How to name a new invention? Simplify. In Ancient Greece the term “alphabet” was not a completely new invention, but they needed to name it. They wrote it as ἀλφάβητος (pronounced alphábētos), derived from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, α and β, in other words ἄλφα (álpha) and βῆτα (bêta).
Languages with distinct alphabets develop their own terms, often following analogous principles. For example, Georgian uses “ანბანი” (anbani), Armenian, “այբուբեն” (aybuben), and Hebrew, “אלפבית” (alefbet). Arabs similarly devised their term, “أَلِفْبَاء” (alfabāʾ), based on their initial two letters, “alf أ” and “ba ب”. The Slavs embraced this concept with “азъбукꙑ” (azŭbuky).
The Romans contributed “abecedārium” in late Latin, employing a comparable double logic, not the first two, but the first four letters of the Latin alphabet: ā, Bē, Cē, Dē. Some languages, like Hungarian, simplify further, constructing their term from just three letters in their “ábécé”.
