There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. But how did they get there, and why do they look the way they do? Michael Rosen tackles these questions and more in his new book Alphabetical.
Nobody knows exactly why people started writing down sounds, Rosen tells NPR's Scott Simon. "All they can say is that certain peoples, around about 4,000 years ago, started to do it. They may have done it separately, or they may have communicated with each other, one way or another."
Rosen, who hosts the BBC Radio 4 program "Word Of Mouth," talks with Simon about what the alphabet looked like when it was first invented about 4,000 years ago, and how it might change in another 1,000 years.
Interview Highlights
On early phonetic hieroglyphs
So let's just imagine for a moment we had a sign for "apple," and it looked a bit like a diagram of an apple, a little bit like a heart with a stalk sticking out of it, and that's fine. And every time we see that we say "apple." But then along comes some clever guy, or perhaps it's a woman, who looks at that sign and says, "I tell you what, instead of just saying 'apple' every time we see that, we make the 'A' sound at the beginning of it." So we could have an apple sign for "A," and let's say we could have a pear sign for "P," and a lemon sign for "L" and so on.
Now simultaneously, or around about the same time, some folks were doing that a little bit off from Egypt, in an area we'd perhaps describe these days as the Lebanon or maybe more into Israel, and these Semitic peoples came up with another trick, where instead of just working from the hieroglyph, they did a squiggle. So this sort of phonetic breakthrough was being made in different ways, in different places, about 4,000 years ago.
On the "fun" of the Phoenician alphabet (see the whole alphabet below)
Look through that alphabet, that old ancient Phoenician alphabet, and see if you can see things. I mean, I rather like the "D." You know, our capital "D," which is a straight line with a semi-circle, seems to have begun life as a triangle. It did make a "D" sound according to the Phoenicians, and they called it a "dalet" or "door." And you say, "Well, why is a triangle a door?" Well, I don't know whether I'm being fanciful, but have a think about a tent door. Is that a triangle? Perhaps it is.
On why we need the letter K when we have the letter C
We're not very regular in saying that this letter denotes this particular sound. So if you take a "C": you know, at the beginning of "ceiling," it sounds like a "S" and at the beginning of "cap," it sounds like a "K" and so, you know, we double up in that way.
And similarly, we can make sounds in different ways. I mean, you take the Romans. They managed to do without the letter "V," the letter "W," and the letter "J." They may have sometimes made a sound. So, if you take a Latin word for horse was "equus" ... they made the [first] "U" signify the "W" sound and ... the [second] "U" sound made the "U" sound there. So they used the same letter to make different sounds.
On how the alphabet might evolve
I'm pretty sure most of the letters will be there, and probably just by convention they'll be in that order for 100 years or more. Should by chance our pronunciations change very much, and over 1,000 years they may well do so, then certain combinations of letters or even the letters themselves may fall into disuse.
So for example, we might imagine that people will get tired of writing "QU" every time and think, "Well, I'll drop the 'U."' So that would be a very easy evolution that one might imagine.
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
Transcript
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Twenty-six letters in the alphabet that we use, but how did they get there? Why do they look the way they do? Michael Rosen, the former Children's Laureate of Great Britain, and the host of "Word Of Mouth" on BBC's Radio 4 has a new book that tries to tell that story from A to Z - or zed, if you prefer - "Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells A Story." He joins us from London. Thanks so much for being with us.
MICHAEL ROSEN: Thank you for having me.
SIMON: So how do we as a species begin to put down scrolls for the sounds we use to express ourselves?
ROSEN: Well, of course, nobody knows exactly why. All they can see is that certain peoples round about 4,000 years ago started to do it. They may have done it separately or they may have communicated with each other in one way or another. So we know that the ancient Egyptians - we always say they write in hieroglyphs - but it's quite clear when you look at some of those signs, if you like, that some of them were used, as we would say, phonetically. So let's just imagine for a moment we had a sign for apple, and it looked a bit like a diagram of an apple, a little bit like a heart with a stalk sticking out of it, and that's fine. And then every time we see that we say apple. But then along comes some a clever guy - or perhaps it's a woman - who looks at that sing and says I'll tell you what, instead of just saying apple every time we see that we make A sound at the beginning of it. So we can have an apple sign for A, and let's say we can have a pear sign in sign for P and lemon sign for L and so on.
Now simultaneously, or around about the same time some folks were doing that, a little bit further - a little bit off from Egypt in an area we'd perhaps describe as these days as the Lebanon or maybe more into Israel - and these Semitic peoples came up with another trick, where instead of just working from the hieroglyph, they did a squiggle. So this sort of phonetic breakthrough was being made in different ways and different places about 4,000 years ago.
SIMON: Most used letter in the alphabet, especially these days, is probably E. It began life as a stick man?
ROSEN: Well, yes. I mean, when we say begin life we have to be careful. I mean, yes, when we say begin life, yes, that's right that it began life amongst the Phoenicians. When you draw up the Phoenician alphabet - I've put it in the book, but, you know, people can find it online - you know, have some fun. Look through that alphabet - that old, ancient Phoenician alphabet - and see if you can see things. I mean, I rather like the D. And a D - you know, our capital D, which is a straight line with a semi-circle, seems to have begun life as a triangle. It did make a D sound according to the Phoenicians and they called it a dalet or door. And you say well, why is a triangle a door? Well, I don't know whether I'm being fanciful, but have a think about a tent door. Is that a triangle? Perhaps it is.
SIMON: Why do we need a K when we have a C?
ROSEN: Oh, well, when we get into needs, then we really have a problem because just starting off from a nicely irrational way of spelling and writing - in a sense, you know, we're not very regular either way, are we? We're not very regular in saying that this letter denotes this particular sound. So if you take a C, you know, at the beginning of ceiling, it sounds like a S and at the beginning of cap, it sounds like a K. And so, you know, we double up in that way. And then similarly, we can make sounds in different ways. I mean, you take the Romans - they managed to do without the letter V, the letter W and the letter J. They may have sometimes made a sound. So if you take the Latin word for a horse was equus, which they spelled E-Q-U-U-S, so they made the U signify a W sound, which we say we normally use a W for. And the U sound made the ooh sound there. So they used the same letter to make different sounds, even when it was bang next to each other.
SIMON: I'm assuming a thousand years from now, the alphabet we're using now will be considered antique. But what about a hundred years from now?
ROSEN: I wonder - I'm pretty sure most of the letters will be there and probably just by convention they'll be in that order for a hundred years or more. Should by chance our pronunciations change very much - and over a thousand years they may well do so - then certain combinations of letters, or even the letters themselves, may fall into disuse. So, for example, we might imagine that people will get tired of writing QU every time and think, well, I'll drop the U. So that would be a very easy evolution that one might imagine.
SIMON: Michael Rosen, his new book A-Z - "Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells A Story." Thanks very much for being with us.
ROSEN: Thank you for having me, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad