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A UC Santa Cruz professor unearthed the oldest alphabet yet

(www.universityofcalifornia.edu)
151 points diodorus | 1 comments | 13 Jan 25 20:50 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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gschizas ◴[17 Jan 25 09:21 UTC] No.42735618[source]▶
As far as I can understand that's not a real alphabet, it's an abjad (consonants only)
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DiogenesKynikos ◴[17 Jan 25 11:32 UTC] No.42736453[source]▶
By that standard, many alphabets, including the Phoenician and Arabic alphabets, aren't "real" alphabets.
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PittleyDunkin ◴[17 Jan 25 15:46 UTC] No.42738878[source]▶
Yes, exactly. Linear A was the first alphabet, and greek gave "alphabet" its name.

I almost get the sense that people are interpreting abjad as "lesser-than" an alphabet. It's just a distinction, it's not a value judgement.

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DiogenesKynikos ◴[18 Jan 25 18:08 UTC] No.42750121[source]▶
It's a subclass, not a separate category. Some alphabets don't write vowels.
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1. PittleyDunkin ◴[19 Jan 25 15:53 UTC] No.42758099[source]▶
How do you refer just to the sort of alphabets that do have vowels and not abjads?