[ע] (ʽaʹyin).

The 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Greek vowel oʹmi·kron (“o”) is derived from ʽaʹyin; however, the Hebrew letter is not a vowel but a consonant. It represents a peculiar guttural sound pronounced at the back of the throat and has no equivalent in English. It is transliterated as ʽ. It appears as the initial letter in each of the verses of Psalm 119:121-128, Hebrew text.