The radio programme ‘The Written World’ was broadcast on Radio 4 last week. I have retrieved a few fascinating nuggets of information about our written script. These might be useful to enthuse pupils about the history of writing (or alternatively use in a pub quiz one rainy day).click here to read more.
Who invented writing?
- Writing was invented in Mesopotamia 5000 years ago by accountants (of all the least imaginative trades!) recording stock.
- The first script is thought to be Cuneiform which looks like angular reed impressions into clay. This was developed because these were the materials available in that region.
- The Egyptians developed their own completely different script either at the same time or soon after.
Where does our alphabet come from?
- The Phoenicians were the ones who moved away from a script based on symbols for whole or parts of words. They had the genius idea of creating an alphabetic script in which symbols represent sounds in words. But their script had no vowels. (Like in Hebrew today: the word ‘Shalom’ is spelled ‘Shlm’ – no vowels.) The names of the letters Alpha, Beta were Phoenician words. Alpha – ox (the letter originally looked like an ox) Beta – meant house (the letter looked like a square house. To this day, the letter ‘bet’ in Hebrew looks like an incomplete square).
- The Greeks developed the Phoenician alphabet by adding letters for vowels that matched the sounds in the Greek language. These letters and sounds are the basis for our script.
- The Romans took the script from the Greeks. At that time sentences were written continuously without spaces between words (one can see this in Roman inscriptions).
Who invented spaces between words?
- The Irish invented spaces between words in the 7th century AD. They were struggling to learn to read and write the Latin script in texts of their newly acquired Christian religion so they decided that putting a space between each word would help. (It does – a lot!)
What did people write on?
- First people used clay; then papyrus which is a reed; walls were used for inscription; then parchment (animal skins) and wax tablets (the first etch-a-sketch).
- The Chinese invented paper in the 1st Century BC. It was used by the Arabs in the 9th Century. It reached Europe much, much later.
When did people start writing in books?
People would write on parchment or scrolls. Then came writing in books. The earliest known book is from the 7th Century AD.
Who invented printing?
- The Chinese invented printing in the 9th Century AD. Printing was introduced in Europe by Johannes Guttenberg in 1450.
What is clear through the ages is that if you wanted to be anybody you needed to be able to read and write. So what has changed in our world in the last 5000 years? Let’s get all children reading and writing!
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