Wordspring Discovery Center
Descriptions of the writing systems and languages that use them that we are currently employing in the Print Your Name in Other Alphabets interactive stations.

English        Español

Group : Ancient
Aramaic
The Aramaic alphabet is derived directly from Phoenician, the forerunner of most modern alphabets. Aramaic was the international trade language of the ancient Middle East between 1,000 and 600 B.C., and it was still widely used in Jesus' time.
Greek
The Greek alphabet has been in continual use since about 750 B.C. Most of the New Testament was written in Greek, and the first translation of the Old Testament was in Greek. New Testament authors often quoted from this translation, which is called the Septuagint.
Hebrew
Hebrew is the ancient language of the Jews, the language the Old Testament was written in. However, it began to fall out of use about 2,500 years ago. By Jesus' time, most Jews spoke Aramaic in their everyday lives. Modern Hebrew was revived in the 20th century. Today, about three million people, primarily in Israel, speak Modern Hebrew.
Hieroglyphics
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics may outdate Sumerian Cuneiform as the earliest recorded form of writing. The word "hieroglyphics" is taken from two Latin words meaning "sacred writings." This form of writing was mainly used for formal inscriptions. For everyday use, the Egyptians wrote in hieratic script and later in demotic script, which was developed around 660 B.C.

Group : Modern
Cyrillic
This alphabet is named after Cyril, a Greek monk, who along with his brother Methodius, brought Christianity to what is now Russia. More than 50 languages use the Cyrillic alphabet, including Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Turkmen, Mongolian and Uzbek.
Devanagari
A descendant of the ancient Brahmi script, Devanagari came into use during the 11th century A.D. Several languages use this script, including classical Sanskrit and modern-day Hindi, a language spoken by more than 180 million people in India.
Korean
Writing on the Korean peninsula began with Chinese characters adapted to fit the Korean language. In 1446, a king of the Chosun dynasty commissioned scholars to create Hangul, Korean Letters. By this time, however, classical Chinese had become ingrained in Korean culture and it lived on as a literary language, similar to Latin in medieval Europe. It was not until the 20th century that Hangul, now considered one of the most scientifically efficient alphabets in the world, became the primary writing system of Korea.
Arabic
Due to the influence of Islam, the Arabic alphabet is one of the most widespread writing systems in the world. It was originally used to write the Arabic language and has since been adopted for Kurdish, Malayalam, Persian, Urdu and many others. The Quran, the sacred text of Islam, was written in Arabic during the 6th century A.D.

Group : Fantasy
Klingon
The Klingon alphabet is the creation of an unknown inventor at Paramount Studios™. Dr. Marc Okrand, a professional linguist, later developed the Klingon language for use in some Star Trek movies. Believe it or not, some enthusiasts have learned to speak and read Klingon.
Cirth
Invented by J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Cirth is the runic alphabet used throughout Tolkiens world of Middle Earth. Tolkien invented many languages in his stories; most of them can be written in some form of Cirth. Angerthas Daeron is the form used by the Elves.
Atlantean
Dr. Marc Okrand developed Atlantean and worked with a Disney designer to create the alphabet. The language is integral to the plot of Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Okrand based the language on a hypothetical reconstruction of the language spoken by early Indo-Europeans.
Mara
The Mara alphabet is used to write Marabic, a fictional language used throughout the Indiana Jones™ Adventure ride at Disneyland™. Mara is an adaptation of the Roman alphabet, which is used to write English, Spanish, German, French, etc.