Alphabetum Graecum

1771

Shoults Itb 1771 A

[Rome: Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith]

Alpha- α, beta-β, gamma-γ, delta-δ…so begins the Greek alphabet. Most scholars agree that the Greeks began developing their alphabet in the 8th century BC from letter forms borrowed from the Phoenicians (from modern-day Lebanon). The Greeks added vowel-sound symbols to the Phoenician alphabet (which only contained consonants) which was eventually standardised. In turn, the Latin alphabet was developed from the Greek about the 7th century BC and was dispersed far and wide in the time of the Roman Empire. Our own English alphabet derives from the Latin.