Peter Giles

“ In the Phoenician alphabet it takes a form closely resembling the English W, and this when moved through an angle of 90° is the ordinary Greek sigma Σ. In Phoenician itself and in the other Semitic alphabets the position of the middle legs of the W is altered so that the symbol takes such forms as or or , ultimately ending sometimes in a form like K laid sideways, K. In Greek, where Σ is the twentieth letter of the alphabet, or, if the merely numerical ϛ and ϙ are excluded, the eighteenth, another form or according to the direction of the writing is also widespread. ”

“ For the symbol Ͳ which was used at Ephesus and other places in Asia Minor and elsewhere for the sound represented by -σσ- in Ionic Greek, by -ττ- in Attic, see Alphabet. Further points of difficulty in connexion with the sibilants are discussed under X and Z. The pronunciation of s was originally unvoiced: in English it is often used for the voiced sound as well, compare lose with loose, house with houses. At the end of words the voiced sound is often written with -s, the unvoiced with -ss as in his and hiss. ”

“ Herodotus says nothing of a difference in shape, but most authorities regard the form Ϻ, which with the value of s is practically confined to Doric areas, as being san. In the compound σαμφόρας, san like koppa (κοππατίας) was known to the Athenians as a brand for highbred horses (cf. Aristophanes, Clouds, 122, 1298, 23, 438) . ”