To elaborate on this a bit more: When discussing the history of writing systems, the term "alphabet" can be used in two different senses. In a broader sense the

To elaborate on this a bit more: When discussing the history of writing systems, the term "alphabet" can be used in two different senses. In a broader sense the term refers to the set of symbols, typically in a specific order, that are based on representing phonetic elements with signs (in contrast to logographic systems). In a narrower sense, the term refers to the Greek alphabet and its derivatives, to distinguish them from their syllabic or consonant-only predecessors. It should be noted in this context, that Semitic languages can be written with comparatively less disambiguity with a consonant-only set of symbols, as the correct vowels can be inferred with relatively good accuracy from the consonants and the context. For Indo-European languages, such as Greek, this is not the case. However, even for Semitic languages a consonant-only writing-system was far from ideal. Thus, various strategies have been developed to reduce ambiguity, such as the use of plene scriptum[1] or punctation[2] in Hebrew. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plene_scriptum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plene_scriptum [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_punctuation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_punctuation