History Of The Alphabet

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[b]P[/b]

P, the 16th letter of the English alphabet, coming from the Latin as an adaptation of the Greek letter pi, which in turn was derived ultimately from an Egyptian hieroglyph.

The English initial p sound is technically a voiceless bilabial stop and is related to the voiced b (see Phonetics). In cognate words, English p generally corresponds to German pf and f, Latin b, and Greek b. The letter p is often silent in English words of Greek derivation, particularly when it is part of initial combinations. Examples include pneumonia, psychic, and ptarmigan. The digraph ph, corresponding to the Greek phi, is pronounced f, as in pharmacy and phonetic.

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]Q[/b]

Q, 17th letter of the English alphabet, derived through Latin and Greek from the Phoenician qoph, which was in turn developed from an Egyptian hieroglyph. In the Semitic languages, qoph represents a plosive sound, very different from the less energetic Greek sound.

In the Romance languages and modern English, q is usually followed by u except in transliterations of the Semitic qoph, as in the word Iraq. In French, qu generally stands for the k sound, as in coquette. When the vowel preceding q is short, the original French que is generally replaced by c, ck, or k, as in the words music, barracks, and bank (French musique, baraque, banque).

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]R[/b]

R, 18th letter of the English alphabet. The capital, or uppercase, R first appeared in its modern form in the Roman alphabet as an adaptation of the Greek letter rhō. The Greek character corresponded to the Phoenician resh, which was in turn developed from an Egyptian hieroglyph.

The written letter r represents a great variety of sounds, according to the language in which it is used. Most common are the trilled lingual sound appearing in Spanish and Italian and the uvular r sound in Parisian French. In several languages, including Sanskrit, Czech, and Serbo-Croatian, r may be be used as a vowel as well as a consonant; for example, Trst for Trieste.

The r sound in English is pronounced in a number of ways, depending upon its position in a word and upon the accepted pronunciation in various parts of the English-speaking world (see Phonetics).

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]S[/b]

S, 19th letter of the English alphabet. It first appeared in its modern form in the Roman alphabet, as the equivalent of the Greek letter sigma, ultimately derived from an Egyptian hieratic character based on the hieroglyph for an inundated garden.

The letter s technically represents an alveolar fricative which may be either voiceless or voiced (see Phonetics). The letter s is occasionally given the phonetic value of sh or zh in words such as sure and treasure; it is silent in a few words, including aisle and debris.

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]T[/b]

T, 20th letter of the English alphabet. It was derived from the Roman character called te, which was taken from the Greek tau. The Greek character was derived from tāw, the last letter of the Phoenician alphabet, representing a cross or mark of ownership. This in turn was derived from an Egyptian hieroglyph.

In English, the letter t denotes a voiceless dental stop, made by checking the speech current for an instant between the tip of the tongue and the upper gum, the vocal cords being inactive and the nasal passage closed (see Phonetics).

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]U[/b]

U, 21st letter in the English alphabet. The Semitic alphabet ended with T, which is now followed by the four new letters, U, V, W, and Y, developed at various periods from the Semitic letter vau. The letter vau was derived from an Egyptian hieroglyph. From the Phoenician symbol, the form of which was intermediate between F and Y, the Greeks evolved two characters, digamma, which survives as our letter F, and upsilon, which had the value of u. The form V was carried to Italy, where it represented a u sound as well as the English w sound.

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]V[/b]

V, 22nd letter of the English alphabet. The form of the capital letter first appeared in Latin, in which it had been adapted from the Greek letter upsilon. This in turn was derived from an Egyptian hieroglyph. In English, the letters u and v were used interchangeably until at least the 17th century.

The letter v represents a voiced labio-dental fricative that is produced by pressing the lower lip against the upper teeth and expelling the breath through the mouth while vibrating the vocal cords (see Phonetics). The use of v as the initial letter of an English word usually indicates that the word has been derived from Latin or French rather than from Anglo-Saxon.

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]W[/b]

W, 23rd letter in the English alphabet. The character is derived from a ligature rather than a letter, as is implied by its name, double u. In uttering the sound of w, as in the word wit, the vocal cords are set in vibration, with the lips in position for the oo of pool. In the old combination wr, the symbol w has been preserved; however, its sound has been lost, as in the words wrench, wrong, and wrist. The letter combination cw has become qu, as in quoth, from Old English cwethen. The w is occasionally silent, as in whole, and is useful for distinguishing the word from the homophone hole.

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]X[/b]

X, 24th letter in the English alphabet. The form, phonetic value, and name of the letter are taken from Latin, via the Greek, and ultimately from an Egyptian hieroglyph.

The normal x sound in English, occurring in the name of the character itself, is a composite consonant sound, as in fixture and excellent. Between two vowels, the first of which is unaccented, the x sound is usually voiced, as in exalt and exhilarate. An initial x, generally occurring in words of Greek origin, has a z sound, as in Xerxes and xylophone. Examples of other x sounds occurring in English may be represented by the words anxious and luxurious.

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]Y[/b]

Y, 25th letter in the English alphabet. It is derived from the Latin transliteration of the Greek letter upsilon (u).

The phonetic values of the letter y in modern English include both vowel and what are known as “semivowel” sounds. In English, w and y are semivowels, that is, they are not quite vowels nor consonants but glides, which if prolonged become vowels and therefore need a subsequent vowel to glide into (see Phonetics). As a vowel, its usage dates mainly from the Middle English period, when scribes fell into the habit of substituting y for i. A vowel y sound also occurs as a substitute for the vowel upsilon in certain words of Greek origin, such as myth and syntax. As a semivowel, it occurs most frequently as the initial sound in words of Germanic origin, such as yield and yard.

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

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[b]Z[/b]

Z, 26th and last letter in the English alphabet. It was taken from the Latin alphabet, which derived it from a Greek letter ultimately based upon an Egyptian hieroglyph.

The normal z sound (a voiced alveolar fricative), occurring in such words as zest and buzz, is produced by placing the tip of the tongue near the sockets of the upper front teeth and vibrating the vocal cords as air moves over the flattened edge of the tongue (see Phonetics). Although z occurs in some words derived from Anglo-Saxon, such as freeze and graze, its appearance in a word (especially initially) generally indicates a foreign origin, most often Greek (as in zeal) and occasionally Arabic (as in zero).

[b]Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/b]

Hope you've enjoyed.

Bushido Boys Anglish...English Class

[MagiDragon]

ummm . . . was that as pointless as it seemed?

[MorphRC]

I thought it had some good info it. No more pointless than your post

[MagiDragon]

[quote name='MorphRC' date='Jul 31 2004, 08:29 AM'] I thought it had some good info it. No more pointless than your post [/quote]
point taken

[MorphRC]