Latin Alphabet

Time Line
600 B.C. – The Latin alphabet, based on the Greek alphabet, is developed by the Etruscans.
190 B.C. – Parchment replaces papyrus
100 B.C. – Romans conquer Greece
0 A.D. – Arrival of the Codex (Hand stitched books made from signatures of 2, 4, or  with double sided printing
100 A.D. – Roman empire stretches from British Isles in the north to Egypt in the south, and from Spain in the west to the Persian Gulf in the east.
400 A.D. – Christians expand the use of the Codex
476 A.D. – Roman falls.

The Roman Alphabet and the Important Design Innovations:
- Roman alphabet begins with: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X
- After the conquest of Greece, Y and Z are added.
- During the Middle-Ages J, U, and W are added
- Created several different styles for different purposes such as Monumental Vs Quadrata (square)
- Each letter was designed to be one form and attention was paid to counters and kerning
- Serifs were developed through the carving process
Several different Styles
- Trajan’s Capitals set against square fields to demonstrate the proportions and rhythms of roman
- Square capitals are not easy to write and this limited there wide usage
- Rustic Cap anticipate the the tendency to condense
- By the 4th century there developed a style of writing that had as its chief characteristic the rounding off of certain angles and joints
This style is called ‘uncials’
- Half-uncial and semi-uncial marked a true variant on capitals, and was the begining of the lower case

Greek Alphabet

Time Line
1000 B.C. Adopted Phoenician alphabet; changing 5 consonants to vowels
500 B.C. High point of Greek Culture, the alphabet plays a key role in voting
400 B.C. Athens standardizes the “official” alphabet
200 A.D. Developed rounded writing style called unicals

Important Design Innovations:
Applied geometric structure and order to the uneven Phoenician characters.
Use of a baseline and even repetition of form and space
A standardized set of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal strokes are used
Developed left to right style

Symbols Become Letters

The Phoenicians
The earliest surviving examples of the alphabet are from ancient Phoenicia, a culture on the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon and parts of Syria and Israel.

Aramic Alphabet
First used by tribes from Aram, a large area in what is now Syria.
Written right to left with a pen held at 45° angle

Hebrew Alphabet
Old Hebrew Alphabet was developed around 1000 B.C.
When Israelites returned after Babylonian exile (586 to 516 B.C.) they adapted Aramaic writing.