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A is for Ox: A Short History of the Alphabet
About 6,000 years ago in ancient Sumeria, farmers, traders and ordinary people living in cities along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, began potentially the greatest revolution in human history. They started to write. At first they simply made little counters – more like receipts or tokens than letters, but gradually, these developed into recognizable symbols that came to represent not objects, but ideas. From those ancient beginnings came our own alphabet, whose formation would take it on a journey that took in Egyptian hieroglyphs, Semitic slaves, the Greeks and on to the Etruscans and Romans. The shapes of letters would evolve, sounds be incorporated or changed, until finally our own alphabet of 26 letters emerged.
Lyn Davies’ excellent book gives a brief history of the alphabet’s development, tracing the path of change in simply, direct prose, illustrated with numerous examples of symbols, engravings and script. From the rebus effect to minuscules, he makes clear these first steps in the sometimes hazy world of philology, introducing us along the way to a cast that varies from free-booting Phoenicians, Renaissance bibliophiles and modern day texting teenagers. An entertaining guide to explaining why A stands for Ox and E for hey!
Lyn Davies’ excellent book gives a brief history of the alphabet’s development, tracing the path of change in simply, direct prose, illustrated with numerous examples of symbols, engravings and script. From the rebus effect to minuscules, he makes clear these first steps in the sometimes hazy world of philology, introducing us along the way to a cast that varies from free-booting Phoenicians, Renaissance bibliophiles and modern day texting teenagers. An entertaining guide to explaining why A stands for Ox and E for hey!
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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397 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 24, 2020
For some reason, I always assumed that the alphabet more or less arrived as a set, stepping onto the stage of history as a group of 26. I never really gave the matter much thought, of course, or I would have realized that it could not possibly have happened that way, but it wasn't until I read this book that I learned how they came about. Some evolved out of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, some came from Phoenician, and others from early Semitic. This little book, after an introduction to the general lay of the historical (and prehistorical) land, takes us through the development of each one.
Five of our letters (F, U, V, W, and Y) all came from the same ancient semitic letter "waw", which meant "peg". Hence, "F is for peg". "A", on the other hand, came from an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph which resembled the head of an ox. Hence, "A is for ox", which gives the book its name. Each letter's mini-chapter takes us through its development into Greek, Etruscan, Roman, medieval Carolingian, 15th century humanist, and eventually modern forms. I was also surprised to learn that several of our letters were not quite into their modern shape when the 1700's began, although the "f"-like form of the letter "s" reminded me that I already knew about at least one case like that.
I mostly read this book at night, one letter per night. There is something relaxing about reading a brief (two pages) summary of how several thousand years of history had their affect on one little corner of the human mind. It gives you the very opposite perspective of a what-went-horribly-wrong-with-the-world-in-the-last-15-minutes viewpoint from the least healthy corners of the internet.
It is in the nature of the alphabet, that we don't think about it very much. The beautiful calligraphy of the uncial (medieval manuscripts from 4th-8th centuries) is not as convenient to read, perhaps for precisely the same reasons that make them so pleasant to look at. The proper task for a letter is to allow you to look past it, not really noticing it as itself but just the words that it makes up. But, there is a quiet satisfaction to be gained from looking closely at something which you normally take for granted, especially something as extraordinarily useful as the alphabet. It didn't just happen; somebody had to have the idea, but like riverbed stones smoothed to roundness by the passage of time and tumbling, the letters have been slowly and intermittently evolved until (for example) an ox head becomes "A", and then eventually "a". Like picking up that rounded riverbed stone in your hand and enjoying for a few moments the feel of it, it was a source of relaxation, almost meditative, to think (for a few minutes) about only one letter, where it came from, and how it got that way.
Five of our letters (F, U, V, W, and Y) all came from the same ancient semitic letter "waw", which meant "peg". Hence, "F is for peg". "A", on the other hand, came from an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph which resembled the head of an ox. Hence, "A is for ox", which gives the book its name. Each letter's mini-chapter takes us through its development into Greek, Etruscan, Roman, medieval Carolingian, 15th century humanist, and eventually modern forms. I was also surprised to learn that several of our letters were not quite into their modern shape when the 1700's began, although the "f"-like form of the letter "s" reminded me that I already knew about at least one case like that.
I mostly read this book at night, one letter per night. There is something relaxing about reading a brief (two pages) summary of how several thousand years of history had their affect on one little corner of the human mind. It gives you the very opposite perspective of a what-went-horribly-wrong-with-the-world-in-the-last-15-minutes viewpoint from the least healthy corners of the internet.
It is in the nature of the alphabet, that we don't think about it very much. The beautiful calligraphy of the uncial (medieval manuscripts from 4th-8th centuries) is not as convenient to read, perhaps for precisely the same reasons that make them so pleasant to look at. The proper task for a letter is to allow you to look past it, not really noticing it as itself but just the words that it makes up. But, there is a quiet satisfaction to be gained from looking closely at something which you normally take for granted, especially something as extraordinarily useful as the alphabet. It didn't just happen; somebody had to have the idea, but like riverbed stones smoothed to roundness by the passage of time and tumbling, the letters have been slowly and intermittently evolved until (for example) an ox head becomes "A", and then eventually "a". Like picking up that rounded riverbed stone in your hand and enjoying for a few moments the feel of it, it was a source of relaxation, almost meditative, to think (for a few minutes) about only one letter, where it came from, and how it got that way.
December 1, 2020
A super interesting and well-written history!! I've learnt so much about the alphabet. For example, one of the reasons some languages are read left to right, right to left, or both ways, is because it mimics the lines created by oxen ploughing fields! Also it wasn't rich folk or religious scribes who spread language and developed it but slaves who needed to speak to each other despite their varied backgrounds. Plus the letter 't' has remained pretty unchanged from early Semitic and Sumerian pictograms and was used to indicate a brand on an animal or person.
Did I write my own name in Phoenician letters? You bet I did.
Davies has a lovely final paragraph which made my inner linguistic heart sing:
'We are, unfortunately, left with only fragments of this early story – an offering to a goddess, a name on a dagger, graffiti scratched on a limestone cliff in the desert. But some of the gaps in our understanding can perhaps be filled by the realisation that today we are driven by the same impulses that have driven people throughout history – the impulse to express ourselves and record that expression, to list what we own, to write our names in order to give them some permanence – and that it was these very impulses that lead, around 4000 years ago, to the birth of the alphabet.'
Did I write my own name in Phoenician letters? You bet I did.
Davies has a lovely final paragraph which made my inner linguistic heart sing:
'We are, unfortunately, left with only fragments of this early story – an offering to a goddess, a name on a dagger, graffiti scratched on a limestone cliff in the desert. But some of the gaps in our understanding can perhaps be filled by the realisation that today we are driven by the same impulses that have driven people throughout history – the impulse to express ourselves and record that expression, to list what we own, to write our names in order to give them some permanence – and that it was these very impulses that lead, around 4000 years ago, to the birth of the alphabet.'
January 3, 2011
What a fascinating and beautiful little book!
The first half traces the development of the alphabet as a system of writing, representing (more-or-less) one symbol per sound. Specifically it covers the Latin alphabet as used in modern English, rather than, say, modern Greek or Cyrillic, from hieroglyphs though other forms such as cuneiform as they developed around the Mediterranean region, mainly for use in trade. Photographs and illustrations give a clear comparison of the different types of script.
The second half switches from the general system to the specific characters, tracing the development of the 26 letters of the English alphabet as far back as is known. In each case there is a timeline of different representations of the same letter, in some cases as far back as Egyptian hieroglyphs, demonstrating the development of the Roman capital letters and the later hand-written lowercase, with an explanation of the changes along the way.
A fantastically informative and beautiful little book, now sadly out of print, but it's well worth looking for a second-hand copy on eBay!
The first half traces the development of the alphabet as a system of writing, representing (more-or-less) one symbol per sound. Specifically it covers the Latin alphabet as used in modern English, rather than, say, modern Greek or Cyrillic, from hieroglyphs though other forms such as cuneiform as they developed around the Mediterranean region, mainly for use in trade. Photographs and illustrations give a clear comparison of the different types of script.
The second half switches from the general system to the specific characters, tracing the development of the 26 letters of the English alphabet as far back as is known. In each case there is a timeline of different representations of the same letter, in some cases as far back as Egyptian hieroglyphs, demonstrating the development of the Roman capital letters and the later hand-written lowercase, with an explanation of the changes along the way.
A fantastically informative and beautiful little book, now sadly out of print, but it's well worth looking for a second-hand copy on eBay!
September 4, 2018
A really interesting overview of the history of our alphabet, looking at how it came about, where it came from and how it evolved into these marks before your very eyes. From the inventors of writing (the Sumerians), through to Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphs, the Hittite and Chinese logograms and pictograms, to the seafaring Phoenicians who spread the developing alphabet around the Mediterranean, passing it on to the Greeks and the Etruscans who developed it further, and then to the Romans who shaped the stylised capitals and cursive forms that we're most familiar with... It's quite a story. And a short read too. This is a really nice Folio Society edition, with off-white pages, colourful pictures and even the pleasing red headers and sub-headers typical of 17th and 18th century texts, which is a nice touch.
December 8, 2020
A concise and enlightening history of writing and the alphabet, with illustrations and diagrams of how letters changed and developed over time.
March 2, 2023
Good, but very short history. Then an interesting history of the individual letter evolution
October 3, 2021
This is a slight but nevertheless informative book on the history of the development of the modern alphabet as used in English. As always with Folio Society books, it's beautifully presented, with a lovely gold-blocked cloth cover and a slipcase.
The first half of the book gives a general overview of the development of alphabetic languages and lettering in general, focusing in on Europe, while the second half examines the (speculative, in some cases) history of the shape of each letter in the modern English alphabet. There are many illustrations and examples.
The book concludes with a short mention of modern hieroglyphs (road signs and similar pictographs) and the idea that rebus-style text abbreviations might develop into a new modern shared alphabet. Even for a book published in 2006, I'm surprised that there is no mention of emoticons or emoji at this point, but then Lyn Davies's point here is not how a new writing system might evolve but how the borrowing of abbreviations or pictographs into another language now might mirror the way Egyptian hieroglyphs and Phoenician symbols might have been adopted and adapted to serve the needs of other languages.
The first half of the book gives a general overview of the development of alphabetic languages and lettering in general, focusing in on Europe, while the second half examines the (speculative, in some cases) history of the shape of each letter in the modern English alphabet. There are many illustrations and examples.
The book concludes with a short mention of modern hieroglyphs (road signs and similar pictographs) and the idea that rebus-style text abbreviations might develop into a new modern shared alphabet. Even for a book published in 2006, I'm surprised that there is no mention of emoticons or emoji at this point, but then Lyn Davies's point here is not how a new writing system might evolve but how the borrowing of abbreviations or pictographs into another language now might mirror the way Egyptian hieroglyphs and Phoenician symbols might have been adopted and adapted to serve the needs of other languages.
January 17, 2020
Have you ever wondered why the letters are shaped the way they are? Why each particular shape came to represent its specific sound? Why certain letters have alternative shapes; and why we use two alphabets – capitals and small letters? Searching for the answers to questions like these will lead to encounters with Egyptian slaves, freebooting Phoenicians, Greek colonists, Roman sign writers, Carolingian intellectuals, and excitable Renaissance bibliophiles.
March 24, 2025
A beautifully produced, informative and thoroughly researched book that makes this corner of linguistics entirely accessible to the lay reader. Full of fascinating insights, this tale of the alphabet charms with helpful illustrations of each letter’s evolution. Tracing the shapes from hieroglyphics through Semitic, Etruscan, Greek snd Roman forms and then on into Medieval Europe and the introduction of printing revealed a journey I was unaware of but thoroughly enjoyed.
October 9, 2022
A short history of the alphabet indeed! But it is a fun and informative read. I enjoyed the cadence and the ability of the author to enlighten without belittlement and to make the history and ideas informative as well as accessible. Anyone who wants a good overview of where our alphabet comes from (as well as why it's called the alphabet) this is the book for you.
February 15, 2024
Took me a while to track this book down, but it was worth it! A lot of very interesting facts about the evolution of the alphabet. The last chapter talks a bit about how even now written communication is still evolving. If you are interested in language and the development of written communication, I highly recommend checking this book out!!
April 5, 2020
A fun, light read which gives lots of insight into the development of the alphabet and letterforms over the centuries.
July 20, 2021
An interesting look into the history of the alphabet. However, since it is so short much is skipped which means there are plenty of unanswered questions.
April 26, 2022
Great book, short but succinct. Good history and makes you think about symbols and hieroglyphs still used today. Recommended
August 22, 2022
interesting and fun, but lacks detail
July 5, 2024
I'm really fascinated with this historical book.
September 18, 2024
Very interesting origin of our alphabet. The best part is the invidual letters and how the lower case arose from different writing styles of the upper case.
February 7, 2015
A is for ox, B is for house, C is for throwing-stick. But you already knew that, right? This book has it all - it's gorgeous, it comes in its own box, and it talks about writing. The history of our alphabet in particular. I find the history of writing to be almost as interesting as writing itself. In this slim book, Davies recounts how writing began, how alphabets came to be, and how our alphabet spread. Then there is a section explaining each letter individually, complete with lovely examples of the evolution of each letter from Phoenician to Latin. It really is a delightful book. And did I mention how nice the book looks? Nice paper, smart binding, a box to keep it in. It was totally worth the $12 I paid at a used book store.
August 6, 2011
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1697767...
A decent little book on the origins of the alphabet, the first half being about the global question of how the Latin script developed from hieroglyphics via cuneiform, Phoenician, Greek and etruscan, and the second half taking each letter individually. I've read several books on this topic so not much was new to me; the information is very much presented for the non-specialist, and readers may well wonder what the sounds were precisely that were represented by the Semitic letters aleph and ayin (
A decent little book on the origins of the alphabet, the first half being about the global question of how the Latin script developed from hieroglyphics via cuneiform, Phoenician, Greek and etruscan, and the second half taking each letter individually. I've read several books on this topic so not much was new to me; the information is very much presented for the non-specialist, and readers may well wonder what the sounds were precisely that were represented by the Semitic letters aleph and ayin (
August 4, 2015
A clear, concise and interesting history. I don't know much about linguistics so I can't speak for the authenticity of what Davies is saying but it's certainly well presented, nicely detailed and easy to follow for the beginner. It's short, filled with lovely visuals and infused throughout with the human interest inherent in good information about past societies, which is a quality that always makes history nerds get excited. Definitely not an intimidating read. I enjoyed it a lot.
January 24, 2014
what a fun little book and a beautiful volume. so much is really still unknown about the origins of the alphabet. this book fills in many of the blanks.
January 2, 2015
What a great little book. A really fascinating overview of the development of western alphabetic writing from its various roots.
October 18, 2015
Absolutely fascinating and an essential for any language nerds out there
May 5, 2016
Short and sweet review of the development of the modern alphabet. Love the fact that "E" developed from "Hey" - someone jumping up with their arms in the air. Slightly more sedate now.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews