Day Three: After Class

Today's topic in class was Chapter Two, Alphabets.

We went over the entire chapter today, including the different types of alphabets, the use of parchment and codices, and why/how the alphabet had positive effects in the world. Actually, I don’t remember us covering the Aramaic alphabet today. But anyways, there are many ways that writing has benefited society. Some ways include: the ability to vote, the enforcement of laws from the Code of Hammurabi, the ability to spread information around the world. People were more familiar with public affairs. There are some reasons why the alphabet was good; a couple reasons include: literacy spread throughout society; history was recorded. In chapters one and two, substrates evolved and were found to be useful during certain points in time. In order, they are: clay (Mesopotamia), papyrus (Egypt), codex (a form, like a book, created with parchment), parchment (animal hides), vellum (baby calve hides), and paper (Chinese; used today). The Phiastos Disk was found on the island of Crete; interestingly, the disk was comprised of imprints and spirals. There has been controversy whether or not this disk is alphabet’s origin. Phoenicians used North Semitic writing (from the western Mediterranean region) and they wrote from right to left. This writing system was then used and improved by the Greeks. The characters had geometric structure. Boustrophedon—reading from right to left, then left to right—was the way the Greeks read. They eventually decided to read from left to right (our current reading style). The Latin alphabet was then used as the Romans took Greece captive. Serifs (small lines extending from the major strokes of the letterforms) were soon used; there is debate over the production of the serifs. Two writing forms were used—square and rustic capitals. The rustic capitals were more condensed, yet a bit thicker than the square capitals; this left room for more writing space. The Korean alphabet was created by using abstract depictions of the mouth and tongue saying the sounds of the consonants. The vowels were vertical and horizontal lines with dots. This alphabet was created because originally there existed two alphabets—one for speaking and one for writing. This alphabet made communication much easier.

The most useful thing I saw today was seeing more pictures of characters from the different alphabets. It was interesting seeing how similar the Phoenician, Greek and today's alphabet are. Also, going back to the hieroglyphics, I was reminded how animals/humans were drawn, which evolved into looking like today's letters. It was cool seeing what the letters stood for. Also, a question I had from earlier was answered. I wondered which substrate came after parchment. It turned out that the Chinese invented paper, which is what we still use today.

How long did it take to make parchment? Is it still used at all today?