Is Alphabet Order Completely Random?
Is the arrangement of the alphabet as we know it completely random? The answer is no, as it has a history rooted in ancient civilizations. This arrangement took shape from the original Latin alphabet, which in turn was based on the Greek alphabet, which used the Phoenician system. However, the why behind the Phoenicians' particular ordering remains a mystery.
Non-Arbitrary Elements in Alphabets
Author J.R.R. Tolkien, known for his intricate creation of languages, often detected underlying patterns in the structure of alphabets. For example, he observed that the letters P and B both represent labial stops, with B involving a doubling of the salient features of P. Tolkien's constructed alphabets, such as Tengwar and Cirth, often exhibit more regularity. In the Greek alphabet, we can find a few examples of non-arbitrary features. The original form of Omega was written as two Os and two Omicrons arranged closely together. Th, Ph, and Kh originated from different versions of the letter Theta, each representing a distinct phoneme.
The True Origin of the Alphabet
Contrary to the randomness hypothesis, the alphabet as we know it has its roots in Phoenician civilization. The Phoenicians adapted their alphabet from the Egyptian one, and each letter was actually meant to represent a word, not just a sound. For example, the letter G had the shape of a camel (gamal), and B had the shape of a house (beyt). This approach suggests that they created different consonants for every phoneme they used in their speech, as opposed to arbitrary symbol-to-sound mapping.
Alphabet Evolution and Customization
The development of the alphabet has been dynamic and adaptable. Latin, one of the primary alphabets, usually corresponded one-to-one with phonemes, making it a suitable system for languages that closely match Latin in phonetics. However, some languages, like English, require additional symbols. For instance, in some languages the letter 'W' was invented to represent a sound not found in Latin, and in English, a new letter or symbol could be beneficial for representing sounds uniquely, such as 'th' as in "the". Conversely, some letters, like 'c', can be replaced by 's' or 'k' without loss of meaning, making them potentially redundant.
Design of Alphabets
Joe Devney suggested that symbols representative of sounds were stylized pictures of things starting with those sounds. He proposed using a circle to represent 'a' as it starts with 'a' and is a round shape. Alternatively, one could use a circle to represent 's' due to the sun's circular nature. This approach makes the design arbitrary, as it hinges on the person's perception of shapes and sounds. The oldest letter, 'S', resembles a snake and sounds like one. Korean alphabet, Hangul, uses a more systematic approach where different strokes represent different mouth positions for specific sounds, creating a more rational and less arbitrary system.
While many alphabets exhibit an arbitrary nature, their design can be purposeful and rational if structured around the phonetic sounds of spoken language. The evolution of the alphabet underscores the human endeavor to systematically represent language through written symbols.