jo παλαιός palaiós pałeo vieri ძველი ʒveli vieux vieille +++
𒆷𒁀𒉡 | old | la-baʳnu l'purānā पुराना purātana ಪುರಾತನ excessive
𒆷𒁀𒉡 | old | la-ba-nu lebanon “white” al'bana
𒆷𒁀𒉡 | old | la-ba-nu l'vanha@Uralic

𒆷𒁀𒋗 la-ba-šu l'vest < bast
𒆷𒁀𒋗 to clothe oneself

compare
Letter 'A' 𓄿 Aar = eagle / air
Letter ‘A’ 𓂝 Ar *Arm *Hand vs *Dharma 𓂧 Orm
Letter 'R' 𓂋 OHR eaRl à
𐦃 meroitic O Ox
𐍉 gothic O OTHAL 𓍲 ox/taur
𐍉 gothic O OTHAL 𓍵 thalassea θάλασσα 𓍱𓍶𓍲 ocean
ო georgian letter 'On' vs omikra ω Ohmega Ω 𓍶
see Ⲁ

𒇷𒄿 𒅇 𒅀𒇷 alpha ù ελάφι / ⲉⲓⲟⲩⲗ
𒇷𒄿 𒅇 𒅀𒇷 li-i ù ia-li

The f component was consistently 'lost' amongst many branches of the alphabet:

𓊪 𓏏 𓇯 𓀭 Ptah > दिवि ftvi > ि divi deus sky

𒀜 𒁕 𒀸 [v]ad-da-aš father ἄττα (átta), Gothic 𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰
𒀜𒁕𒍪 [v]ad-da-zu father petrus 𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 Peterson
𒀜 𒋫 𒀸 [v]attaš

Likely it was just an orthographic convention: al'pha = pha at beginning of word.

𒀊 abbe < papa

𓃒 𐤀𐤋𐤐 ʾlp ⇔ help PIE √ḱelb-, *ḱelp- ⇔ kalb

Alwa

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