Alphabets, also called alphabets, are written forms consisting of a set of graphic signs that represent sound units of a language.
The graphic signs that form the alphabets follow a certain organization that is used, for example, to sort the contents of dictionaries, encyclopedias, lists of names, etc.
The Brazilian alphabet - Latin alphabet - has 26 letters (5 vowels and 26 consonants).
lowercase alphabet
| The | B | ç | d | and | f | g | H | i | j | k | there | m |
| no | O | P | what | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |
capital alphabet
| THE | B | Ç | D | AND | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | s | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Origin of alphabets
The alphabets used in modern times are inherited from several ancient alphabets and were influenced by the collaboration of different cultures.
The first graphical representations date from about 2700 BC. Ç. and originated in ancient Egypt. it was about hieroglyphs, Egyptian scripture that expressed ideas, words and letters.
Hieroglyphs on wall of Egypt.
This set of signs, however, is not considered an alphabet as it was not used as a representation of the Egyptian language.
Egyptian hieroglyphics inspired the emergence of the alphabet in Phoenicia (present-day Lebanon) between the years 1400 and 1000 BC. Ç. This writing system was the
first to be considered as alphabet.Formed by 22 signs that allowed, for the first time, the phonetic representation of words, the Phoenician alphabet gave rise to all types of alphabets existing in the world. Meet:
Phoenician alphabet and its transliteration (substitution of words from one alphabet to another).
know more about hieroglyph.
Main types of alphabets
Since the appearance of the Phoenician alphabet, several other types of alphabet have emerged around the world.
See below for the main ones:
Greek alphabet
Greek alphabet letters.
Composed of 24 letters, the Greek alphabet appeared between the 16th century BC. Ç. and XII a. Ç. and it is still used today, mainly in the field of mathematics, physics and some sciences such as astronomy, for example.
Example: Pi ≈ 3.1415 (mathematics)
The Greek alphabet is, in a way, an evolution of the Phoenician alphabet, which only registered consonants. The Greeks adapted certain Phoenician characters so that there was also a representation of vowels.
The first vowels represented were Α (alpha), Ε (epsilon), Ι (iota), Ο (omicron), and Υ (upsilon).
Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet letters.
As we have seen, the Latin alphabet - also called roman alphabet - it is used in the writing of the Portuguese language and is also the most used in the world.
Made up of 26 letters (5 vowels and 21 consonants), the Latin alphabet appeared around 600 BC. Ç.
In the Brazilian and Portuguese alphabets, which originally had a total of 23 letters, there was a change due to the 1990 Orthographic Agreement for the Portuguese Language. Under the Agreement, three new letters were officially introduced into our alphabet: K, Y and W.
Alphabet in POUNDS
Alphabet in POUNDS.
The alphabet in LIBRAS (Brazilian Sign Language) is used by the Brazilian population of deaf people and can also be used by anyone who wishes to communicate with them.
Sign languages, in general, began to be studied in the 1960s. They later received recognition from linguistics for contemplating factors common to oral languages, such as grammar and syntax.
Also called typing alphabet or manual alphabet, the alphabet in LIBRAS includes different configurations of one of the hands. It consists of 26 letters and also has the representation of numbers, to ensure efficient communication.
Each country has its own sign language. In Brazil, the Brazilian Sign Language is recognized as the official language by Law nº 10.436/2002.
know more about POUNDS.
Japanese alphabet
Although in the West Japanese writing signs are called the Japanese alphabet, they actually constitute a writing system and not an alphabet.
Japan has a total of three writing systems and all of them can be used at the same time as needed. These systems are: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
1. hiragana
Hiragana symbols.
Hiragana was the first writing system in Japanese, it is composed of 46 symbols and each one of them represents a sound. Each of these sounds can be considered to correspond to a syllable.
2. Katakana
Katakana Symbols
Also composed of 46 letters, Katakana is the writing system used by the Japanese mainly for words of foreign origin and onomatopoeias.
Katakana can also be used to highlight a word or to demonstrate the correct pronunciation of a kanji in other languages.
3. Kanji
Examples of Kanji.
Unlike Hiragana and Katakana, which are phonetic writing systems, Kanji is actually a writing system. representation of ideas and/or concepts, that is, each Kanji symbol represents an entire word and not just the sound of one syllable.
korean alphabet
Korean alphabet characters.
Composed of a total of 40 characters, the Korean alphabet originated in the 15th century when the King Sejong decided to create its own writing form instead of continuing to use Chinese letters.
Each of the lyrics has important meanings for Korean culture, as they were chosen following, for example, the philosophy of Neo-Confucianism It's from yin yang.
know more about yin yang and Confucianism.
chinese alphabet
Examples of Chinese Ideograms.
Most Chinese characters are ideograms that represent words or morphemes (elements that form words).
It is very common to use a combination of different ideograms to represent a single idea.
When the Chinese want to graphically represent the word “brightness”, for example, they combine the ideograms of the sun and the moon, thus forming a new ideogram of two elements.
To form the word “rest”, for example, the ideograms “person” and “tree” are combined.
Learn more about the meaning of ideogram.
Hebrew alphabet
Characters of the Hebrew writing system.
What we call the Hebrew alphabet is actually a writing system.
Texts written with characters from this system, also called Alef-Beit, are always written from right to left.
The Hebrew writing system emerged around the 3rd century BC. C., has 22 characters and is used by Jews in Germany and Eastern Europe for communication in Yiddish.
A peculiarity of the Hebrew system is that some of its letters are written differently when used at the end of the word.
See the meaning of Yiddish.
phonetic alphabet
The phonetic alphabet is a system of symbols that allows you to represent the phonetics (sounds) of words.
See the main phonetic alphabets below:
1. international phonetic alphabet
International phonetic alphabet (source: http://stuartabills.edublogs.org/files/2011/05/English-IPA-217pltt.gif).
The International Phonetic Alphabet is a set of symbols that allows the correct phonetic representation of all words in any language.
Often used between square brackets or slashes after the entries in a dictionary, helps the user to correctly pronounce each entry, without the need for in-depth knowledge of the language in question.
Phonetic transcription in dictionary.
Created in 1886 by English and French teachers, the international phonetic alphabet has symbols derived from the Greek and Roman alphabets.
See the meaning of phonetics.
2. Radiotelephone phonetic alphabet
| THE | THEmor | N | Nplane |
| B | Bwalker | O | Ouro |
| Ç | Çconstructions | P | Pipa |
| D | Dadored | Q | Quilombo |
| AND | ANDstar | R | Rhere |
| F | Fthreshing floor | s | shere |
| G | Goiaba | T | Tact |
| H | Hhotel | U | Ugo |
| I | Íindian | V | Vhistory |
| J | José | W | Wilson |
| K | Kiwi | X | Xchess |
| L | Lwow | Y | Yare you |
| M | Maria | Z | Zebra |
Example of radiotelephone alphabet used in Brazil.
The radiotelephone also called spelling alphabet, consists of defining certain keywords to represent the letters and numbers of a language, in order to enable that complicated combinations of letters and/or numbers are understandable in voice messages usually delivered by radio or telephone.
The main purpose of this type of communication is to ensure that the message is not compromised due to a misunderstanding of what was said.
3. NATO phonetic alphabet
Despite being designated as "phonetic alphabet", it is actually an example of radio telephone alphabet, also called spelling alphabet.
The nomenclature is probably due to the fact that the words associated with letters and numbers have to be spoken.
In the NATO alphabet, English keywords are used to represent letters and numbers.
In addition to guaranteeing the understanding of the message, one of the main objectives of this alphabet is to guarantee that the safety of the interlocutors is not compromised due to a misunderstanding of what was said.
The phonetic alphabet of NATO is used by several international organizations, mainly those that form part of the navy and air force.
Learn more about NATO.