The Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet is widely used in the world. B.C. Appeared in Rome in the 7th century AD as a branch of the Greek and Etruscan alphabets. It was formed in the 1st century. The inscription was written from right to left or from left to right (by brustrofedon) and the direction was always changing. B.C. From the 4th century onwards, writing was written only from left to right, with the first 20 letters. The alphabet The letters G, Y, and Z were introduced in the 230s, the last two being derived from Greek words, and the use of the letters J, U, W dates back to the Renaissance. In the Middle Ages, the Latin alphabet spread to Europe and was used by the peoples of Africa, America and Asia.

Letter symbols based on the reading of Latin words were formed. There are 25 letters in the modern Latin alphabet. Vowel sounds are pronounced long and short, due to which the meaning of words changes: līber - independent, liber - book. The Latin alphabet has six monophthongs (single vowels) - a, e, i, o, u, y, as well as two diphthongs (double vowels) - au, eu. There are three digraphs (double digits) - ae, oe, ue. Depending on the number of vowels, the order of the word, the emphasis is on the word, and the syllables are divided on this basis into closed (ending in a consonant) and open (ending in a vowel or diphthong).