Ionic order cap is usually enriched with egg-and-dart. Since Vitruvius, a female character has been ascribed to the Ionic (in contrast to the masculine Doric). The major features of the Ionic order are the volutes of its capital, which have been the subject of much theoretical and practical discourse, based on a brief and obscure passage in Vitruvius. The only tools required to design these features were a straight-edge, a right angle, string (to establish half-lengths) and a compass. Below the volutes, the Ionic column may have a wide collar or banding separating the capital from the fluted shaft (as in, for
Ionic Greek city of Miletus. This alphabet eventually became the standard Greek alphabet, its use becoming uniform during the Koine era. It was also the alphabet used in the Christian Gospels and the book of Acts. Proto-Greek "ā" > Ionic "ē"; in Doric, Aeolic, "ā" remains; in Attic, "ā" after "e, i, r", but "ē" elsewhere. Proto-Greek "e, o" > Ionic "ei, ou": compensatory lengthening after loss of "w" in the sequences "enw-, erw-, onw-, orw-". In Attic, "e, o" is not lengthened. Ionic sometimes removes initial aspiration (Proto-Greek hV- > Ionic V-). Ionic contracts less often than Attic. Proto-Greek "*kʷ" before