TheISO basic Latin alphabet is an international standard (beginning with ISO/IEC 646) for aLatin-script alphabet that consists of two sets (uppercase and lowercase) of 26 letters, codified in[1] various national andinternational standards and used widely ininternational communication. They are the same letters that comprise the currentEnglish alphabet. Since medieval times, they are also the same letters of the modernLatin alphabet. The order is also important for sorting words intoalphabetical order.
The two sets contain the following 26 letters each:[1]
| Uppercase letter set | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase letter set | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |
By the 1960s it became apparent to thecomputer andtelecommunications industries in theFirst World that a non-proprietary method of encoding characters was needed. TheInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) encapsulated theLatin script in their (ISO/IEC 646) 7-bit character-encoding standard. To achieve widespread acceptance, this encapsulation was based on popular usage. The standard was based on the already publishedAmerican Standard Code for Information Interchange, better known asASCII, which included in thecharacter set the 26 × 2 letters of theEnglish alphabet. Later standards issued by the ISO, for exampleISO/IEC 8859 (8-bit character encoding) andISO/IEC 10646 (Unicode Latin), have continued to define the 26 × 2 letters of the English alphabet as the basic Latin script with extensions to handle other letters in other languages.[1]
TheUnicode block that contains the alphabet is called "C0 Controls and Basic Latin". Two subheadings exist:[2]
There are also another two sets in theHalfwidth and Fullwidth Forms block:[3]
In ASCII the letters belong to theprintable characters and in Unicode since version 1.0 they belong to the block "C0 Controls and Basic Latin". In both cases, as well as inISO/IEC 646,ISO/IEC 8859 andISO/IEC 10646 they are occupying the positions in hexadecimal notation 41 to 5A for uppercase and 61 to 7A for lowercase.
Not case sensitive, all letters have code words in theICAO spelling alphabet and can be represented withMorse code.
All of the lowercase letters are used in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). InX-SAMPA andSAMPA these letters have the same sound value as in IPA.
The list below only includes alphabets that include all the 26 letters but exclude:
Notable omissions due to these rules includeSpanish,Esperanto,Filipino andGerman. The German alphabet is sometimes considered by tradition to contain only 26 letters (with⟨ä⟩,⟨ö⟩,⟨ü⟩ considered variants and⟨ß⟩ considered a ligature of⟨ſ⟩ (long s) and⟨s⟩), but the current German orthographic rules include⟨ä⟩,⟨ö⟩,⟨ü⟩,⟨ß⟩ in the alphabet placed after⟨Z⟩. In Spanish orthography, the letters⟨n⟩ and⟨ñ⟩ are distinct; thetilde is not considered a diacritic in this case.
| Alphabet | Diacritic | Multigraphs (not constituting distinct letters) | Ligatures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans alphabet | á,ä,é,è,ê,ë,í,î,ï,ó,ô,ö,ú,û,ü,ý | Digraphs: ⟨aa⟩, ⟨ai⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ee⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨eu⟩, ⟨gh⟩, ⟨ie⟩, ⟨nj⟩, ⟨ng⟩ ⟨oe⟩, ⟨oi⟩, ⟨oo⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨sj⟩, ⟨tj⟩, ⟨ts⟩, ⟨ui⟩, ⟨uu⟩ Trigraphs: ⟨aai⟩, ⟨eeu⟩, ⟨oei⟩, ⟨ooi⟩ | ʼn (N‑apostrophe) |
| Aragonese alphabet (Academia de l'Aragonés orthography) | á,é,í,ó,ú,ü,lꞏl | ⟨ch⟩, ⟨gu⟩, ⟨ll⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨qu⟩, ⟨rr⟩, ⟨tz⟩ | |
| Catalan alphabet | à,é,è,í,ï,ó,ò,ú,ü,ç,lꞏl | ⟨gu⟩, ⟨ig⟩, ⟨ix⟩, ⟨ll⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨qu⟩, ⟨rr⟩, ⟨ss⟩ | |
| Dutch alphabet | ä,é,è,ë,ï,ö,ü | Thedigraph ⟨ij⟩ is sometimes considered to be a separate letter. When that is the case, it usually replaces or is intermixed with ⟨y⟩. Other digraphs: ⟨aa⟩, ⟨ae⟩, ⟨ai⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ee⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨eu⟩, ⟨ie⟩, ⟨oe⟩, ⟨oi⟩, ⟨oo⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨ui⟩, ⟨uu⟩ | |
| English alphabet | only in loanwords (see below)1 | ⟨sh⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ea⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨th⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨ng⟩ | æ,œ (both archaic) |
| French alphabet | à,â,ç,é,è,ê,ë,î,ï,ô,ù,û,ü,ÿ | ⟨ai⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨eu⟩, ⟨oi⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨eau⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨gn⟩, ⟨an⟩, ⟨am⟩, ⟨en⟩, ⟨em⟩, ⟨in⟩, ⟨im⟩, ⟨on⟩, ⟨om⟩, ⟨un⟩, ⟨um⟩, ⟨yn⟩, ⟨ym⟩, ⟨ain⟩, ⟨aim⟩, ⟨ein⟩, ⟨oin⟩, ⟨aî⟩, ⟨eî⟩ | æ (rare),œ (mandatory) |
| Hmong Latin alphabet | none | ⟨bh⟩, ⟨bl⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨dh⟩, ⟨dl⟩, ⟨gh⟩, ⟨hl⟩, ⟨hm⟩, ⟨hn⟩, ⟨jh⟩, ⟨kh⟩, ⟨ml⟩, ⟨nc⟩, ⟨nq⟩, ⟨nr⟩, ⟨nt⟩, ⟨nx⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨pl⟩, ⟨qh⟩, ⟨rh⟩, ⟨th⟩, ⟨ts⟩, ⟨tx⟩, ⟨xy⟩, ⟨bhl⟩, ⟨dhl⟩, ⟨hml⟩, ⟨hny⟩, ⟨nch⟩, ⟨ndl⟩, ⟨ngh⟩, ⟨nrh⟩, ⟨nth⟩, ⟨nxh⟩, ⟨phl⟩, ⟨tsh⟩, ⟨txh⟩, ⟨ndhl⟩ | |
| Italian alphabet (extended)[a] | à,è,é,ì,î (formal),ò,ó,ù | ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ci⟩, ⟨gh⟩, ⟨gi⟩, ⟨gl⟩, ⟨gli⟩, ⟨gn⟩, ⟨sc⟩, ⟨sci⟩ | |
| Ido alphabet* | none | ⟨qu⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨sh⟩ | |
| Indonesian alphabet | only in learning materials (see below)4 | ⟨kh⟩, ⟨ng⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨sy⟩,diphthongs: ⟨ai⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨oi⟩ | |
| Interlingua alphabet* | only in unassimilated loanwords (see below)2 | ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨qu⟩, ⟨rh⟩, ⟨sh⟩ | |
| Javanese Latin alphabet | é,è | ⟨dh⟩, ⟨kh⟩, ⟨ng⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨sy⟩, ⟨th⟩ | |
| Latino sine flexione alphabet* | only an optional accent for unusual stress (see below)3 | ⟨ae⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨oe⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨qu⟩, ⟨rh⟩, ⟨th⟩[8] | |
| Luxembourgish alphabet | ä,é,ë | ⟨aa⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ck⟩, ⟨ee⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨ie⟩, ⟨ii⟩, ⟨ng⟩, ⟨oo⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨qu⟩, ⟨ue⟩, ⟨uu⟩, ⟨sch⟩ | |
| Malay alphabet | only in learning materials (see below)4 | ⟨gh⟩, ⟨kh⟩, ⟨ng⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨sy⟩ | |
| Portuguese alphabet[b] | ã,õ,á,é,í,ó,ú,â,ê,ô,à,ç | ⟨ch⟩, ⟨lh⟩, ⟨nh⟩, ⟨rr⟩, ⟨ss⟩, ⟨am⟩, ⟨em⟩, ⟨im⟩, ⟨om⟩, ⟨um⟩, ⟨ãe⟩, ⟨ão⟩, ⟨õe⟩ | |
| Sundanese Latin alphabet | é | ⟨eu⟩, ⟨ng⟩, ⟨ny⟩ | |
| Xhosa alphabet | only in learning materials (see below)5 | ⟨bh⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨dl⟩, ⟨dy⟩, ⟨dz⟩, ⟨gc⟩, ⟨gq⟩, ⟨gr⟩, ⟨gx⟩, ⟨hh⟩, ⟨hl⟩, ⟨kh⟩, ⟨kr⟩, ⟨krh⟩, ⟨lh⟩, ⟨mh⟩, ⟨nc⟩, ⟨ng⟩, ⟨ngʼ⟩, ⟨ngc⟩, ⟨ngh⟩, ⟨ngq⟩, ⟨ngx⟩, ⟨nh⟩, ⟨nkc⟩, ⟨nkq⟩, ⟨nkx⟩, ⟨nq⟩, ⟨nx⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨nyh⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨qh⟩, ⟨rh⟩, ⟨sh⟩, ⟨th⟩, ⟨ths⟩, ⟨thsh⟩, ⟨ts⟩, ⟨tsh⟩, ⟨ty⟩, ⟨tyh⟩, ⟨wh⟩, ⟨xh⟩, ⟨yh⟩, ⟨zh⟩ | |
| Zulu alphabet | none | ⟨bh⟩, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨dl⟩, ⟨dy⟩, ⟨gc⟩, ⟨gq⟩, ⟨gx⟩, ⟨hh⟩, ⟨hl⟩, ⟨kh⟩, ⟨kl⟩, ⟨mb⟩, ⟨nc⟩, ⟨ng⟩, ⟨ngc⟩, ⟨ngq⟩, ⟨ngx⟩, ⟨nj⟩, ⟨nk⟩, ⟨nq⟩, ⟨ntsh⟩, ⟨nx⟩, ⟨ny⟩, ⟨ph⟩, ⟨qh⟩, ⟨sh⟩, ⟨th⟩, ⟨ts⟩, ⟨tsh⟩, ⟨xh⟩ |
* Constructed languages
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The Roman (Latin) alphabet is commonly used for column numbering in a table or chart. This avoids confusion with row numbers usingArabic numerals. For example, a 3-by-3 table would contain columns A, B, and C, set against rows 1, 2, and 3. If more columns are needed beyond Z (normally the final letter of the alphabet), the column immediately after Z is AA, followed by AB, and so on[11] (seebijective base-26 system). This can be seen by scrolling far to the right in a spreadsheet program such asMicrosoft Excel orLibreOffice Calc.
The letters are often used for indexing nested bullet points. In this case after the 26th it is more common to use AA, BB, CC, ... instead of base-26 numbers.
The Technical Committee TC1 ofECMA met for the first time in December 1960 to prepare standard codes for Input/Output purposes. On April 30, 1965, Standard ECMA-6 was adopted by the General Assembly of ECMA.
| Early telecommunications | |
|---|---|
| ISO/IEC 8859 |
|
| Bibliographic use | |
| National standards | |
| ISO/IEC 2022 | |
| Mac OSCode pages ("scripts") | |
| DOS code pages | |
| IBM AIX code pages | |
| Windows code pages | |
| EBCDIC code pages | |
| DEC terminals (VTx) | |
| Platform specific |
|
| Unicode /ISO/IEC 10646 | |
| TeX typesetting system | |
| Miscellaneous code pages | |
| Control character | |
| Related topics | |
