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
   • Alpha
   • Ox
3. 2.

   Bet was the word for house and begins with a b sound. Why was the letter for b named bet, Jun asks?

   • Its name starts with the sound it stands for
   • Bet means the letter B
   • The Greeks named it
   • Houses were drawn as B
4. 3.

   Where does the word alphabet come from, Kira asks?

   • From aleph and house
   • From a Latin word for clay
   • From the last two Greek letters
   • From alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters
5. 4.

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

   • Disagree: there was no alphabet
   • Agree: they made it up from nothing on their own
   • Disagree: the Romans invented it
   • Not quite: they adapted an earlier alphabet
6. 5.

   Alpha and beta mean nothing in Greek, but aleph and bet mean ox and house. What does that suggest, Milo asks?

   • Ox and house are Greek words
   • The names came from Latin
   • The Greeks made up the names
   • The Greeks borrowed the names from earlier letters
7. 6.

   Pia traces the letter A. Which path is right?

   • Alpha → ox-head sign → A → aleph
   • Ox-head sign → aleph → alpha → A
   • A → alpha → aleph → ox-head sign
   • Ox-head sign → A, with no steps
8. 7.

   Ren traces the letter B. Which path is right?

   • House sign → B, with no steps
   • House sign → bet → beta → B
   • B → beta → bet → house sign
   • Bet → B → beta → house sign
9. 8.

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

   • The step from Greek to Latin
   • The step from hieroglyphs to Proto-Sinaitic
   • No step: vowels were written from the start
   • The step from Phoenician to Greek
10. 9.

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

    • Change "A" to "Z"
    • Change it: A came through aleph and alpha
    • Leave it: Latin speakers named the letters first
    • Change "ox" to "house"
11. 10.

    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 "22" to "26"
    • Change it: all 22 were consonants
    • Change "Phoenician" to "Chinese"