Awesome Alphabet

From A to Z, every letter in the English language has a story behind its shape. Language expert Olly Richards digs into the origins of all 26 letters we use today, including how “E” started as a little dude with his hands in the air and how “H” was a fence flipped on its side.

In 2004, editor Matt Bucy chopped up The Wizard of Oz and rearranged every sound and word into alphabetical order. The result is the nonsensical but oddly compelling Of Oz the Wizard, or as commenter Jenny Reiswig put it even better, The Wizard of A to Z. Despite the task’s apparent complexity, he says most of the work only took about 20 hours.

With all of the movie fan art and adult parodies of Little Golden Books out there, the kid’s book series decided to make their own book based on a decidedly non-kid-friendly movie. A Is for Alien: An ABC Book offers a lighthearted retelling of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi/horror classic while teaching the alphabet. Pre-orders start shipping 7.2023.

English speakers have different ways of pronouncing the same letter combinations. RobWords explains why the Roman alphabet is problematic for speaking English and how an alternative alphabet known as Shavian could improve matters if people would adopt it. The 48-character alphabet was first used in George Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion.

The English alphabet works perfectly well for what it is, but it also is pretty inefficient at times. Cunning linguist RobWords sharpens his pencil to come up with some improvements to the alphabet that would eliminate redundancies and wasted letters, making spelling, reading, and writing more efficient.

We’ve used the modern alphabet in English writing since the 16th Century. Language lover RobWords explores how every letter from A to Z got its start, the hidden meanings in each one, how they’ve changed over the years, and even where we got the word “alphabet” from. The whole U, V, W story is fascinating.

Calligraphy is usually associated with fancy script handwriting on party invitations. But what if you’re throwing a party for your dog? Calligraphy expert Tohgutakumi has you covered. The artist created a hand-drawn typeface where every single letter is a dog. We’re kind of partial to the “Q” and “P.” He’s got a little something for cat lovers too.

UsefulCharts takes a look back at the 4000+ year history of Modern Latin Script, the letterforms and alphabet used today in English and many other languages. Along the way, you’ll learn about other forms of written communication which don’t use an alphabet. The chart is also available as a 24″ x 36″ poster print.

In 1996, the magnificent Sir Patrick Stewart appeared on an episode of Sesame Street, where he entertained and educated kids and adults alike. Press play and enjoy as our favorite starship captain and X-Men mentor recites a Shakespearean soliloquy inspired by the second letter of the English alphabet.