"The Wonderful World Of The Alphabet"

Prior to reading David Sacks'reference book it never dawned on me just how intriguing are the letters of our alphabet. As Sacks points out, these twenty- six letters all have personalities of their own. Combining his knowledge of history, linguistics, geography, literature, phonetics and other disciplines, readers are taken on a wonderful journey of discovery from ancient Egypt in the year 2000 B.C., when the alphabet was believed to have originated, up to the present.

Dividing the book into twenty- six chapters, the author illustrates the principal significance of each letter of the alphabet or as Sacks terms it- "its personality, as expressed through speech or visual media."

As an example, if we look at the chapter pertaining to the letter "F," we notice that it has been saddled with an obscenity or it can be comical just in itself. Another element of its personality is that this letter, and not the letter "E" that precedes it, has very often been associated with failure.

If we contrast the personalities of "F" with "A," we recognize how the first letter of the alphabet is associated with beginnings, fundamentals, and superiority. Sacks tells us that this letter has traveled first class throughout history. In fact, most alphabets start with "A" or its near equivalent. The Phoenicians, around 1000 B.C., named "A" the first letter of their alphabet and the Greeks followed around 800 B.C. Today, it is commonly associated with excellence pertaining to products such as meat, success at school, grading of bonds, stocks, and other credit obligations, as well as top service.

We are informed that an alphabet is a writing system based on letters, which by definition symbolize phonemes only. A phoneme is the smallest phonetic unit in a language capable of conveying a distinction in meaning. Letters are used in combination to show words of a particular language that a writer shares with the reader. We must have enough letters with the right and essential sounds to adequately represent a particular language. Surprisingly, the number of letters needed is relatively small, "fewer than 30 for most languages."

What is noteworthy is that alphabets have been quite adaptable throughout history and have jumped from language to language across all kinds of barriers. If we look at our own Roman alphabet in English we notice that it is the product of four such leaps. It was initially copied from Phoenician letters by the Greeks who in turn had their letters copied by the Etruscans of Italy around 700 B.C. All three of these languages were quite different, nevertheless the letters were able to adapt. When the Romans came along, they copied the letters from the Etruscans, and as they conquered Italy and lands beyond they brought with them the Roman alphabet. "Roman letters were fitted to newer tongues, including primitive English (around A.D. 600). Today those letters have grown up to become our own."

These are some of the many revelations exposed in this thought provoking reference book wherein readers are apprised of how languages and their letters interact and change over time.

Sack's enthusiasm and sense of wonder for one of the world's great inventions is contagious, and once you start reading about this fascinating topic you become addicted to it. His knowledge and unbelievable comprehensive research imbue this book with a great deal of revelations seducing the reader to continually return to its pages for another morsel of information.

It is to be noted that the original hardcover edition was entitled Language Visible: Unraveling the Mystery of our Alphabet from A to Z.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted August 15, 2004

Summary

Letters are tangible language. Joining together in endless combinations to actually show speech, letters convey our messages and tell our stories. While we encounter these tiny shapes hundreds of times a day, we take for granted the long, fascinating history behind one of the most fundamental of human inventions -- the alphabet. The heart of the book is the 26 fact-filled "biographies" of letters A through Z, each one identifying the letter's particular significance for modern readers, tracing its development from ancient forms, and discussing its noteworthy role in literature and other media. We learn, for example, why the letter X has a sinister and sexual aura, how B came to signify second best, why the word "mother" in many languages starts with M, and what is the story of O. Packed with information and lavishly illustrated, Language Visible is not only accessible and entertaining, but essential to the appreciation of our own language.