Tony Clemons, age 14, of High Point, N.C., for his question:"
HOW WERE ALPHABET LETTERS FORMED?
The alphabet is a series of letters used in writing a language.
The name means exactly what the term ABC means as a name for the 26 letters of our alphabet. The word comes from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. The 26‑letter alphabet is called Roman although the Romans did not invent it. It grew and developed for thousands of years. A is the first letter in all the alphabets from which ours evolved.
It came from the Egyptian hieroglyphic or picture writing for ox which the Semites called aleph. The Greeks make it alpha.
B was called beth by the Semites and beta by the Greeks. It came from the word for house.
C came from the Egyptian picture of a boomerang and was called gimel by the Semites.
D came from the word daleth which meant door. The Egyptian hieroglyphs was also a door.
E in the Egyptian hieroglyphic is a man rejoicing while the Semites called the letter he.
F was a hooklike drawing for the Egyptians which was called hook by the Semites.
G was gamma, or the third letter for the Greeks. The Romans separated the g and k sounds.
H was a symbol that represented a twisted rope for the Egyptians and the word eta for the Greeks.
I was a drawing of a hand for the Egyptians. The Greeks called it iota.
J was the last letter added to our alphabet. It developed from the letter I.
K was a cupped hand drawing for the Egyptians and called kappa by the Greeks.
L was a symbol of a crooked staff in Egypt. It was lamed for the Semites and lambda for the Greeks.
M, the 13th letter, was named men by the Semites and mu by the Greeks.
N was a snake symbol in Egypt, called nun by the Semites and nu by the Greeks
O in Egypt was an eye symbol which the Semites called ayin. The Greeks called it omicron.
P was a mouth symbol for the Egyptians and the word pe by the Semites. Greeks said pi.
Q was a monkey drawing in Egypt, the word qoph for the Semites and koppa for the Greeks.
R was a head for the Egyptians and the word resh for the Semites.
S was called shin, meaning tooth, for the Semites. The Egyptian symbol was a tusk.
T was a check mark in Egypt that became a cross‑shaped letter called taw by the Semites.
U evolved from a u‑shaped hook in Egypt to the Greek word upsilon.
V came from a letter used by the Semites called waw. It had both u and v sounds.
W came when French scribes rounded out two Vs which they called "double U."
X in Egypt was a fish symbol that became the word samekh to the Semites.
Y, the 25th letter in the alphabet, evolved from a fish‑hook shaped
Z was called zayin by the Semites and it came from an Egyptian arrow symbol.
Today's alphabet finally received its finishing touches from the Romans after it had grown and evolved for thousands of years. Linguists today use an almost perfect alphabet, the International Phonetic Alphabet, which has more than 80 characters.