Stigma (letter)

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Greek alphabet
Αα	Alpha	Νν	Nu
Ββ	Beta	Ξξ	Xi
Γγ	Gamma	Οο	Omicron
Δδ	Delta	Ππ	Pi
Εε	Epsilon	Ρρ	Rho
Ζζ	Zeta	Σσς	Sigma
Ηη	Eta	Ττ	Tau
Θθ	Theta	Υυ	Upsilon
Ιι	Iota	Φφ	Phi
Κκ	Kappa	Χχ	Chi
Λλ	Lambda	Ψψ	Psi
Μμ	Mu	Ωω	Omega
Obsolete letters
	Digamma		Qoppa
	San		Sampi
Other characters
	Stigma		Sho
	Heta
Greek diacritics

Stigma (uppercase Ϛ, lowercase ϛ) is a ligature of the Greek letters sigma and tau, sometimes used in modern times to represent the Greek numeral 6. However, today the letters στʹ (ΣΤʹ, if capitalised) are more widely used to represent the number 6 or the ordinal 6th.

[edit] History and use

Greek word στρατόν written with a sigma-tau ligature in a Byzantine manuscript

It is encoded in Unicode as "Greek letter stigma" U+03DA (Ϛ) and "Greek small letter stigma" U+03DB (ϛ). In modern typefaces, lowercase stigma is similar in appearance to final sigma (ς), but the top loop tends to be larger, and extends farther to the right. In historical handwriting, various other shapes existed.

'Stigma' is also a name for the cursive graphic form of the letter digamma when used as the Greek numeral 6. This name is a modern misunderstanding. The ligature of στ did not occur in ancient times and only dates to later medieval manuscripts. In Sophocles' Lexicon of Byzantine Greek, which covers late antique Greek up to AD 1000, there is no mention of "stigma" as either a ligature or a number.

Transition of sigma and tau to stigma.

Stigma in three common fonts: Times New Roman, Lucida Grande, Arial.

[edit] See also

• Lunate Sigma
• Disigma
• Sampi

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