Pleasant Grove Review | 1937-02-05 | Page 8 | Origin of the "A," First Letter of the Alphabet

Origin of the "A," First Letter of the Alphabet Some wise man once wrote, "what is ever seen Is never seen." The saying is particularly true of the alphabet. "In the words of Prof. Isaac Taylor," says the Chicago Chi-cago Tribune, "the alphabet may be fairly accounted the most difficult as well as the most fruitful of all the past achievements of human Intellect. In-tellect. It has been at once the triumph, tri-umph, the Instrument, and the register regis-ter of the progress of our race." Yet the alphabet is so commonplace a fundamental of human Intercourse that Its history is little appreciated appre-ciated or known. The Phoenician A, considered as one of the very earliest of alphabetical alpha-betical forms, stood for a breathing sound. Vowels were not represented represent-ed In the Semitic alphabets. The Greek alphabet was a development of the Phoenician. The early Greek alphabet is dated at approximately the Ninth century B. C. In the early centuries of the Christian calendar cal-endar the Romans further changed and deveoped the alphabet Roman writings in stone in early times were inscribed with large capital letters, such as the Roman A. This form has come down to us unchanged un-changed in many respects. It Is strongly contrasted with the Hebrew He-brew form of A.