Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-01-10
g}listellaneuns &eadina.
HISTORY OF THE ALPHABET.

How many of the millions that daily use
the alphabet ever stop to think of its origin
and long history? In the true spirit of Il
student, Isaac Taylor, a well-known English
writer on philosophicalan and pathological sub
jects, has recently written and published in
London, two stout volumes under the title
"The Alphabet, an account of the Origin
and Development of Letters" 1t is only by
help of recent discoveries of early inscrip-
tions and the progress in the art of reading
lost languages and deciphering hitherto un-
known symbols, that such 4 well-posted his
tory has become possible. BY careful study
of the essays and scientific investigations of
the latest philologists, Taylor has set forth
in language within easy comprehension the
origin of the alphabet, showing that our own
"ROman" letters may be followed back to
their very beginning, some twenty or more
centuries ago, as he asserts. We have no
better letters, according to this account, than
those Of the Italian printers OF the fifteenth
century. These were initiated from the
beautiful manuscripts of the tenth and elev-
enth centuries, the lettering. of these being
derived from the Roman Of the IAuguStan
to those employed at Rome in the third CEN
tury b. c., and these do not differ greatly
from forms used in the earliest existing
specimens of Latin writing, dating from the
fifth century b. G.. This primitive alphabet
of Rome was derived from a local form OF
the Greek alphabet, in use about the sixth
century B. c., and that was variety of the
earliest Greek alphabet belonging to the
eighth or even the ninth century B. G. The
Greeks got their letters from the Phpni-
clans, and theirs are clearly traceable in the
most ancient known form of the Semitic.
The most ancient Of books, Papyrus
found at ThebeS and now preserved in the
French National Library, supplies the ear
liest forms Of the letters used in the Semitic
alphabet. The Stone Tables of the Law
could have been possible to the Jews, only
because of their possession of an alphabet,
and thus the Bible and modern pathological
science unite in ascrbing common origin
to the alphabet which !; in daily use
throughout the world. The NiuHtcenth cen-
tury b. G. is held by Taylor H. 90 the ap-
proximate date Of the origin OF Aiphabetic
writing, and from that time it grcw by slow
degrees, while from Egypt, the home OF the
Jews during their long captivity, the know
ledge of the alphabet was carried IN all dl-
rections where alphabets are now found.
The Aryans are thought to have been the
first to bring the primitive alphabet to per-
fectiOn, and each letter and each sound may
he traced by Taylor's careful analysis
through all the changes that have marked
the growth, progress, and, III some instances,
the decay of different letters Of various al
phabets. 1t is an interesting fact that the
oldest known "a 3 C'' in existence is a
childs alphabet, scratched on a little ink
bottle, of black ware, found in one of the
oldest Greek settlements in Italy, attributed
to the fifth century B. C.. The earliest let
ters and many later ones are known only by
inscriptions, and it is the rapid increase, by
recent discoveries Of these precious trag-
ments, that has inspired more dilligent re-
search, and quickened the zeal of learned
students in mastering the elements 0fknoWl-
edge of their origin and history throughout
the world. AS late as 1876 there were found
in Cyprus some bronze plates inscribed with
Phpnician characters, dating back to the
tenth, even the eleventh century, B. G.
Each epoch has its fragments, and the in
dustry of English explorers, the persever-
ance of German students, and the genius of
French scholars have all contributed to
group them in their chronological order.
Coins, engraved gems, inscribed statues,
and last Of all the Sloan inscription, found
in 1880 at Jerusalem, on the wall Of an old
tunnel, have supplied new material for the
history. From the common mother many
alphabets, the PhGnician, are descended the
Greek and other European systems on the
one side, including that which we use and
have the greatest interest in; and on the
other, the alphabets of Asia from which
have sprung those of the East, Syriac,
Arabic and Hebrew.