א־ל־ף
ʾ-l-p “ox, head of cattle” The Semitic word for 'ox', Phoenician ʾalp, named the first letter, drawn as an ox's head. Greek made it alpha, and alpha plus beta made alphabet. Hebrew ʾelep̄ also means 'thousand', like Arabic ʾalf; Wiktionary lists both senses under Proto-Semitic *ʾalp-.
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Proto-Semitic → Ugaritic: 1 word Proto-Semitic → Phoenician: 1 word Ancient Greek → Latin: 1 word Ancient Greek → Koine Greek: 1 word Phoenician → Mishnaic Hebrew: 1 word Koine Greek → Late Latin: 1 word Latin → Late Latin: 1 word Koine Greek → Byzantine Greek: 1 word Arabic → Ottoman Turkish: 1 word Late Latin → Italian: 1 word Arabic → Malay: 1 word Mishnaic Hebrew → Yiddish: 1 word Ancient Greek → Modern Greek: 1 word Late Latin → Middle French: 1 word Late Latin → Spanish: 1 word Late Latin → German: 1 word Byzantine Greek → Russian: 1 word Persian → Urdu: 1 word Middle French → French: 1 word Late Latin → Polish: 1 word Late Latin → Dutch: 1 word Ancient Greek → Russian: 1 word Byzantine Greek → Modern Greek: 1 word Mishnaic Hebrew → Modern Hebrew: 1 word Ottoman Turkish → Turkish: 1 word French → Turkish: 1 word English → Swahili: 1 word Dutch → Indonesian: 1 word English → Korean: 1 word English → American English: 1 word Phoenician → Ancient Greek: 2 words Phoenician → Syriac: 2 words Syriac → Arabic: 2 words Arabic → Persian: 2 words Late Latin → Middle English: 2 words Middle English → English: 2 words English → Japanese: 2 words Phoenician: 2 words Phoenician Ancient Greek: 2 words Ancient Greek Late Latin: 2 words Late Latin Syriac: 2 words Syriac Arabic: 2 words Arabic Persian: 2 words Persian Middle English: 2 words Middle English Modern Greek: 2 words Modern Greek Russian: 2 words Russian English: 2 words English Japanese: 2 words Japanese Turkish: 2 words Turkish Proto-Semitic: 1 word Proto-Semitic Ugaritic: 1 word Ugaritic Latin: 1 word Latin Koine Greek: 1 word Koine Greek Mishnaic Hebrew: 1 word Mishnaic Hebrew Byzantine Greek: 1 word Byzantine Greek Ottoman Turkish: 1 word Ottoman Turkish Italian: 1 word Italian Malay: 1 word Malay Yiddish: 1 word Yiddish Middle French: 1 word Middle French Spanish: 1 word Spanish German: 1 word German Urdu: 1 word Urdu French: 1 word Polish: 1 word Dutch: 1 word Modern Hebrew: 1 word Swahili: 1 word Indonesian: 1 word Korean: 1 word American English: 1 word Today 2 of 2 words have reached English
44 hops. The slider moves through them evenly, so busy centuries get room.
Relatives outside the atlas Biblical Hebrew אָלֶף ʾālep̄ “the letter aleph” Biblical Hebrew אֲלָפִים ʾălāp̄îm “oxen, cattle (Psalm 8:8)” Biblical Hebrew אֶלֶף ʾelep̄ “thousand” Arabic أَلِف ʾalif “the letter alif” Arabic أَلْف ʾalf “thousand” Ugaritic 𐎀𐎍𐎔 ʾalp “ox”
Sources Wiktionary: Proto-Semitic *ʔalp- Lexodus atlas entries alpha, alphabet