<P> The Proto - Sinaitic script eventually developed into the Phoenician alphabet , which is conventionally called `` Proto - Canaanite '' before ca . 1050 BC . The oldest text in Phoenician script is an inscription on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram . This script is the parent script of all western alphabets . By the tenth century , two other forms can be distinguished , namely Canaanite and Aramaic . The Aramaic gave rise to the Hebrew script . The South Arabian alphabet , a sister script to the Phoenician alphabet , is the script from which the Ge'ez alphabet ( an abugida ) is descended . Vowelless alphabets , which are not true alphabets , are called abjads , currently exemplified in scripts including Arabic , Hebrew , and Syriac . The omission of vowels was not always a satisfactory solution and some `` weak '' consonants are sometimes used to indicate the vowel quality of a syllable ( matres lectionis ) . These letters have a dual function since they are also used as pure consonants . </P>
<P> The Proto - Sinaitic script eventually developed into the Phoenician alphabet , which is conventionally called `` Proto - Canaanite '' before ca . 1050 BC . The oldest text in Phoenician script is an inscription on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram . This script is the parent script of all western alphabets . By the tenth century , two other forms can be distinguished , namely Canaanite and Aramaic . The Aramaic gave rise to the Hebrew script . The South Arabian alphabet , a sister script to the Phoenician alphabet , is the script from which the Ge'ez alphabet ( an abugida ) is descended . Vowelless alphabets , which are not true alphabets , are called abjads , currently exemplified in scripts including Arabic , Hebrew , and Syriac . The omission of vowels was not always a satisfactory solution and some `` weak '' consonants are sometimes used to indicate the vowel quality of a syllable ( matres lectionis ) . These letters have a dual function since they are also used as pure consonants . </P>
where did the letters of the alphabet come from
where did the letters of the alphabet come from
the Phoenician alphabet
the Phoenician alphabet