Name: 字母的歷史 History of the Alphabet (Language of Coins: 3/16)
Uploaded: 2013-07-11T12:57:07.000Z
Duration: 9 min 23 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

情態副詞

Informally, we can think of information as some message --

stored or transmitted -- using some medium.

When you paint, you are representing your message

with seemingly endless numbers of possible forms.

When humans began developing writing systems,

we naturally had to divide our world into a finite

number of atomic units -- which we express using 'symbols.'

Now any written language can be thought of in this way.

First, in ancient Egypt we had 'hieroglyphics' --

a priestly form of communication, reserved for

governmental, fiscal, magical and religious purposes.

It was practiced by a select few writers, known as 'scribes.'

And writing was generally  unintelligible

The symbols, themselves, broadly fall into two categories:

'word signs' -- which are symbols that represent

[PEOPLE PRONOUNCING SINGLE-SYLLABLE SOUNDS]

Now the total number of different symbols

we find a much smaller portion of sound signs.

-- and of these, only 33 represented distinct consonants --

a tiny fraction of all of the symbols in use.

And this was ideal for durable inscriptions

allowing messages to travel into the future.

for storing symbols was emerging at the time.

Along the Nile, silt deposits, left from flooding,

made the surrounding land extremely fertile.

And one of the many crops they grew was 'papyrus.'

and [woven] together, and finally, pressed --

allowing the natural sugars to act as glue.

This medium was ideal for sending messages

across greater spaces -- [compared to inscriptions on] more

into the hands of more people, for new purposes.

Gradually, as people began to write more on papyrus,

the symbols evolved to suit more rapid writing.

This led to a cursive script known as 'hieratic.'

It's written in hieratic script, dated to around 1,600 BC.

Now these symbols were based on hieroglyphics,

however, the pictures were simplified to match

the swiftness of writing --  an ancient shorthand.

in use began to shrink -- down to around 700.

By escaping from the heavy medium of stone,

This led to a new writing system called 'demotic' --

around 650 BC -- which was devised specifically

For example, this text is known as a marriage contract,

and is one of the earliest known examples of demotic script.

It's interesting to notice that there was

a dramatic reduction, again, in the total number

the use of 'phonetic' symbols -- or sound signs --

-- over word symbols -- or meaning signs.

children could be taught to write at a young age.

We see this same pattern in other cultures.

Let's return back to 3,000 BC and visit Mesopotamia

where 'cuneiform' was the writing system --

of tracking debt and surplus commodities --

For example, here is a document recording