Tuesday, January 17, 2012

ABC Wednesday

Off we go on another wild ride through the Alphabet

So why shouldn't A be for Alphabet


I had considered skipping this round of ABC Wednesday, because sometimes Time crowds in on me and I end up posting quickly and not very mindfully, - a video that is entertaining, - a picture or a poem that it only takes a few minutes to post. And do  not have time to visit other wonderful posts as often as I would like....

But it is such good discipline and pleasure to be part of this meme, so I am going to try to devote more time, whenever I can, and so here is what I have learned about Alphabets - thanks to Sir Google and Wikipedia.....(who I expect will be blacked out in just a few short hours, in protest)

First things first,  a bit of history  - the word ALPHABET comes from the Greek word, alphabetos, and the word alphabetos in turn comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, a Alpha, and b Beta.


The names of the Greek letters were based on Phoenican letter names, the first two letters of the Phoenican alphabet being are'aleph (ox) and beth (house).


The Greeks created the first phonetic alphabet when they used letters from the Phoenician alphabet to represent consonants sounds which were not in the Greek Alphabet .


An Alphabet is a set of letters representing one or more phonemes, both consonants and vowels, and in some cases combinations of letters are used to represent single phonemes, as in sh, ch and th, and I guess ph, too.


The best known alphabets are the Roman and Cyrillic. which have been adapted to write many other languages.  Some alphabets are used for only a single language and some alphabets are used only for religious purposes, or for decoration, such as the Coptic, or the Irish Uncial.


which really looks like just another font, doesn't it........

Just a few facts, Ma'm, but how very fascinating it must be to study linguistics.


Do you remember when you first learned the alphabet, - well, probably not.  Those days are lost in the mists of time as we grow older, but quite likely it was at your mother's knee, -  from a book perhaps

or maybe a song.


Maybe your learning was enforced by the blocks you played with...


and here are some for modern little techies....



We learned so early what these letters meant when they were put in orderly fashion to form words, and what a marvelous gift this has been, - to be able to read the thoughts of others, - to be able to express our own inner selves in written form.  To be able to travel the world from an armchair, or snuggled beneath the blankets at night with a flashlight!

"To learn to read is to light a fire. Every syllable that is spelled out is a spark."    Victor Hugo

For more great A's visit here at ABC Wednesday,  as we start once again an alphabetical adventure at Mrs. Nesbitt's wonderful meme.





11 comments:

Kim, USA said...

I like the quote and it is so true. ^_^

ABC WED.

Karen said...

Oh, I love alphabet blocks. I have a set from my childhood that I passed down to my daughter, they are now my granddaughter's!

Carver said...

Great idea to feature alphabet for A day. Interesting post.

Chubskulit Rose said...

We have one set here that both my kids love when they were tots.

An Apple A Day, an artsy thing..

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

I am so glad you did not drop out of this round! What an informative, entertaining and educational post! And, wow-I never thought of using 'a' for alphabet!

Roger Owen Green said...

Interesting! The folks in the UK and elsewhere have a different alphabet song, which ends with zed, but I don't recall how it goes!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Reader Wil said...

Yes the alphabet is very important and your post is brilliant! I didn't know that our alphabet is derived from the Phoenician alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet starts also with aleph, bet....
Very interesting! Thanks for your post! Please stay with us during this tenth round.

photowannabe said...

Well done Hildred. Sometimes its really difficult being creative with the ABC Wednesday meme.
You certainly gave us lots of interesting information and great pictures.
Have a great day.

Wanda said...

What a great way to begin a new round. I almost stopped to, but at the last minutes decided to give in another "round".

I remember singing the ABC as a child, and teaching it to my children and grandchildren.

mrsnesbitt said...

Oh Hildred - loved this. Did you know that many of us never remember learning to read because it was slowly introduced at home by our parents - time to time we have an experience which reminds us of stories, ie in my case Janet and John but not the process - Great poat. Glad you are aboard for Round 10.

Denise ABC Team

Mel_Cole said...

and i am singing while looking at the music notes :) My "A" for ABC Wednesday.