In fact, it seems quite random. It's not grouped by sound, frequency, shape, etc. So why is it like that: abcdefg...
I know the answer is that it comes from a culture in ancient times, so my question is, why did that that society choose this general order?
2006-09-09 18:45:39 · 12 answers · asked by presidentrichardnixon 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
As silly as it sounds, no one has been able to figure out why the speakers of Northwest Semitic ordered the letters in the way that they did. Linguists have made many guesses, but ultimately we don't know and probably will never know.
2006-09-09 22:34:52 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The question is intriguing, but unanswerable. According to the book "Questions of English", compiled and edited by Jeremy Marshall and Fred McDonald, "The ancestor of our alphabet is the Phoenician alphabet of nineteen characters (representing only consonants), dating from about the 14th century BC. Around 1000 BC this was used as a model by the Greeks, who added characters to represent vowels. This in turn became the model for the Etruscan alphabet, from which the ancient Roman alphabet, and subsequently all Western alphabets, are derived. Characters have been added over the centuries, and others lost, according to the need to represent certain sounds, but the basic order has remained the same. Indeed, it may go back to North Semitic, the ancestor of Phoenician, which developed about 1700 BC. In other words, we do it like this because we've always done it like this, but why we did it like this in the first place, no one knows."
2006-09-10 13:20:12 · answer #2 · answered by ichliebekira 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
One thing that is known for sure is that the order of the Latin alphabet roughly follows the order of the Greek alphabet on which it is based. The Greek alphabet, in turn, roughly follows the ancient Phoenician Hebrew alphabet. But the order of the letters of that last one is more of a mystery.
It is possible that the Phoenician one was ordered by sound, although it would still be quite strange - most of the letters would be mixed as front and back sounds.
A - back (glottal in Hebrew)
B - front
C/G - back
D - font
E/H - back
F/V - front
Z - middle (it is here in Phoenician)
I - back
K - back too ... there goes my theory :)
L - middle
M - front
N - middle
etc.
That was just an idea, which doesn't really hold water. Hope it helped...
2006-09-10 02:03:37 · answer #3 · answered by Amir E. Aharoni 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Actuslly if you think about it it makes lots of sense. It's lots of consonants with the vowels sprinked through it somewhat evenly. The rest is pretty random but does it really matter what order it's in. I don't think it's in that order for some cultural reason, I think that's just the way it ended up.
2006-09-10 01:53:21 · answer #4 · answered by vampire_kitti 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The answer is, no one knows. Whoever first ordered the alphabet probably did it in a random fashion. Even if they did not, we don't possess information about their reasons. =)
Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
2006-09-10 03:02:11 · answer #5 · answered by yaykittensmewmew 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure but I do agree with Stand-Up. The song would suck in any order, it just plain wouldn't flow.
2006-09-10 01:51:39 · answer #6 · answered by Tammy G 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I don't know, it had to be in some order, why not that one?
2006-09-10 01:51:15 · answer #7 · answered by WHATS UP! 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is obviously arranged in alphabetical order.
2006-09-10 02:59:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
its because in that order it makes a nice little song.
2006-09-10 01:48:36 · answer #9 · answered by Stand-up Philosopher 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
It's what the bowl of soup dictated!!!
2006-09-10 01:50:55 · answer #10 · answered by Jedi Baptist 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋