History of Emerging English Alphabets
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History of Emerging English Alphabets
Perhaps we all learned the English alphabet at a very young age. Parents or elder brothers and sisters introduce us to the English alphabet in different ways before starting school in childhood. Many of us learned 'The Alphabet Song' along with reciting the alphabet. When we start school, we are reacquainted with the English alphabet and learn to combine letters to make more words. Since we started learning the English alphabet, it is natural that we did not take it seriously and were not interested in learning its history and the stories behind the formation of each letter. The English alphabet has a fascinating history and each letter of the alphabet has its own story of development. 
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Image Source: Internet
Creation of first alphabet
By the eighth century AD, the Phoenician alphabet had spread to Greece, where it was refined and improved to record the Greek language. Some Phoenician letters were retained, and others were deleted, but the distinctive innovation was the use of letters to represent vowels. Many scholars believe that this enabled the text to be read and pronounced without ambiguity thereby marking the creation of the first "true" alphabet. The Greek language was originally written from right to left but eventually changed to Boustrophidon where the direction of writing changed with each line. 5th century B.C. Until then, the direction was converted from left to right (in the pattern we use today). Over time, the Greek alphabet spread across Europe and gave rise to several other alphabets, including Latin, and the beginning of the modern Russian alphabet. 

Alphabetical writings
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The first alphabet was written about four thousand years ago. According to many scholars, this racist composition developed in Egypt between 1800 and 1900 BC. About 700 years later, the Phoenicians developed a new alphabet. It was widely used in Southern Europe, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Mediterranean, including the Levant. The alphabet was made up of 22 letters, all of which were consonants. Around 5050 BC, the Greeks added the vowel to the Phoenician alphabet, and this combination was considered the first true alphabet. It was occupied by the Latins (Romans) and around the third century, some Etruscan letters such as the letter S and F were associated with it. Around the third century AD, the ancient Latin script deleted the letters G, J, V/U, W, Y, and Z. When the Roman Empire was part of the world, they introduced the Roman alphabet derived from the Latin version, although the letters J, U/V, and W were also omitted. 
The evolution of English Alphabets
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When the Roman Empire reached Britain, they brought the Latin language with them. Britain at the time was under the control of the "Anglo-Saxons", a Germanic tribe who used Old English as their language. At that time Old English was using an old alphabet called “Futhorc”. It was also called the runic alphabet. Old English: A combination of the Latin alphabet and Furteric's runic alphabet resulted in the Modern English alphabet. Some additions from the runic alphabet are "(throne) thron" which made a "th(th)" sound and "win" which made a "w" sound. Middle English: When the Normans invaded Britain in 1066 AD, the lower classes were using Old English. Scholars, clergy, and nobles were writing and speaking in Latin or Norman. After two centuries under Norman rule, some Old English letters were removed and English writing became popular again. Modern English: In the 15th century, the printing press was introduced to Great Britain by William Caxton. During this period, English became the standard language. V(v) and u(u) used interchangeably are distinguished by different letters V(v) and u(u) are used interchangeably. "u" is used as a vowel and "v" as a consonant. The word 'alphabet' or 'alphabet' is derived from the first two letters of the Phoenician alphabet - 'alpha' and 'beta'. Some languages have their own alphabets, but the most commonly used is the Latin alphabet. 
Story of letters
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Letter “A”: The original shape of the letter A was upside down. It was introduced in the 1800s. Inverted, it looked like an animal head without horns or antlers.
The letter "B" was taken from Egyptian hieroglyphics. It looked like a house, door, roof, and room. About 4,000 years ago the symbol meant “shelter”. Letter "C": This letter comes from the Phoenicians. It was shaped like a boomerang or hunting stick. The Greeks called it 'gamma'. Letter "D": The Phoenicians named the letter D 'Dalet' in 800 BC. It basically looks like a rough triangle. The original meaning of the word is 'door'. When the Greeks adopted the alphabet, they named it 'delta'. Letter "E": It looks like a stick figure of a man with two arms and one leg. In 700 BC, the Geeks reversed this and changed the pronunciation to "ee". Letter "F"': The letter was taken from the Phoenicians and it looked like 'Y', when it was pronounced, the resulting word was close to 'Wow'' The ancient Greeks changed its name to 'Digmma'. Letter "G": The letter 'G' comes from the Greek 'Zeta'. At first, it looked like an 'I (I)', but the pronunciation was like a 'ZZ'. Letter "H": The letter 'H' comes from the Egyptians and was used as a symbol of fencing. Letter "I": The letter was called 'Iod' in 1000 BC. It means hand and arm. The Greeks called it 'Aota' and made it vertical. In its evolution, it became a straight line around 700 BC.
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Letter "J": It took shape in the 15th century as a contribution to the Spanish language. Letter "K": It comes from Egyptian hieroglyphics. In Semitic, it was given the name 'kaph' which translates to 'palm of the hand.' When the Greeks adopted it around 800 BC, it became 'kapa' and turned right.
 
Letter "L": In ancient Semitic, the present-day 'L' was reversed. Thus it looked like a “hooked” character. They straightened the hook a bit and changed the name to 'lamed' (Lahey-med) for one of the cattle. The Greeks called it 'lambda' and turned it to the right. The final appearance of the letter 'L' with straight legs at right angles was contributed by the Romans.

Letter 'M': According to the Egyptians there was a vertical line with five horns symbolizing water. This is the origin of the letter M. By 1800 BC the Semites reduced the line to three waves and the Phoenicians removed another wave. In 800 BC, the peaks were turned into zigzags and flipped horizontally creating the letter we know today.

Letter "N": The word 'N' was given by the ancient Semites, symbolizing 'fish'. Around 1000 BC, the Greeks gave it the name 'Nu'.

Letter "O": It came from the Egyptians. It was called 'eye' in Egyptian and 'ayin' in Semitic.

Letter "P": In ancient Semitic languages, today's 'P' looked like an inverted 'V'. It was pronounced 'pei' meaning 'mouth'. The Phoenicians turned its top into a diagonal hook shape. In 200 BC, the Romans flipped it to the right and closed the loop to form a "P".

Letter "Q": The original word for 'Q' was like 'Qawf' which was translated as the ball of wool or monkey. In Roman inscriptions around 520 BC, the letter was represented as today's Q.
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The letter "R" was the original shape of the letter 'R' with the human face turned to the left. It was pronounced as 'Irish' meaning 'head'. The Romans turned it to the right side and added a bent leg.

Letter "S": The letter 'S' was used to represent the archer's bow.

The Romans turned it upside down and named it 'Sigma'.

Letter "T": The ancient Semites used the lowercase form of today's letter "T". The Greeks called it Tau.

Letter "U": The letter first appeared as "Y" in 1000 BC. At that time it was called 'Wow' which meant 'Peg.' Under the Greeks, it was called 'Upsilon'. 

Letter "V": The Romans used V and U interchangeably. Their differences appeared in the 1400s.

Letter "W": It originated during the Middle Ages when Charlemagne scribes wrote it by placing two 'U's side by side with a space in between.

Letter "X": The ancient Greek letter 'ksi' sounded like 'X'.In the late fifteenth century, Italian printers used the lowercase 'X'.

Letter "Y": The letter Y was added by the Romans in 100 AD.

Letter "Z": The Phoenicians had a letter called 'Zion'. It means an 'axe'. Around 800 BC, it was adopted by the Greeks as a 'jet'.
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