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P

Latin alphabet
Aa Bb Cc Dd
Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj
Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp
Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv
Ww Xx Yy Zz

P p

P is the 16th letter of the Latin alphabet.

Semitic Pê (mouth) as well as Greek Π or π (Pi) and the Etruscan and Latin letters that developed from the former alphabet all symbolized /p/, a plosive, unvoiced consonant. Those who speak Arabic usually have difficulty pronouncing this sound; they pronounce like b instead.

Papa represents the letter P in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

Phonetic use

In English and most other European languages, P is a voiceless bilabial plosive ('p' in the IPA). A common digraph in English is "ph", which represents the voiceless labiodental fricative 'f', and is commonly used to transliterate φ in loanwords from Greek. Both initial and final P can be combined with many other discrete consonants in English words. A common example of assimilation is the tendency of prefixes ending in N to become M before P (such as "in" + "pulse" -> "impulse").

In German, the digraph "pf" is common, representing a labial affricate of 'p' and 'f'.

Meanings for P

Two-letter combinations starting with P:

Letter-digit combinations starting with P:



Last updated: 02-08-2005 03:54:44
Last updated: 05-03-2005 17:50:55