The original meaning and production of 26 English letters

We all know that Chinese characters are hieroglyphs, but if English is also hieroglyphics, you will think pure nonsense. In fact, the origins of the 26 letters of English do come from hieroglyphs. The 26 letters originally originated from Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the Phoenician alphabet was later modified by the Phoenicians, and the Greeks reformed the Phoenician alphabet to create the Greek alphabet, in which the ancient Romans reformed the Greek alphabet and invented the Latin alphabet, which belonged to the Latin alphabet. Thousands of years of change, ancient letters and modern letters have a great difference in pronunciation, but its basic pictographic meaning is still more or less preserved. and the original meaning of each letter penetrated into various roots, and eventually left a clear mark in the modern vocabulary.

Understanding the original meaning of the 26 English letters not only strengthens our sense of language, but also helps us to recite the words. So where exactly is the 26-letter pictographic? Here are the meanings of each letter, and it will be clearer if it is expressed in an illustration.

A-Bull head

B-house, Bird's mouth

c,g-Room Corner

D-Gate

E-Man holding hands

F-Sand

H-Lotus

I-hand

K-Emperors

L-Whip

M-Water or wave

N-Nose

O-round Things

P-Mouth

q,r-Head

S-Sun, Dune

T-Cross

V-Dragon

X-Cross

Z-Lightning

We need to know that the ancients write is not up and down, so certain hieroglyphs can be seen sideways, can also look upside down. For example, why does a come from a bull's head? If you look upside down, you'll know the answer. It is because a comes from the head of the cow, so the root of a related to a nature and the characteristics of the bull head, such as the first, the concept of the head, such as horns, sharp concept, will eventually extend to acupuncture, soreness and other abstract meanings. A related root has acid, the origin of these letters in academia there are various debates, some more conclusive, some are not sure, and some have a variety of origins said. For example, Q, in addition to the meaning of the human head, can also indicate the nipple and the belly of the tail animal.

A A

As Chinese characters originate from pictograms, each letter in the English alphabet begins with a picture of the shape of an animal or object, which eventually evolves into a symbol. But there is no similarity between these symbols and the shape of the objects that were originally traced. No one can be certain what the pictographic alphabet originally represented. Our explanation can only be based on the educated guesses of the scholars based on historical data. The Greek alphabet is generally considered to be all western letters, including the ancestor of the Latin alphabet. In fact, the Greek letters were borrowed from the Phoenician people. About 3,000 years ago, the letter A in the Phoenician alphabet was read like a aleph, and it was written in the form of a letter V, with a cross in the middle, representing the bull's head or horns. Later the Greeks wrote it upside down. For the ancient Phoenician, cattle meant wealth, food, clothing and farming. This may be the reason why A is listed as the first letter.

b b

Like a, the letter B can also be traced back to the ancient Phoenician. In the Phoenician alphabet B is called Beth, representing the house, in Hebrew b also called Beth, also contains the meaning of the house. The letter B originally resembles Primitive society's two room house, the small Letter B is later from the capital letter B to evolve out. In this Cisiordania there is a Jewish, Christian holy Place called Bethlehem. The word still contains Beth's ingredient. The second place in the alphabet is perhaps because the importance of living for human survival is second only to food and clothing.

C C

The letter C is called Gimel in the Phoenician text and represents the camel. It is arranged in the alphabet in the same order as the Greek letter I (gamma), in fact its glyphs evolved from the latter. C is represented in Roman numerals in 100.

D D

d in ancient times is a glyph of the shape of an arch or door, called Daleth in the old Phoenician and Hebrew language, is " Door " equivalent to the Greek alphabet δ (delta).

E E

E is the most used letter in English. In Phoenician and Hebrew, E is the pictographic symbol of the window, called he, which is equivalent to the Greek letter E (Epsilon).

F F

F (the sixth letter in the English alphabet) derives from the sixth pictographic alphabet of the Phoenician language, which resembles the English letter y of today, which represents a cork or a peg, and the name Waw in Phoenician and Hebrew. The felon's left cheek is often marked with an F mark as a punishment.

G g

in the ancient Phoenician and Hebrew alphabet, G is a pictographic alphabet depicting the head and neck of a camel, with the name Gimel. Later the Greeks borrowed the symbol for Gamma (Gamma). In fact, the letter G and the letter C are derived from the same Phoenician alphabet. The original Latin alphabet without the letter G, including the G-tone and K-tone words are denoted by the letter C. After 3rd century A.D., the Romans created G according to C, since this c is the K-tone, G is the G-tone.

H H

Like other letters, H can also be traced back to the Phoenician alphabet through the Latin and Greek alphabet. The corresponding letters in Phoenician and H have two bars, which represent fences or fences, and the letters are named Heth or Cheth.

I I

The nineth letter I originates from the pictographic alphabet called Yod/yodh in the Phoenician language, which is considered to represent the human finger. The initial lowercase letter I does not have a dot. I above the point is 11th century after the scribe for distinguishing the letter I ligatures (such as Filii) with the letter U only begin to Add. In addition, the writing or printing forms of I and J before 19th century are interchangeable, and dictionaries do not use them as two different letters for equivalence. As in Samueljohnson (1709-1784), the English Dictionary, Iambic ranked in the middle of the two words jamb and jangle. I in English is equivalent to I (iota) of the Greek language.

J J

The letter J was a post-Shakespeare (Post-shakespearean Times), produced about 1630, and V and called the two lightest letters in the English alphabet. The letter "J" or "J" was not in the English version of the Bible, which was enacted by King James I in 1611. Just as G is based on C, J is derived from I, that is, I add a tail to the composition. However, until the 19th century, the writing or printing form of i,j had been interchangeable and had not been completely separated.

K K

The origin of the letter K can also be traced back to the ancient Phoenician language. In the Phoenician alphabet, K is a pictographic symbol, representing the human hand. Hebrew calls it the kaph, the meaning of the Hand (Palm) . The Greeks borrowed and made K (Kappa). In Roman times, the forehead of a libel offender was stamped with the mark of K, and K stands for Kalumnia, which is equivalent to English calumny (defamation).

Dll

In the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabet, L is called Lamed/lamedh, which is a pictographic symbol of a stick (oxgoad) or whip. The corresponding letter in Greek is a (lambda).

Mm

As with other letters, M can also be traced back to the ancient Phoenician language. The Phoenicians ventured to sea trade, saying that the voyage had been far to the Spanish coast. M in the Phoenician alphabet is the icon that represents the shape of the waves. The Hebrew call it mem, meaning " water " . The corresponding letter of the Greek is M (MU). In the Middle Ages where prisoners ' sins (manslaugter) were Zom, they were often branded with the mark of M. M represents 1000 in Roman numerals (Latin as Mille).

n N

The letter n is wavy in Egyptian pictographic characters, called Nun in the Phoenician language, meaning " Fish " The corresponding letter in Greek is N (NU).

o O

Many languages have letters that resemble o, and they all represent people's eyes. In some of the ancient alphabet, some o also added a point, indicating pupil. In the Phoenician language o called Cayin, meaning " eyes ", in ancient English o called Oedel, meaning " home " .

P p

P, the 16th letter of the English alphabet, the ancient Phoenician and Hebrew called PE, meaning " Mouth " the corresponding letter for Greek is II (PI). In 16th century, a Dominican monk named Placentius (Dominican friar) wrote a poem titled Pugna Porcorum, composed of 253 six-tone steps, with the first letter of each word being p. I'm afraid this is the only one in the ancient and the present.

Q q

Q, the 17th letter of the English alphabet, evolved from the 19th pictographic alphabet of Phoenician and Hebrew. The shape of Q is a bit like a monkey with a tail hanging. No wonder Phoenician calls the letter Qoph, which means " monkey ". In English, after the Q almost always follow u, it will be less than the current ending, unless it is borrowed words.

R R

r, the 18th letter of the English alphabet, The system was evolved from the 20th pictographic alphabet of Phoenician and Hebrew. Phoenician called Resh, meaning " header " - 1637) wrote in 1636 in the book "The English Grammar for Foreigners" (Chinese Grammar made for the benefit of all strangers): " r is the dog's letter, and Hurreth in the sound; the tongue striking the inner pal Ate, with a trembling about the teeth. "

s S

In Phoenician and Hebrew, S is called shin/sin, meaning " Teeth " , the letter is shaped like the W today, and now the glyph is gradually evolved after it enters the Latin language. The corresponding letter of the Greek is ε (sigma).

T T

today's letter T is a change from the pictographic silence of the Phoenician language. The previous glyph is the letter x, called Taw, which means " Mark ". This symbol forms the Greek corresponding to the letter T (Tau).

u u

The letter U system derives from the letter v. In the hundreds of years before 19th century, these two letters, such as I and J, have been available for exchange and have not been differentiated in English dictionaries. For example, books published in the 16 and 17th century upon often spell vpon, while the Haue is often spelled out. Even 1847, the English Dictionary published by Henry Washbourne of London (A Dictionary of the Chinese Language) continues to follow this practice.

V V

V is one of the two youngest letters in the English alphabet (plus one for j), which appeared about 1630 years after Shakespeare's time. But V is also an ancestor of three letters such as u,w,y, and even F can be derived from V. V originates from the 6th pictographic alphabet of the Phoenician alphabet in the 1000, which resembles the English letter y of today, called waw, meaning " Cork " or " Wooden Nails ". After 900 BC, the Greeks borrowed the letter and derived two letters from it, one later evolved into the English letter F and the other to V and Y. Before 19th century V and u these two letters are not divided, can be interchangeable. V represents 5 in the Roman numerals.

W W

Like U,y, W is also derived from V, in fact, W is a double v ligatures, which should be read as double V.W is read as double u because of the centuries before 19th century U and V have been not divided, can be interchangeable. V is also a symbol of V and U, even if the hair U is often a V, such as upon often spell vpon. The letters of French are studied as Double v.

Attached: 26 Letters produced:

Starting around 3000 BC, people in ancient Egypt used words (hieroglyphs) to denote the shape of God, man, animal and plant, nature (mountains and rivers, etc.), to show decorations, weapons, farm implements, daily necessities, etc. The hieroglyphics not only give an alphabet to the present, but also the Arabic text, the Indian language of the text has brought influence. The word paper was written on fibres made from plants called Paper grasses (papyrus), which originated in papyrus.

During the first 800 years of 2000~ BC, the sea trade was very prosperous Phoenician, based on Egyptian hieroglyphs, created the Phoenician alphabet, around 1000 BC, the ancient Greeks have the Phoenician alphabet created from left to right 24 letters of the alphabet, The etymology of Alphabet is the Greek alpha (Alpha) +beta (β). The establishment of the Roman alphabet was powerful in the 800-500 BC, the most active of the Iraqi people, the alphabet is read by their methods. The alphabet, written in Latin by the Romans, is now 23 letters from the 26 letters of the A~Z, and G is the letter invented by the Romans in order to differentiate from the C [K], memento [g] tones, and enter the 10th century, when you are independent from the V, and in 11th century, a W is used for performance [w] tones. In 15th century, J was separated from I.

There are many lectures on the origin of the English alphabet, but the more common (according to funk "Word Origins") is originated in the Hebrew language. There is a certain basis for saying this. Because the Bible is the source of Western civilization, and the Bible records the History of the Jews (Hebrew). And now the two major sources of English are Greek and Latin ancestors are also " Hebrew ". The Hebrew language itself is hieroglyphics. Therefore, a large number of words in modern English reveal the characteristics of hieroglyphs. But along with the unceasing development of the history, the Civilization unceasing promotion, the writing also integrates the abundant culture connotation.

The original meaning and production of 26 English letters