Latin alphabet

n. The Roman alphabet adopted from the Greek by way of the Etruscan alphabet, consisting of 23 letters and forming the basis of numerous alphabets around the world, including those of modern western Europe. Also called Roman alphabet.

Latin alphabet

n (Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) another term for Roman alphabet

Lat′in al′phabet

n. the alphabetical script derived from the Greek alphabet through Etruscan, used for the writing of Latin and adopted, with modifications and additions, by the languages of W Europe, including English. Also called Roman alphabet. [1865–70]

Thesaurus

Noun

Latin alphabet - the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western EuropeRoman alphabetalphabet - a character set that includes letters and is used to write a languagebicameral script - a script having two distinct casesa - the 1st letter of the Roman alphabetb - the 2nd letter of the Roman alphabetc - the 3rd letter of the Roman alphabetd - the 4th letter of the Roman alphabete - the 5th letter of the Roman alphabetf - the 6th letter of the Roman alphabetg - the 7th letter of the Roman alphabeth - the 8th letter of the Roman alphabeti - the 9th letter of the Roman alphabetj - the 10th letter of the Roman alphabetk - the 11th letter of the Roman alphabetl - the 12th letter of the Roman alphabetm - the 13th letter of the Roman alphabetn - the 14th letter of the Roman alphabeto - the 15th letter of the Roman alphabetp - the 16th letter of the Roman alphabetq - the 17th letter of the Roman alphabetr - the 18th letter of the Roman alphabets - the 19th letter of the Roman alphabett - the 20th letter of the Roman alphabetu - the 21st letter of the Roman alphabetv - the 22nd letter of the Roman alphabetdouble-u, w - the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabetx, ex - the 24th letter of the Roman alphabetwye, y - the 25th letter of the Roman alphabetezed, izzard, zed, zee, z - the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet; "the British call Z zed and the Scots call it ezed but Americans call it zee"; "he doesn't know A from izzard"

Translations

Latin Alphabet

historically, a branch of the Etruscan alphabet, which in turn was derived from the Greek alphabet. It is generally taken to have come into being in the seventh century B.C. The letters were written first from right to left and, on alternate lines, from left to right (the boustrophedon). After the fourth century B.C. they were written from left to right. The names of the letters (bee, dee, ef, and so on), with the exception of yod, zeta, and upsilon, were not Greek or Semitic but rather were either borrowed from the Etruscans or were original inventions. The basic shapes of the letters were established in the first to fifth centuries A.D.

The original Latin alphabet consisted of 20 letters (A B C D E F H I K L M N O P Q R S K V X); the letter C was used to signify k or g, and the sound [k] could be written as C, K, or Q. In about 230 B.C. the letter G was introduced, and almost simultaneously the use of C, K, and Q was regulated: C was the most common representation of [k], Q was used before u, and K was retained in only a few words. The letters Y and Z were introduced at the beginning of the first century B.C. for words of Greek origin. Thus, the alphabet consisted of 23 characters. The regular use of the letters J (as opposed to I), U (as opposed to V), and W began only in the era of the Renaissance.

Beginning in the early Middle Ages, the Latin alphabet served many languages of Europe, and later it was also used for a number of languages of Africa, America, and Asia.

REFERENCES

Diringer, D. Alfavit. Moscow, 1963. Pages 608–15. (Translated from English.)
Gelb, I. J. A Study of Writing. Chicago, 1963.
Jensen, H. Die Schrift. Berlin, 1969.

M. A. ZHURINSKAIA

Latin alphabet

Related to Latin alphabet: Greek alphabet, Hebrew alphabet

noun

Synonyms for Latin alphabet

noun the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe

Synonyms

Roman alphabet

Related Words

alphabet
bicameral script
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
double-u
w
x
ex
wye
y
ezed
izzard
zed
zee
z