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In fact, the original alphabet was Glagolitic, and it was very very different from both Latin and Greek. What became the foundation of the modern Cyrillic came

In fact, the original alphabet was Glagolitic, and it was very very different from both Latin and Greek. What became the foundation of the modern Cyrillic came much later.

ithkuil 2y ago
Yes the evolution is attested via intermediate "old Cyrillic" forms that still retain a shadow of glagolitic aesthetics but is likely spawned directly from Greek alphabet. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_script https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_script: Unlike the Churchmen in Ohrid, Preslav scholars were much more dependent upon Greek models and quickly abandoned the Glagolitic scripts in favor of an adaptation of the Greek uncial to the needs of Slavic, which is now known as the Cyrillic alphabet.[10] That said, Glagolitic itself derives from the Greek script but it was clearly an attempt to explicitly create something that looks different and not just "branching off" whatever was the current Greek script version of the time. So that would count more as "invention" (similarly to how Georgian and Armenian scripts were invented by a single person, allegedly the same person for both). Whether ties with Greek script is about inspiration or origin is hard to define and perhaps just a matter of degree. For example, consider alphabet ordering. Even if you totally invent a new script for aesthetic purposes, you may want to keep the letter ordering from your home alphabet just for simplicity. Other invented scripts like Georgian and Armenian, also retain the Greek alphabet ordering. Does that indicate origin/inspiration? Can the ordering be something that was added on later when the need of a stable ordering of words for building lexicons and teaching people was recognized?
- inkyoto 2y ago
  > […] the letter ordering from your home alphabet just for simplicity. Other invented scripts like Georgian and Armenian, also retain the Greek alphabet ordering. The Greek alphabet ordering ascends to the Phoenician alphabet ordering, which has inherited it from the Proto-Sinaic alphabet[0]. It remains a vexing enigma – why letters were originally arranged in the order that we know today. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_alphabet#Letter_names_and_order https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_alphabet#Lett...
  - ithkuil 2y ago
    I find it more fascinating why the order was retained so faithfully (modulo minor drifts that accrued over time).
    - kgeist 2y ago
      As far as I know, people have always practiced/learned alphabets by reciting/writing them one-by-one, in the "standard order", over and over again. We did it ourselves at school, too. Maybe that's why it's so retained - we just can't imagine any other order :) And authors of new alphabets were probably already versed in other alphabets and had to learn their "standard order".

In fact, the original alphabet was Glagolitic, and it was very very different from both Latin and Greek. What became the foundation of the modern Cyrillic came much later.

ithkuil 2y ago

Yes the evolution is attested via intermediate "old Cyrillic" forms that still retain a shadow of glagolitic aesthetics but is likely spawned directly from Greek alphabet. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_script https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_script: Unlike the Churchmen in Ohrid, Preslav scholars were much more dependent upon Greek models and quickly abandoned the Glagolitic scripts in favor of an adaptation of the Greek uncial to the needs of Slavic, which is now known as the Cyrillic alphabet.[10] That said, Glagolitic itself derives from the Greek script but it was clearly an attempt to explicitly create something that looks different and not just "branching off" whatever was the current Greek script version of the time. So that would count more as "invention" (similarly to how Georgian and Armenian scripts were invented by a single person, allegedly the same person for both). Whether ties with Greek script is about inspiration or origin is hard to define and perhaps just a matter of degree. For example, consider alphabet ordering. Even if you totally invent a new script for aesthetic purposes, you may want to keep the letter ordering from your home alphabet just for simplicity. Other invented scripts like Georgian and Armenian, also retain the Greek alphabet ordering. Does that indicate origin/inspiration? Can the ordering be something that was added on later when the need of a stable ordering of words for building lexicons and teaching people was recognized?

inkyoto 2y ago
> […] the letter ordering from your home alphabet just for simplicity. Other invented scripts like Georgian and Armenian, also retain the Greek alphabet ordering. The Greek alphabet ordering ascends to the Phoenician alphabet ordering, which has inherited it from the Proto-Sinaic alphabet[0]. It remains a vexing enigma – why letters were originally arranged in the order that we know today. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_alphabet#Letter_names_and_order https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_alphabet#Lett...
- ithkuil 2y ago
  I find it more fascinating why the order was retained so faithfully (modulo minor drifts that accrued over time).
  - kgeist 2y ago
    As far as I know, people have always practiced/learned alphabets by reciting/writing them one-by-one, in the "standard order", over and over again. We did it ourselves at school, too. Maybe that's why it's so retained - we just can't imagine any other order :) And authors of new alphabets were probably already versed in other alphabets and had to learn their "standard order".