Question: why does the alphabet have the letters that it has, is it because a ;presron invented vthe alaphabet and made the letter or is it because a man invented it

Ekbal Hussain answered on 22 Jun 2014:

Hi Finlaye,

That’s a very tricky question and I have to admit, I don’t really know much about it. Our language is something that evolves and changes with time very much like the evolution of animals and humans. So what was English 500 years ago was quite different to the English we have today. Even now, the English language is constantly changing.

I’ve done a little bit of research and found that the modern English alphabet has its origins in the, now extinct, Latin alphabet. The English language itself was first written in a very old form by the Anglo-Saxons about 1500 years ago. But soon after, about 1300 years ago, Christian missionaries brough the Latin language to Britain and the Anglo-Saxon form mixed with the Latin.

About 1000 years ago a monk named Byrhtferð wrote down the order of the alphabet very much like we see today. But he missed the letters: J, U and W. These letters were added much later.

Because all this happened so long ago, it’s difficult to tell who actually invented the English alphabet. It is likely that it wasn’t a single person but more like a group of educated people.

I hope that answers your question. Thank you for asking it! I learnt a lot reading about it so I could answer you question 🙂

Many thanks!
Ekbal