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Series 11
Mark Twain, American author and humourist
The Chinese language mostly uses
pictographic characters known
as han characters (hanja in
Korean). The symbols are
also called logograms or
sinographs. It is the world’s
oldest continuously used
system of writing. Some
Chinese characters can
also express the syllables
of proper names or foreign
words. Chinese script dates
back at least 4500 years.
The characters are stylised
pictures of physical objects. These
pictographs possess characteristics
of a script. Chinese script gradually evolved
from hieroglyphics (pictographs) into square
characters. Some were simplified by losing certain strokes
while others were made more complicated.
What is an alphabet?
English alphabet
The English language uses 26 letters known as
the Roman alphabet, where each letter represents
particular sounds. The sounds combine to form
syllables and words. But Romans did not invent the
English alphabet. They improved on a writing system already
thousands of years old. The Roman alphabet is used for many
modern languages across the world.
Syllabic
The next alphabet stage was a syllabic system, as used by Phoenecians around modernday Lebanon, where a particular sign could be used for any phonetic combination that
sounded like that word. In syllabic writing, most signs are used for phonetic sounds that
represent syllables rather than a distinct letter. Phonetic signs are called syllabograms.
Some languages, including Khmer, Bangali, Balinese and Sudanese still use syllabic writing.
History of ABC
Phoenician
Name in
Phoenician
Aleph
Ox
Beth, Bait
The Cyrillic alphabet
In the 800s, Saints Cyril and Methodius, two brothers, invented the
Glagolithic alphabet while serving as missionaries in what is now modernday Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. They introduced their alphabet, based
on Greek and a Slavic language called Macedo-Bulgarian, as they converted
Slavs to Christianity. In about 900, the Glagolithic alphabet was modified
as the Cyrillic alphabet, named for Cyril, the more literary of the brothers.
Meaning
Gimel
Daleth, Dal
People’s earliest communication was through speech and gestures.
History, education and messages were delivered orally. The
oldest writings found so far are inscriptions on clay
tablets made by Sumerians, who lived in about
3100BC in what is now Syria and Iraq.
Door
Waw
Hook
Zayin
Sword
Tet
Yodh, Yad
Kaph
Lamedh, Lam
Mem, Mai
b
Sumerian cuneiform
m
god
small, weak, bad
Cuneiform began as pictographs, with pictorial
representations becoming simplified and
more abstract. The number of characters
used fell from about 1000 in the Early B
ronze Age (3300BC) to about 400 in the
Late Bronze Age (1200BC).
sun, time (ra)
abstract idea
plural
motion
Egyptian writing
It is believed Egyptians in the Nile River valley
developed writing about 100 to 200 years after
the Sumerians. Egyptian hieroglyphic writing
(pictured) dates to 3000BC, and used about
500 symbols or signs that stood for full words or
syllables. One sign could represent a whole word or
signs could be linked to each sound. The word “good’’
could be written with a single symbol. There
were no signs for vowels.
For free teacher resources visit
thetelegraph.com.au/classmate
Samekh
Ayin
Pe
Tsade
Qoph
Resh, Ras
Sin or Shin
Taw, Tah
Hand
Hand
Goad
Water
Snake
Fish
Eye
Mouth
Grasshopper
Monkey
Head
Tooth or Papyru
s clump
Mark
Modern
English
capitals
A
B
C,G
D
E
F
Z
H
Throwing stick
He
Nun
a
Early
monumental
latin
House
Heth, Hait
Origins of writing
Early
Greek
I,J
K
L
M
N
X
O
P
Q
R
S
T
Logography
In logography scripts such as Sumerian, people exchanged thoughts and ideas
through signs that stood for certain words. So instead of drawing a basket
of fruit, people could draw one sign for the basket and another for fruit.
Greek writing
People on the Cyprus islands, near Turkey, developed a writing style that used 56 signs.
Greeks traded with Phoenicians and Cypriots. It is suggested Greeks incorporated
some features of Cypriot script, such as consonant sequences, into the Greek alphabet
invented in about 800BC. But Phoenician writing had a stronger influence. Its symbols
were modified to form the 24-letter Greek alphabet. The Phoenician alphabet included
more consonants than Greeks used, so the Greeks introduced more vowels. The Greek
alphabet could be used to spell out any word. Many Phoenician names and their signs
were adopted for the Greek alphabet. For example, the first letter of the Phoenician
alphabet, called aleph, became alpha; the second, beth became beta and so on.
Etruscan alphabet
Inscriptions written by Etruscans, who lived in the Tuscany area of Italy, date from
about 650BC. Most Etruscan inscriptions are written in horizontal lines from right
to left. The Etruscan alphabet was based on the Greek alphabet. More than 10,000
Etruscan inscriptions have been found on tombstones, vases, statues, mirrors and
jewellery. Etruscan civilisation was assimilated into the Roman Republic in 100BC.
Roman alphabet
The Roman empire followed the Greeks. Romans developed their own alphabet of
20 letters, based on the Greek and Etruscan alphabets. For hundreds of years it
used only capital letters. By 114AD, the Roman alphabet was perfected, with
sculptors using a beautiful lettering style on memorials. The Roman Empire
spread the alphabet across Europe. The letters J, W, Z, and U were not part of
the original Latin alphabet, but were added during the middle ages.
Phoenician script
Roman inscriptions
The Phoenicians were maritime traders who sailed across the Mediterranean from 1550BC
to 300BC. Developed in about 1000BC, Phoenician writing used 22 signs. These signs
only represented consonants in syllables and not vowels. Early Phoenician writing mixed
existing pictographic forms and invented geometric signs. Arabic and Hebrew as well as
Sanskrit and most other Indian scripts developed from the Phoenician system.
Roman stonecutters carved beautiful letters which were rounded, squared,
simplified and polished (pictured). They introduced thick-and-thin strokes
still used today and added serifs at the tops and bottoms of many letters.
Serifs were added because carvers found it difficult to end wide strokes without
ugly blunt lines. And if their chisel slipped while squaring off an end, they could not
erase the mistake. Serifs also added strength and grace to Roman lettering.
Japanese script
Japanese (kanji script) is largely copied from Chinese.
It differs because Japanese characters can represent
either syllables or words. This mean a logogram
sign may represent a word or part of a word.
A
h
Chinese writing
10t
S
pelling is an interesting thing when you think
about it. Humans are the only species that use
complex language composed of written alphabets.
Those systems of letters owe their origin to ancient
people who once wrote using pictures. There are many
different alphabets around the world but they can all
be traced back to relatively few sources.
SS M A
T
E
thetelegraph.com.au/classmate
Alphabets are written letters or characters that represent sounds
in language. The symbols of an alphabet are essential to be able to write
a language. The word derives from alpha and beta, the first two letters of
the Greek alphabet. Almost 5000 years ago the original picture for the
letter aleph (now alpha) was the head of an ox. All written scripts
in the world derive from three sources, the picture writing
of ancient Sumerians and Egyptians or pictophonetic
symbols used in China for more than 3000 years.
A
L
C
The heart of our trouble
is with our foolish alphabet.
It doesn’t know how to spell,
and can’t be taught
RY
15
NN
A
w
IVER
S
Have fun with spelling
Think you are a good speller? How do you
rate against your friends?
The Daily Telegraph Spelling Bee 2011 is a fun
new way for students of all ages and abilities
to test their skills and build their vocabulary.
Open to primary and secondary-school
students, the online program has sample
games, player vs player games and games
for spellers of different abilities ranging
from easy to hard. There are also pages
for teachers and parents and sample
spelling challenges.
Players will be eligible for weekly prizes and
the chance to compete in a live final.
Log on to thetelegraph.com.au/spellingbee
now to find out how your school can sign up
to participate. It’s as easy as A, B, C.
Braille
Thai writing
Thai people migrated into the IndoChinese peninsula from China in about
400BC. While Thais originally used a
Chinese-based script, in 1283AD King
Ramkhamhaeng invented the Sukhothai
Script, which became the earliest Thai
writing. It was based on a form of an ancient
Brahmi script of South India called Grantha.
Indian writing
The Brahmi alphabet is the ancestor of most of the 40 or
so modern Indian alphabets, as well as Khmer and Tibetan
alphabets. It is thought to have come from Aramaic or
Phoenician alphabets, which reached India before 500BC.
Another theory suggests Brahmi developed from the Indus
or Harappa script used in the Indus valley, now southern
Pakistan, until about 2000BC. The earliest known Brahmi
inscriptions date from about 270BC to 232BC. Brahmi was
used to write a variety of languages, including Sanskrit and
Prakrit. In Brahmi, each letter stands for a consonant sound
with an inherent vowel. Vowels are also indicated by separate
letters, grouped according to how they are pronounced.
Many letters also have more than one form.
Writing is from left to right in
horizontal lines.
A writing and reading system for
blind people was invented by French
teenager Louis Braille in 1824. At 10,
Braille was sent to a school for the
blind in Paris. During that era
a French army captain had developed
a code of raised dots and dashes
to allow soldiers to write and read
messages in the dark. Based on phonetics,
it had groups of 12 dots arranged in two columns.
Braille simplified this system. He based the code on
the normal alphabet and halved the number of dots.
Sources and further study
Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History Of Our Alphabet
From A To Z by David Sacks (Broadway Books)
Ox, House, Stick: History Of Our Alphabet by Don Robb
and Anne Smith (Charlesbridge)
Ancientscripts.com, A compendium of worldwide
writing systems; ancientscripts.com
Omniglot: Writing systems and languages of the world;
omniglot.com/writing
Braille Plus Inc, brailleplus.net
Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Editor: Troy Lennon Additional writing: Marea Donnelly Graphics: Paul Leigh and Will Pearce