The Alphabet

A, B, C, D, E, F... you know the 26 letters of the alphabet, but do you know where the alphabet came from?

The alphabet was actually created over time. It all started with the first forms of man. They used to write by carving pictures or symbols into rocks, shells, and cave walls. Their pictures typically told other people where to find animals. They also pointed out dangers in an area. As people gained more skills, their writing changed. Soon some groups of people were using symbols called hieroglyphs. They would put the hieroglyphs together to make sentences.

Seven hundred years after hieroglyphs came about, a group of people called the Phoenicians came up with the first real alphabet. It had 22 letters. They were all consonants. Around 750 B.C., the Greeks added vowels to the alphabet. However, it still wasn't the alphabet we use today.

The Romans took the Greek alphabet and changed it around a little. This made it look a little more like our current alphabet. However, their alphabet did not have the letters J, U, V, and W. A version of the Latin alphabet gained popularity in Britain in the 7th century A.D.

When the Normans invaded England, the alphabet changed again. It included all of the letters we find in today's alphabet, except J. U and V were also considered the same letter. The alphabet kept changing until 1604. That's when Robert Cawdrey published the first English dictionary. In his dictionary, the alphabet had all 26 letters and became the alphabet we still use today.