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.

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

   • The Greeks named it
   • Its name starts with the sound it stands for
   • Bet means the letter B
   • Houses were drawn as B
3. 2.

   Where does the word alphabet come from, Kira asks?

   • From the last two Greek letters
   • From a Latin word for clay
   • From alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters
   • From aleph and house
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
   • Disagree: there was no alphabet
   • Not quite: they adapted an earlier 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 was drawn from a real ox in 1050 BCE
   • A came from Chinese characters
   • A has no history
   • A probably came from an ox-head sign
6. 5.

   Pia traces the letter A. Which path is right?

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

   Ren traces the letter B. Which path is right?

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

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

   • The step from Phoenician to Greek
   • The step from hieroglyphs to Proto-Sinaitic
   • No step: vowels were written from the start
   • 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 it: A came through aleph and alpha
   • Leave it: Latin speakers named the letters first
   • Change "ox" to "house"
   • Change "A" to "Z"
10. 9.

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

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

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

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