The Letter b

origin B has been the second letter in the alphabet since Semitic times. The letter is so called because its shape resembled or represented the object (beit –house). Later, it emerged in the Greek letter beta and the Phoenician beth, as a capital letter. The lower-case letter developed from a later uncial form. The Greek added a to its name, because words cannot end in consonants. B used to designate the second of many things. B is one of the more consistent of form, usually readily recognizable in all scripts.

Pronounciation Normally it is pronounced /bi:/ In the international phonetic alphabet, variations of the letter are used to represent two sounds: 1. Variants of /b/ denote related bilabial consonants, like the voiced bilabial plosive and the bilabial trill. 2. /B/ denotes the voiced bilabial fricative. It is sometimes silent, as in lamb and bomb In the middle English period, doubling of the letter is used to show a short preceding vowel, as in rob vs. robbing

Spelling There are examples of etymological spelling to make the word more like its Latin original. such as debt or doubt

The development of the letter- Bb