Alphabet

ALPHABET. - It is the means of expressing the individual vowel and consonant elements of a word by means of definite and constant signs.

1. ORIGIN

a) This art required a long evolution. It is preceded by pictographic (ideographic) writings that express words (ideas)

(drawn by Esc. Catt.)
ALPHABET - Table of the archaic alphabetic signs of the Near East and of ancient Greece, deriving from Phoenician, with the cuneiform alphabetic script of Rās Šamra appended. (Columns 1, 8, 10 contain the modern transcription).

ALPHABET - The oldest evidence of alphabetic writing: 1. Proto-Sinaitic inscription (with Hebrew and Latin transcription) from the 16th (18th) century B.C.; 2. Inscription from Shechem, from the 17th-16th century B.C.; 3. Epigraph on an axe of the High Priest (Rās Šamra), from ca. the 15th century B.C.; 4. Inscription from Byblos from ca. the 15th century B.C.; 5. Inscription on a jug (Lachish), from the 13th century B.C.; 6. Third Letter of Lachish, l. 20, ostrakon from the 6th century B.C.

by means of appropriate images; there follows then syllabic writing, which reserves one sign for each syllable (for example, Mesopotamian cuneiform writing). Finally, an attempt was made to assign one sign to each sound (consonant or vowel). Since the number of sounds differs in different languages, the number of signs ("letters") also varies between 20 and 30 (Hebrew has 22 letters, Greek 24, Ugaritic 29). This writing is called alphabetic, after the first two letters of the Greek alphabet.

b) When the first alphabetic writing arose cannot yet be stated with certainty. It appears almost simultaneously in various regions around the Mediterranean. In the Sinai peninsula, at Serâbit el-Hâdem, in the Egyptian mines, about thirty inscriptions were found executed in characters partly similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs, partly to Semitic writing, and it has been possible to establish that these are alphabetic signs (A. H. Gardiner and K. Sethe), which are called "proto-Sinaitic." On the date of these inscriptions archaeologists are not yet in agreement. By some they are assigned to the era of the XIIth dynasty (2000-1785), by others — with greater probability — to the time of the XVIIIth dynasty (ca. 1500 B.C.). In Palestine the oldest alphabetic writings have been discovered at Tell ed-Duweir = Lachish (inscription on a dagger), at Tell Balâta = Shechem (two limestone fragments with a few letters), at Gezer (3 letters probably belonging to a longer inscription). These inscriptions are assigned to the 17th-15th centuries B.C.; their interpretation has not yet been made with certainty, but they are undoubtedly alphabetic writing used for practical purposes of daily life. In Phoenicia the oldest inscription discovered so far is the one found at Byblos at the foot of the acropolis, containing three lines of which the second is interpreted by almost everyone as b-g-b-l-r-b = "at Gebal (= Byblos), master." It is assigned by some to the 16th century, by others to the 15th. The date of the inscription of Šafatbaal (Šiptibaal), before the 15th century B.C., and that of the inscription of 'Abdô', 18th-17th century B.C., proposed by Dunand, are still controversial. The famous inscription on the sarcophagus of Ahîrâm of Byblos, until recently held to be the oldest in Phoenicia, is a few centuries more recent, that is, of the 13th century, or, according to recent authors, of the 12th or 11th century. The signs are already rather cursive and presuppose a relatively long previous use. An absolutely particular alphabet is that of Ugarit (Râs Šamra), discovered in 1929, not written, like the other alphabets found to date, in linear characters, but with "cuneiform" signs, similar to those of (syllabic) Assyro-Babylonian writing. From the varied combination of the "wedges" there were formed ca. 30 different signs representing the consonants (and probably 3 vowels) of the Ugaritic language (akin to ancient Hebrew). This alphabet probably arose a little before 1500 B.C.

This summary exposition shows that in 1500 B.C. alphabetic writing was known and used in the regions later occupied by the Israelite people, or neighboring them. It is therefore established that some centuries before Moses alphabetic writing was known and practiced by the peoples with whom the Israelites had contacts. There exists, on the other hand, no proof so far that an alphabetic writing was in use around the middle of the 2nd millennium among other ancient peoples. The Greek alphabet (on which the Italic-Latin alphabet later depends) is derived from the Semitic alphabet at a more recent period, not yet well established (between the 11th and 8th centuries B.C.).

c) Where the first alphabetic writing arose is likewise doubtful. Many authors believe that Semitic workmen, employed in the mines of Sinai, invented it, using Egyptian hieroglyphic signs to express, according to the principle of acrophony, the vowels and consonants; but this opinion is not very probable, particularly in the supposition that the proto-

(property of B. Degenhart)

Sinaitic inscriptions are from the 15th century. Others, however, think that the alphabet is of Phoenician origin. The Phoenicians, in frequent commercial contact with the Egyptians, would have taken as their model the Egyptian hieroglyphic letters that represent monosyllabic words (with omission of the vowels), thus forming an alphabet of consonants only. But in this supposition the different forms of certain letters of the proto-Sinaitic alphabet are hardly explained. It is moreover unlikely that the Phoenician linear alphabet derives from the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabet, as others maintain. Probably one must suppose a proto-Semitic (pre-Phoenician) alphabet from which the different types of the Semitic alphabet depend (proto-Sinaitic, South Semitic, Palestinian, Phoenician, Ugaritic, etc.). Thus the invention of the alphabet would have to be ascribed to an era more ancient than that of the inscriptions found so far, that is, to the beginning of the 2nd millennium or even earlier. But the question cannot be decided without new discoveries.

Agostino Bea

2. ALPHABET IN MYSTICISM AND MAGIC

The alphabet, both as a whole and in the individual letters of which it is composed, soon took on a symbolic and mystical meaning, which sometimes ended up being degraded into a magical one. The alphabet has a symbolic value as a whole in the monogram A-Ω (v.)

which refers to the divinity as the beginning and end of all things: a meaning that is repeated in the decussate cross on whose two arms are written respectively the letters of the Greek and Latin alphabets; a cross that is traced with ashes on the floor of a church on the day of its dedication: an ancient Roman rite of delimiting a plot of land for sacred use, performed by the augurs by tracing two lines at a right angle, the decumanus and the cardo; later used by Roman land surveyors for measuring land and adopted by the Christian ritual of the dedication of churches to consecrate the space of land dedicated to worship.

A symbolic meaning of the individual letters, in relation to their numerical (isopsephic) value, is found in the theological-mystical tradition of Judaism (v. below) and of Gnosticism, which abused it extensively.

According to the Gnostic Marcus (Hippolytus 6, 45; Irenaeus 1, 14, 4) the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet represent the Truth and contain the mystery of Christ's descent to earth. Indeed the 9 mute consonants signify Father and Truth; the 8 semivowels, Logos and Life; the 7 vowels, Man and Church. This imbalance of proportions among the three series of letters was healed by Jesus, who descended from the first series (Father), diminishing it by 1, and entered the third (Man), increasing it by 1.

Still according to the Gnostics, the 7 Greek vowels (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω) musically symbolize the seven tones of the heptachord, capable of expressing with continuous inarticulate sounds (ποππυσμοί) the sweetest harmonies in honor of the divinity.

They also represent the 7 planetary heavens, and their succession from α to ω confirms that the Most High is the beginning and the end of all things and that the "heavens sing his glory."

Worth recalling in this connection is the slab of the temple of Apollo at Miletus, where within 7 elliptical circles (two are missing) the 7 vowels are inscribed; while at the top one reads an invocation to the archangels to protect the city of Miletus and its inhabitants. The 7 ellipses represent the 7 planetary heavens, as can be deduced from the symbolic signs at the head of each ellipse.

From this mystical meaning the passage to the magical one is easy on the part of uneducated minds, which place the secret of their efficacy precisely in the mysteriousness of the letters, in their combination, in the incomprehensibility of the language in which the words formed are written, as is found in the use of amulets with inscribed stones (v. ABRAXAS; AMULET; DEFIXIO; MAGIC). Nicola Turchì

3. ALPHABET IN JEWISH MYSTICISM

The haggadists attributed a cosmic value to the letters: they played a great part in the creation of the world and in the Sinaitic revelation. The cabalists developed the system; they speak of celestial and terrestrial letters, masculine and feminine. In the biblical text various coincidences are observed: for example, in the Psalter the word 'ašrē ("Blessed...") occurs 22 times, in conformity with the 22 letters of the alphabet in which the Torāh is written; the alphabetic acrostic in Lamentations would indicate that the people had failed to fulfill all the precepts of the Law; "from alef to tau" is equivalent to "from alpha (v.) to omega," whence the value attributed to 'eth in Gen. 1, 1.

By means of the numerical value of the letters one seeks to establish the antiquity of the world. Relationships are established between words having the same number of letters or the same letters even if in a different order of succession: for example, mē'ōdh (much) and 'ādhām (Adam).

Cryptography. A cryptographic phenomenon is gematria (γραμματεία), based on the numerical value and the permutability of the consonants, in use in haggadic-midrashic exegesis and in cabalistic literature. In place of a given letter one writes the one following it in the alphabet (beth for alef) or the twelfth. The procedure athbaš consists in putting the last letter of the alphabet in place of the first, the penultimate in place of the second, and so on: in Jer. 51, 41 Īšākh=Babel (Babylon). Another permutation is tafraq, that is, in place of the last letter the penultimate, in place of this the third-to-last, etc.

Abbreviations. Abbreviations (rāšē tēbhāth "heads of words") occur in Semitic inscriptions as early as the 6th century B.C. The Septuagint presupposes abbreviations in the Hebrew text at their disposal; each letter is considered as the beginning of a given word, and the writing attributed to R. Aqiba (The Letters) enumerates these meanings. Common is jod for the tetragrammaton, on Maccabean coins f for fenath (year), in epitaphs alef for "amen" and f for šālām (peace). This procedure is called notarikōn, originally an adjective, in later Greek "notarios" (shorthand writer). Talmudic abbreviations served to note down discussions in concise form. In exegesis certain words are broken down by considering each letter as the beginning of a word. Simān (Greek σημεῖον) means in the Mišnāh: a sign for recognizing, an indication; in the Talmūd it serves as a mnemonic device for linking various simanim, forming a single word. At other times abbreviations occur for formulas of praise, for example z-s-l (the memory of the righteous for a blessing, Prov. 10, 7).

These procedures are set forth in The Letters of R. Aqiba and those of Ben Sira, Alphabetum Siracidis, both considered as belonging to the 8th century A.D.

Mysticism. According to the cabalists, the letters are spiritual substances in which the outer form corresponds to the inner essence. The letters are linked to the 10 sefirōth. Each time a letter is pronounced or applied, its spiritual essence is awakened, bringing forth "holy forms" that join with the celestial letters (Pythagorean influences?). The letters are the garments of the Torāh, woven of all the colors of light — white, red, green and black. Prayer changes the letters into spiritual substances that rise to heaven. The first letter is the source of all the others, which are divided into three groups, of which the first is the mystery of the line of grace, the second of mercy, the third of law. Only Adam, before original sin, knew the 5 final letters (m, n, s, p, kh). Abraham recognized them by inspiration, and their knowledge passed

This letter. B. is composed of two circles, and the one below should be larger by nine parts of one, that is, the five ninths of its height should be its diameter. And the one above should likewise be four ninths in diameter, as here above proportionately in the places that are present to you.

This letter. S. is drawn from eight circles, and this is its rationale, as here in the example appears; by their likeness, finding their centers, you will find those below to be greater than those above by a third of a ninth of its square. The belly in the middle should be thick by exactly a ninth of the height. The ends a third of the thickness, terminating the heads with their grace.

(phot. Enc. Catt.)
ALPHABET - Letters B and S, from L. Pacioli, De divina proportione (15th century).

then to Isaac, Jacob and Joseph; but it was obscured later by the adoration of the golden calf. Moses, Joshua and the 70 Elders recognized them. They shone forth afterwards in Palestine together with the other 22 letters of the alphabet in the mystical Song of Songs.

Every combination of letters (sérif) expresses a mystical idea; this theory is already found in Talmudic literature and then recurs in the mystical Book of Creation and in Sabbatai Donnolo's commentary on it. There exists a sérif with which one can even create a man. The doctrine of the synthesis of letters assumes great importance in that of the divine names.

Eugenio Zolli

4. ALPHABET IN PEDAGOGY

Pedagogically and psychologically it is interesting to study the teaching methods devised for the teaching of the alphabet. Leaving aside the less recent ones, handed down in the various Santa Croce and Abbecedari, mention is made here only of the current trends that are most followed, all of which originate from the psycho-pedagogical movement that arose in the last century. According to the analytic or syncretic phonetic method (Mauro, Jacotot, Decroly, etc.), the teaching of the alphabet in its graphic and vocal expressions must not be done starting from individual signs and sounds, but rather from the word, a rational phonic fact of greater concreteness for the child, who must be placed immediately in the psychological reality of language. Only subsequently will the word be broken down into syllables and letters, demonstrating the value of each character and phoneme. This method would be confirmed by a double series of experiences: 1st, that reading is not done by syllables but by whole words; 2nd, that idiots, although unable to learn the value of individual letters, read complete words. The synthetic method (Lindner) proceeds inversely: it starts from the elements of words, that is, from elementary sounds, letters and syllables. In both systems reading is at first mechanical, the contribution of intelligence prevailing as automatism increases.

Noteworthy, the one for its originality, the other for its practicality, are the Italian methods of Ferretti and Montessori. G. Ferretti would like to revive in children the process that matured in humanity the invention of the alphabet (especially the need for alphabetic writing) through the progressive and simplifying phases of pictography and ideography, which in school practice would be summarized in drawing. M. Montessori, starting from the principle of Itard and Séguin of the natural transition from drawing to writing, combats as unnatural the didactics which, through an infinite multiplication of strokes and curves, believed it was preparing the mechanics of writing in the best way. She advocates the acquisition of motor skill through drawings, at first geometric, then alphabetic, made on figures and letters in relief. Simultaneously with the graphic activity the child learns to pronounce the sounds corresponding to the alphabetic signs, isolated at first in syllabic and verbal units immediately afterwards. Trays with carved letters serve to compose new words and thus, in this activism, reading and writing embryonically fused are learned rapidly and without effort.

Too numerous to be recalled here are the didactic variations and innovations for the learning of the alphabet devised in this first half of the 20th century. Essential in each of them appears the tendency toward greater practicality that leaves a wider margin for the collaboration of the little pupils.

Felicissimo Tinivella

ALFABETO (RITE): v. CHIESA, dedicazione della.