Origin of Our Alphabet

Origin Of Our Alphabet by Joseph Enthoffer. This work presents a theory on the origin of the alphabet, arguing that the Semitic letters originated as diagrams of the organs of speech, not as pictorial representations of objects. Enthoffer contends that the inventor formed signs from the way the mouth and throat move to produce sounds, providing detailed analyses of letters such as Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Daleth, and others, each explained through an inner diagram of speech organs. The book contrasts the phonetic basis with ideographic writing and traces how a rational, geometrical construction underlies the alphabet's development. A key part of the text is a metamorphosis of the signs from outlines of the organs of speech into geometric figures, culminating in a monogram that encodes the entire Roman alphabet. The companion sections apply the analytic alphabet to reading and writing and propose teaching aids, including a finger alphabet and classroom exercises. The work situates this origin within broader historical context and emphasizes simplicity and universal applicability of the signs.