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{{improverefs|date=January 2016}}
'''Acrophony''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|k|r|ɒ|f|ə|n|i|}}; Greek: ἄκρος ''akros'' uppermost + φωνή ''phone'' sound) is the naming of [[grapheme|letter]]s of an [[alphabet]]ic writing system so that a letter's name begins with the letter itself. For example, Greek letter names are acrophonic: the names of the letters α, β, γ, δ, are spelled with the respective letters: {{lang|el|
The paradigm for acrophonic alphabets is the [[Proto-Sinaitic script]] and the succeeding [[Phoenician alphabet]], in which the letter A, representing the sound {{IPAblink|ʔ}}, is thought to have derived from an [[Egyptian hieroglyph]] representing an [[ox]], and is called "ox", ''ʾalp'', which starts with the [[glottal stop]] sound the letter represents. The [[Latin alphabet]] is descended from the Phoenician, and the stylized head of an ox can still be seen if the letter A is [[Turned A|turned upside-down]]: ∀. The second letter of the Phoenician alphabet is ''bet'' (which means "house" and looks a bit like a shelter) representing the sound [[Voiced bilabial stop|[b]]], and from ''ālep-bēt'' came the word "alphabet"{{snd}}another case where the beginning of a thing gives the name to the whole, which was in fact common practice in the ancient Near East.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}
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