From picture-writing to the alphabet

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Where two letters came from

   Letter today	Greek name	Earlier Semitic name and meaning	Thought to come from
   A	alpha	aleph, the word for ox	an Egyptian hieroglyph of an ox's head
   B	beta	bet, the word for house	an Egyptian hieroglyph of a house

   Each early letter was named with a word that begins with that letter's sound. The word alphabet comes from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters.

2. 1.

   What did the early Semitic name aleph mean, Esme asks?

   • House
   • The letter B
   • Ox
   • Alpha
3. 2.

   Where does the word alphabet come from, Kira asks?

   • From the last two Greek letters
   • From alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters
   • From aleph and house
   • From a Latin word for clay
4. 3.

   Luz's friend says the Phoenicians invented the alphabet. What is the best reply?

   • Agree: they made it up from nothing on their own
   • Disagree: the Romans invented it
   • Not quite: they adapted an earlier alphabet
   • Disagree: there was no alphabet
5. 4.

   The chart says A is thought to come from a hieroglyph of an ox's head. Which claim is careful, Noah asks?

   • A has no history
   • A probably came from an ox-head sign
   • A was drawn from a real ox in 1050 BCE
   • A came from Chinese characters
6. 5.

   Pia traces the letter A. Which path is right?

   • Ox-head sign → A, with no steps
   • Alpha → ox-head sign → A → aleph
   • A → alpha → aleph → ox-head sign
   • Ox-head sign → aleph → alpha → A
7. 6.

   Ren traces the letter B. Which path is right?

   • Bet → B → beta → house sign
   • House sign → B, with no steps
   • House sign → bet → beta → B
   • B → beta → bet → house sign
8. 7.

   Which step in the path added vowel letters, Tala asks?

   • No step: vowels were written from the start
   • The step from Phoenician to Greek
   • The step from hieroglyphs to Proto-Sinaitic
   • The step from Greek to Latin
9. 8.

   Zee's note says, "Our letter A comes straight from the Latin word for ox." Which fix is right?

   • Change "A" to "Z"
   • Leave it: Latin speakers named the letters first
   • Change it: A came through aleph and alpha
   • Change "ox" to "house"
10. 9.

    Ari's note says, "Phoenician had 22 letters, and five of them were vowels." Which fix is right?

    • Leave it: alphabets need vowels to work well
    • Change it: all 22 were consonants
    • Change "22" to "26"
    • Change "Phoenician" to "Chinese"
11. 10.

    Bo's note says, "The word alphabet comes from aleph and house." Which fix is right?

    • Change "alphabet" to "cuneiform"
    • Change "aleph and house" to "alpha and beta"
    • Leave it: aleph is in the chart
    • Change "house" to "ox"