Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/32

 12 General History of Europe 15. Phonetic Signs. As time went on these pictures, or hiero- glyphics as they were called in Egypt, came to represent sounds that were made in speaking as well as the objects they had origi- nally stood for. For example (assuming for the sake of illustra- tion that the Egyptian words were the same as the English), the sign for "man" might become the sign for the syllable "man" AN EXAMPLE OF EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING The upper line shows the way in which the hieroglyphics were carved and painted on the tomb walls and monuments. But when the Egyptians wrote rapidly with a pen and ink on papyrus they simplified the figures, which then were made as they are represented in the lower line wherever it occurred, as in "manner" "manifest," "manifold," "manufacture." In the same way, a bee j^ might become the sign for the syllable " be " and a leaf & for the sound of the syllable "leaf." When used together these syllables formed a new word, "belief." Such signs were then no longer regarded as pictures of things, but as syllables which could be used in any com- bination one wished. Writing which represents in this way the sounds we make when we speak is called phonetic, and this is the kind of writing we use today. All the letters on this page represent sounds, not things. The advantage of phonetic signs is readily appreciated when we come to express ideas such as beauty, love, truth, or virtue which cannot be represented by pictures of objects. 16. Alphabetic Signs. The Egyptians went still further, for there finally arose a series of signs, each representing only one letter; that is, alphabetic signs, or real letters. There were twenty-four letters in their alphabet, which was used in Egypt long before 3000 B.C. It was the earliest alphabet known and the one from which our own has descended (see Ancient Times, 5!-56).