Where did our alphabet come from?

The alphabet we use is called the Latin alphabet. It is more or less the same as the alphabet used in ancient Rome. We might find it a bit difficult reading some of the old Roman letters, but scholars have worked out that our letters developed from them.

The Romans did not invent these letters. They adapted them too. The alphabet they copied was the Greek one. The word ‘alphabet’ comes from the names of the first two Greek letters – ‘alpha’ and beta’. And where did the Greek alphabet come from? Well, the first alphabet used in the western world was devised by traders from north Africa called the Phoenicians. They got their ideas from the people of Sumeria, in what is now called southern Iraq. So it is fair to say that our alphabet has developed over 3500 years, or more, from the countries of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East.

Which of the letters do you think has had its present shape the longest?

The answer is ‘O’. Language experts have decided that this has remained unchanged since the Phoenicians were writing it.

 

Picture Credit : Google

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