WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The early Greek alphabet was based on the Semitic alphabet of the Phoenician s. It is different from the linear and hieroglyphic scripts preceding it in that each symbol represents a single consonant as opposed to a syllable. The Phoenician alphabet consists of 22 characters with vowel sounds built into the symbols.

Detailed explanation-2: -According to the ancient Greeks they adapted their alphabet from the Phoenicians. Both were great seafaring peoples and eager to trade not only goods but ideas. One of the most important ideas was the alphabet.

Detailed explanation-3: -Although the Phoenicians used cuneiform (Mesopotamian writing), they also produced a script of their own. The Phoenician alphabetic script of 22 letters was used at Byblos as early as the 15th century. This method of writing, later adopted by the Greeks, is the ancestor of the modern Roman alphabet.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Greeks called their alphabet phoinikeia grammata, which may be translated as “Phoenician letters”.