Delta with an angular tail

Question

Is there a way to type in a delta shape with an angular tail as opposed to the standard curvy tail of the \delta command?

What I am after is what shows up on the first line of the wiki article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_(letter), where they distinguish between upper case \Delta, lower case 'angular-tailed delta' (what I am after) and lower case 'curvy-tailed delta' (what you get with the \delta command).

Answer 1

Here is an example of getting different types of delta using txfonts, upgreek and textgreek packages.

\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{article}


\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{txfonts}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\usepackage{textgreek}



\begin{document}
Regular delta: $\delta$.

Regular Bold and upright delta $\boldsymbol{\deltaup}$. %requires txfonts package

Using updelta: $\updelta$. %requires upgreek package

Using updelta bold: $\boldsymbol{\updelta}$. %requires upgreek package

Text greek delta in text \textdelta. %requires textgreek package

Text greek delta in text {\bf \textdelta}. %requires textgreek package
 
\end{document}

This is what I get.

You can also find more options by looking at different fonts.These lists from other questions might be helpful.

A Whole List of Math Fonts for Greek Letters in LaTeX?

Automatic upright math when text is in italic

Then you might be able to use the approach used in this answer:

Change font of single greek letter in math environment for all equations (classicthesis.sty)

Answer 2

The symbol I think you are looking for is just a \delta. But in some fonts, particularly some sans-serif fonts, the character has the flat top.

For example, iwona:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[math]{iwona}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

\begin{document}

$\alpha\beta\gamma\delta\epsilon$

\end{document}

Kurier:

\usepackage[math]{kurier}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

Answer 3

The unicode-math package makes both \delta and \partial available in many different alphabets:

In Latin Modern math:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{unicode-math}

\begin{document}
\[ \symit{\delta} \, \symup{\delta} \, \symbfit{\delta} \, \symbfup{\delta} \, \symbfsfit{\delta} \, \symbfsfup{\delta} \]
\[ \symit{\partial} \, \symup{\partial} \, \symbfit{\partial} \, \symbfup{\partial} \, \symbfsfit{\partial} \, \symbfsfup{\partial}
\]
\end{document}