• Home
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Hosting
  • Newsletter
  • T-Shirt
  • Stickers
  • Tips
  • Contact

Laughing Squid

A daily dose of art, culture and technology.

The Evolution of the Alphabet

by Lori Dorn on January 25, 2019

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • More
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype
  • Reddit
  • Print

Evolution of the English Alphabet

Matt Baker of Useful Charts has designed a wonderful high resolution wall chart (larger) that explains the how each letter of the alphabet developed over various periods within thousands of years.

The chart shows how modern English language evolved from the ancient Proto-Sinaitic script of biblical times to the Phoenician alphabet to the Archaic Greek alphabet to Archaic Latin to Roman script and the modern Roman form we know and use now. Baker explains that while the chart arranges the letters according to the English alphabet, the letters are not originally English.

I originally titled the chart “Evolution of the English alphabet” and many people commented that there is no such thing as an English alphabet and that the chart should be titled “Evolution of the Latin alphabet”. Actually, both titles are correct. Obviously, many European languages use the same Latin script. But some use a slightly different number of letters. When one is referring to the set of Latin letters used for a particular language, it’s ok to refer to that set as the “[language name] alphabet”. However, in the end, in order to be more inclusive, I decided to change the title to simply “Evolution of the Alphabet” and use the row titles to make it clear that it is the evolution of the standard Latin script that is being shown (as opposed to say, the Cyrillic or Hebrew scripts).

Baker also created a handy video explaining this evolution.

This alphabet evolution is a part of a larger wall chart that encompasses Writing Systems of the World, which is for sale on Baker’s site.

This beautiful wallchart outlines 51 different writing systems from around the world, divided into abjads, alphabets, abugidas, syllabaries, logosyllabaries, and signal-based alternatives. Includes: Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Braille, Burmese, Chinese, Ethiopian, Georgian, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Inuktitut, Japanese, Kannada, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Malayalam, Morse Code, Oriya, Russian, Punjabi, Semaphore, Sinhala, Tamil, Telegu, Thai, Tibetan, and more… over 2000 symbols total!

via this isn’t happiness


Related Posts



← Previous Post
Next Post →


Host your WordPress site on Managed WordPress at Laughing Squid Hosting.

Trending on Laughing Squid

  • Mars Rover Footage Compiled Into an Astonishing 4K Video That Reveals the Surface of the Planet
    Mars Rover Footage Compiled Into an Astonishing 4K Video That Reveals the Surface of the Planet
  • 1969 Debut of 'Mah Na Mah Na' on Sesame Street
    1969 Debut of 'Mah Na Mah Na' on Sesame Street
  • Oddly Adorable Photos of Animals Without Necks
    Oddly Adorable Photos of Animals Without Necks
  • Toronto Mom and Her Two Kids Recreate the Beastie Boys 'Intergalactic' Music Video for Their Holiday Card
    Toronto Mom and Her Two Kids Recreate the Beastie Boys 'Intergalactic' Music Video for Their Holiday Card
  • Boston Bagel Shop Uses a Side-Mounted Buzzsaw on a Conveyor Belt to Cut Their Bagels in Perfect Halves
    Boston Bagel Shop Uses a Side-Mounted Buzzsaw on a Conveyor Belt to Cut Their Bagels in Perfect Halves

Powered by Laughing Squid Hosting and WordPress VIP
Newsletter | Affiliate Disclosure | Privacy Policy
© 1995-2021 Laughing Squid LLC, all rights reserved