Editing Alphabet

{{SHORTDESC:Standard set of letters used to write one or more languages}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name             = Alphabet
| image            = Latin_alphabet.svg
| image_caption    = The basic [[Latin alphabet]], the most widely used alphabet in the world.
| type             = [[Segmental writing system]]
| languages        = Used globally for hundreds of languages
| time_period      = c. 2000 BCE to present
| direction        = Varies (primarily Left-to-right or Right-to-left)
| parent_systems   = * [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
* [[Proto-Sinaitic script]]
* [[Phoenician alphabet]]
| child_systems    = [[Greek alphabet]], [[Latin alphabet]], [[Cyrillic script]], [[Arabic script]], [[Hebrew alphabet]], [[Aramaic alphabet]]
}}

An '''alphabet''' is a standardized set of basic written symbols or [[grapheme]]s (called [[letter (alphabet)|letters]]) that represent the [[phoneme]]s of certain spoken [[language]]s. It is a type of [[segmental writing system]] in which each symbol roughly stands for a specific consonant or vowel, distinguishing it from other types of writing systems such as [[syllabary|syllabaries]] (where each symbol represents a syllable) and [[logogram|logographies]] (where each symbol represents a word, morpheme, or semantic unit).

The most widely used alphabet in the world today is the [[Latin alphabet]], which evolved from the [[Greek alphabet]], the first writing system to assign independent letters to both vowels and consonants.

== Etymology ==
The English word ''alphabet'' came into [[Middle English]] from the [[Late Latin]] word ''alphabetum'', which in turn was derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''alphabetos'' (ἀλφάβητος). The Greek word was created from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: [[alpha]] (α) and [[beta]] (β). The names for these Greek letters themselves were derived from the earlier [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] letters ''[[aleph]]'' (meaning "ox") and ''[[beth]]'' (meaning "house").

== History ==

=== Ancient Egypt and the Sinai ===
The history of the alphabet begins in [[ancient Egypt]]. By the 27th century BCE, Egyptian writing had a set of some 24 [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|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. 

The first fully phonemic script, the [[Proto-Sinaitic script]], was developed around 2000 BCE by Semitic-speaking workers in the [[Sinai Peninsula]]. This script adapted Egyptian hieroglyphs to represent the sounds of their own language based on the [[acrophony|acrophonic]] principle. For example, the hieroglyph for "house" (''beth'' in Semitic) was used to write the consonant /b/.

=== Phoenician and Greek alphabets ===
The Proto-Sinaitic script eventually evolved into the [[Phoenician alphabet]] by the 11th century BCE. The Phoenician script was an [[abjad]], meaning it contained letters for consonants only, leaving the vowels implicit. Due to the maritime trading culture of the [[Phoenicia|Phoenicians]], their writing system spread across the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].

In the 8th century BCE, the [[Greeks]] adapted the Phoenician alphabet to their own language. Because the Greek language placed a high structural importance on vowels, the Greeks repurposed several Phoenician letters representing guttural consonants not present in Greek to serve as independent vowel letters (such as alpha, epsilon, iota, omicron, and upsilon). This innovation created the first "true alphabet" in which both vowels and consonants had equal status.

=== Latin and Cyrillic descendants ===
The [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] adapted the Greek alphabet for their own language, and the [[Romans]] subsequently adapted the Etruscan alphabet to write Latin. As the [[Roman Empire]] expanded, the [[Latin alphabet]] spread throughout Europe and later, via [[European colonization of the Americas|colonization]], across the globe.

In Eastern Europe, the Greek alphabet served as the basis for the [[Glagolitic script|Glagolitic]] and eventually the [[Cyrillic script]], which is used today to write [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], and other Slavic languages.

== Types of alphabetic systems ==
While the term ''alphabet'' is often used loosely to refer to any phonetic writing system, linguists such as [[Peter T. Daniels]] strictly classify segmental writing systems into three distinct categories:

* '''True alphabets''': Scripts that have separate letters for both consonants and vowels (e.g., the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic alphabets).
* '''Abjads''': Scripts in which letters primarily or exclusively represent consonants, leaving the vowels to be inferred by the reader based on context and grammar. Examples include the [[Arabic script]] and the [[Hebrew alphabet]].
* '''Abugidas''': Scripts in which consonant letters are the base characters, and vowels are indicated by modifying the base character with secondary diacritics or structural changes. Examples include the [[Devanagari]] script used for [[Hindi]] and the [[Geʽez script]] used in Ethiopia.

== Collation and alphabetical order ==
Alphabets usually have a standard sequence in which their letters are ordered, known as [[alphabetical order]]. This ordering facilitates the process of [[Collation|collating]] and sorting information, such as in dictionaries, encyclopedias, and directories. 

The order of the letters in the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, etc.) was largely inherited from the Phoenician alphabet, with modifications made over centuries to accommodate new letters like J, U, and W.

== See also ==
* [[Grapheme]]
* [[History of writing]]
* [[List of writing systems]]
* [[Orthography]]
* [[Phonemic orthography]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://omniglot.com/ Omniglot: A guide to written language]
* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/alphabet-writing Alphabet] at the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''

[[Category:Alphabets| ]]
[[Category:History of writing]]
[[Category:Writing systems]]