The English alphabets are basically based on the Roman alphabet which is almost 2500 years old. The capital letters are almost like those used in Roman inscriptions of the third century B.C.
Men used pictures to record events or communicate ideas before alphabets were invented. As example a picture of several antelopes might mean "here are good hunting grounds", so it was really a form of writing. This kind of "picture writing" was highly developed by Babylonians, Egyptians and Chinese. In that time picture writing underwent some changes due to some practical problems. That kind of message might be interpreted by different people in different ways. So little by little this method became changed. The Babylonians, Chinese and Egyptians never passed beyond this kind of writing. The Egyptians used to have a kind of alphabet by including among their pictures. They have 24 signs which stood for separate letters or words of one constant each. People living near the eastern shore of the Mediterranean made the great step leading to alphabet and it was 3,500 years ago. The Mediterranean realized that the same sign could be used for the same sound in all cases. That's why they used a limited numbers of signs in this manner and these signs made up an alphabet.
The Phoenicians carried their quite developed alphabet to the Greeks and the Romans adopted the Greek alphabet with certain changes. They handed it down to the people of Western Europe in the Latin alphabet. The alphabet is used today came from this path.
Men used pictures to record events or communicate ideas before alphabets were invented. As example a picture of several antelopes might mean "here are good hunting grounds", so it was really a form of writing. This kind of "picture writing" was highly developed by Babylonians, Egyptians and Chinese. In that time picture writing underwent some changes due to some practical problems. That kind of message might be interpreted by different people in different ways. So little by little this method became changed. The Babylonians, Chinese and Egyptians never passed beyond this kind of writing. The Egyptians used to have a kind of alphabet by including among their pictures. They have 24 signs which stood for separate letters or words of one constant each. People living near the eastern shore of the Mediterranean made the great step leading to alphabet and it was 3,500 years ago. The Mediterranean realized that the same sign could be used for the same sound in all cases. That's why they used a limited numbers of signs in this manner and these signs made up an alphabet.
The Phoenicians carried their quite developed alphabet to the Greeks and the Romans adopted the Greek alphabet with certain changes. They handed it down to the people of Western Europe in the Latin alphabet. The alphabet is used today came from this path.
