San (letter)

Not to be confused with the Greek letter Μ, the Latin letter M, or the Cyrillic letter М.

Use of san in archaic Corinthian script: incised shard with a list of names, c.700 BC. The text reads:

]........ΑΝ ΑΝΤΑΣ⁞ΧΑ.[
]....ΚΕΑΣ⁞ΑΝΓΑΡΙΟΣ[
]...ΑΥϜΙΟΣ⁞ΣΟΚΛΕΣ⁞[
].ΤΙΔΑΣ⁞ΑΜΥΝΤΑΣ[
]ΤΟΙ ΜΑΛΕϘΟ⁞ΚΑΙ.[

Note the use of san at the end of most names, and the difference between san and mu (with a shorter right stem, ) in the word "ΑΜΥΝΤΑΣ".

Use of san in archaic Sicyonian writing: shard incised with the dedicatory inscription ΗΕΡΟΟΣ heroos (Attic spelling ἥρωος, "of the hero"), using san together with eta (Η), and a characteristic Sikyonian X-shaped form of epsilon.

San (Ϻ) is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet. Its shape can be described as a sigma (Σ) turned sideways. It was used as an alternative to sigma to denote the sound /s/. Unlike sigma, whose position in the alphabet is between rho and tau, san appeared between pi and koppa in alphabetic order. In addition to denoting the archaic character, the name "san" also came to be used for sigma itself.