[mod. f. Gr. ἄκρο- (see ACRO-) -φωνία voice, sound.] The sound of the initial; the use of what was originally a picture-symbol or hieroglyph of an object to represent phonetically the initial syllable or sound of the name of the object; e.g., employing the symbol of an ox, ‘aleph,’ to represent the syllable or letter a.
1880. R. S. Poole, in Encycl. Brit., IV. 808. The Phœnician letters had names indicating an origin from a hieroglyphic system on the same principle of acrophony.
