Josephine Quinn, "Alphabet Politics" (review of Silvia Ferrara, The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts, translated from the Italian by Todd Portnowitz, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022, 289 pp.; and Johanna Drucker, Inventing the Alphabet: The Origins of Letters from Antiquity to the Present, University of Chicago Press, 2022, 380 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol.
dʒˈoʊsfiːn kwˈɪn, "ˈælfəbˌɛt pˈɑːlətˌɪks" ɹᵻvjˈuː ʌv sˈɪlviə fɛɹˈɑːɹɹə, ðə ɡɹˈeɪɾɪst ɪnvˈɛnʃən: ɐ hˈɪstɚɹi ʌvðə wˈɜːld ɪn nˈaɪn mɪstˈɪɹiəs skɹˈɪpts, tɹænslˈeɪɾᵻd fɹʌmðɪ ɪtˈæliən baɪ tˈɑːd pˈoːɹtnoʊvˌɪts, fˈæɹɑːɹ, stɹˈaʊs ænd dʒˈaɪɹuː, tˈuː θˈaʊzənd twˈɛnti tˈuː, tˈuːhˈʌndɹɪd ˈeɪɾi nˈaɪn pˌiːpˈiː.; ænd dʒoʊhˈænə dɹˈʌkɚ, ɪnvˈɛntɪŋ ðɪ ˈælfəbˌɛt: ðɪ ˈɔːɹɪdʒˌɪnz ʌv lˈɛɾɚz fɹʌm æntˈɪkwᵻɾi tə ðə pɹˈɛzənt, jˌuːnɪvˈɜːsᵻɾi ʌv ʃᵻkˈɑːɡoʊ pɹˈɛs, tˈuː θˈaʊzənd twˈɛnti tˈuː, θɹˈiːhˈʌndɹɪd ˈeɪɾi pˌiːpˈiː., ðə nˈuː jˈɔːɹk ɹᵻvjˈuː ʌv bˈʊks, vˈɑːl.