An alphabet is a set of visual symbols
or characters used to represent the elementary sounds of a spoken language.
Name from (from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta) It
was a major step forward in human communications. The term North Semitic writing
is used for early alphabetic writing found through the region of Phoenicia (now
Lebanon), and parts of Syria and Israel. The Phoenicians finally created a
totally abstract and alphabetical system of twenty-two simple phonetic signs,
replacing the formidable complexity of cuneiform and hieroglyphs. This system
was in use by 1500 B.C. The Phoenician alphabet then was adopted and evolved
further in Greece and Rome ( latin)
or characters used to represent the elementary sounds of a spoken language.
Name from (from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta) It
was a major step forward in human communications. The term North Semitic writing
is used for early alphabetic writing found through the region of Phoenicia (now
Lebanon), and parts of Syria and Israel. The Phoenicians finally created a
totally abstract and alphabetical system of twenty-two simple phonetic signs,
replacing the formidable complexity of cuneiform and hieroglyphs. This system
was in use by 1500 B.C. The Phoenician alphabet then was adopted and evolved
further in Greece and Rome ( latin)
The first pure alphabets (properly,
“abjads”, mapping single symbols to single phonemes, but not
necessarily each phoneme to a symbol) emerged around 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt,
but by then alphabetic principles had already been incorporated into Egyptian
hieroglyphs for a millennium. By 2700 BC Egyptian writing had a set of some 22
hieroglyphs to represent syllables that begin with a single consonant of their
language, plus a vowel (or no vowel) to be supplied by the native speaker.
These glyphs were used as pronunciation guides for logograms, to write
grammatical inflections, and, later, to transcribe loan words and foreign
names.
“abjads”, mapping single symbols to single phonemes, but not
necessarily each phoneme to a symbol) emerged around 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt,
but by then alphabetic principles had already been incorporated into Egyptian
hieroglyphs for a millennium. By 2700 BC Egyptian writing had a set of some 22
hieroglyphs to represent syllables that begin with a single consonant of their
language, plus a vowel (or no vowel) to be supplied by the native speaker.
These glyphs were used as pronunciation guides for logograms, to write
grammatical inflections, and, later, to transcribe loan words and foreign
names.
However, in the Middle Bronze Age an apparently
“alphabetic” system is thought by some to have been developed in
central Egypt around 1700 BC for or by Semitic workers, but we cannot read
these early writings and their exact nature remain open to interpretation.
“alphabetic” system is thought by some to have been developed in
central Egypt around 1700 BC for or by Semitic workers, but we cannot read
these early writings and their exact nature remain open to interpretation.
