The Letter N

Images courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This feature is all about N.  N-dear me to you... ;-)

If unable to answer a question, you are encouraged to click the link of the article and search for answers there.

N

1) The Egyptian character for the N sound is a wavy line. What does this image represent?

2) The Phoenician character for the N sound is called "nun" (rhymes with noon). What does the Phoenician word nun mean in English?

3) The Greek adopted the Phonician nun. What did the Greeks call it?

4) The Greeks and Romans incised their letters directly in ___ or inscribed them in ___  ___.

5) During the evolutionary change, what did the Romans do to the N's outside strokes, and what was added to it?


Clueless? Perhaps this link will help


N-chanting N!

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL
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"X-cellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change."
--Tom Peters 

The Letter M

Images courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This feature is all about M.  M-motionally made me mewl... ;-)

If unable to answer a question, you are encouraged to click the link of the article and search for answers there.

M

1) Our current letter M started out as an Egyptian hieroglyph. What does this hieroglyph resemble?

2) What did the great grandparent of our M look like?

3) The Phoenicians called their letter "mem". What does it look like?

4) The Greek mu evolved from the Phoenician mem. What does the mu look like?

5) What 2 civilizations adopted the Greek mu?

6) When did the rounded lowercase m start to appear?

7) 7 Roman letters were also used as Roman numerals. What was their numerical value for the letter M? 


Clueless? Perhaps this link will help


M-minent M!

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL
------------------------------------------------
"X-cellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change."
--Tom Peters 

The Letter L

Images courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This feature is all about L.  Kindly L-aborate... ;-)

If unable to answer a question, you are encouraged to click the link of the article and search for answers there.

L

1) What image represented the Egyptian equivalent of our L?

2) How many letters do the Greek have that represents the L sound?

3) The Phoenicians called their letter "lamedh". What does it mean?

4) Using the imagination, what does the lamedh's shape look like?

5) What 2 modifications did the Greek make to this Phoenician letter?

6) What did the first Roman L look like?

7) Over time, what did this Roman letter evolve into? 


Clueless? Perhaps this link will help


L-egant L!

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL
------------------------------------------------
"X-cellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change."
--Tom Peters 

The Letter K

Images courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This feature is all about K.  Ever knew an English word beginning with "kā" (like kā for Kate)? 
Exclude "c"; 
challenge me. 

--Oh, I found one!  Kale :-)

kale |keɪl| (also kail) 
noun [ mass noun ] 1 a hardy cabbage of a variety which produces erect stems with large leaves and no compact head.(Source: Oxford Dictionary of English) 
If unable to answer a question, you are encouraged to click the link of the article and search for answers there.


K

1) How many years has the letter K remained unchanged?

2) The Semetic "kaph" is the forerunner of our K. What did kaph visually represent?

3) The Phoenicians created 3 versions of the kaph. What did the first one look like? 

4) What did the second one look like?

5) And what did the third one look like?

6) What did the early Greeks call their simplified kaph?

7) In the Greek alphabet, what two letters represent the K sound?

8) What three letters did the Etruscans use to represent the K sound?

9) When did the early Romans use the letter K? 


Clueless? Perhaps this link will help


K-pable K!

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL
------------------------------------------------
"X-cellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change."
--Tom Peters 

The Letter I and J

Images courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This feature is all about "I" and "J". Ever j-walked and got struck by a clever i-dea? ;-)  

If unable to answer a question, you are encouraged to click the link of the article and search for answers there.

I and J

1) True or false: "I" and "J" started out from the same character.

2) The Phoenician sign "yodh" was the ancestor of our letter 
"I". What does yodh literally mean?

3) What is the shape of this Phoenician symbol?

4) When the Greeks used the yodh, what shape did it become?

5) What did the Greeks call this transformed letter?

6) Is this Greek letter the biggest or the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet?

7) What sound does the Phoenician yodh represent?

8) What sound does the Greek version of "I" represent?

9) What sounds does the Latin "I" represent?

10) In what century did a lettering artist added a hook to the "I" to form a letter "J"?



Clueless? Perhaps this link will help.


I-dealistic I, and J-dish J

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL
------------------------------------------------
"eXcellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change."

--Tom Peters 

The Letter H

Image courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This feature is all about H.  Will I attract money with an aitch-y palm? ;-)

If unable to answer a question, you are encouraged to click the link of the article and search for answers there.

"H"

1) Like our alphabet, what other 4 cultures have the letter H
as the 8th letter?

2) According to many historians, the letter H started out as an
Egyptian hieroglyph for a ___.

3) What sound did the Egyptian hieroglyph (of question #2) represented the same guttural, back-of-the-throat sound sounded like?

4) What is the meaning of kheth that the Semites call their H-sound character?

5) When the Greek borrowed the kheth, what did the Greeks call this letter?

6) What 2 cultures adapted this Greek letter (of question #5) for their own alphabet?

7) Which culture produced the prototype of our current letter H?


Clueless? Perhaps this link will help.


You don't have to H or scratch ;-)

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL
-----------------------------------------------------------
“Silencing the brain's ramblings gives the chance for wonderful thoughts to bloom.” 
-- Steven Redhead, The Solution

The Letter G

Image courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This feature is all about G.  G-nius! ;-)

If unable to answer a question, you are encouraged to click the link of the article and search for answers there.

"G"

1) When did the letter G make its official debut?

2) The Phoenicians and the Semitic people used a graphic form that looked roughly like a ___ to represent the G sound (as in "go").

3) The Phonicians call this letter a gimmel which means "___".

4) What name did the Greeks give to the Phoenician letter gimmel?

5) Which two cultures adopted the same Greek letter?

6) Which reformed alphabet formally introduced our modern letter G?

7) Why was the letter G created?

8) The letter G became the 7th letter of our alphabet and replaced the letter ___.

9) From question #8, where was this former 7th letter moved in the alphabet?  Why?



Clueless? Perhaps this link will help.


G-nius G!

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL
-----------------------------------------------------------
“Silencing the brain's ramblings gives the chance for wonderful thoughts to bloom.” 
-- Steven Redhead, The Solution