For instance, in Spanish, the letter “v” is pronouced like the letter “b” in English. Why not just use the letter b? Who decided that for this sound, we’re going to use this letter, even though other users of this alphabet use a different one? I’m not trying to be English-centric here. We could just as easily use the Italian “ci” for the English “ch.” And don’t get me started on how “eaux” somehow equates to a long “o.” I get that English has a different language branch than the Romance languages, but we all use (basically) the same alphabet.
In: Other
Language evolves steadily over time, based on the conventions of the geographic areas where it’s spoken or written.
Sometimes languages start out with the same alphabet and diversify over time. Other times preexisting languages “adopt” an alphabet and map their existing sounds to the alphabet as best they can.
Latest Answers