?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=The+Articulatory+Basis+of+the+Alphabet&rft.creator=Allott%2C+Robin&rft.subject=Historical+Linguistics&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.description=The+origin+of+the+alphabet+has+long+been+a+subject+for+research%2C+speculation+and+myths.+How+to+explain+its+survival+and+effectiveness+over+thousands+of+years%3F+One+approach+is+in+terms+of+the+practical+problems+faced+by+the+originator+of+the+alphabet%3A+another+would+examine+the+archaeological+record%3B+a+third+might+focus+on+the+perceptual+process+by+which+the+alphabet+makes+rapid+reading+possible.+%0AIt+is+proposed+that+the+alphabet+originated+in+an+intellectual+sequence+similar+to+that+followed+by+Alexander+Bell+and+Henry+Sweet+in+constructing+their+Visible+and+Organic+Alphabets.The+originator+of+the+alphabet+used+the+same+kind+of+introspective+analysis+of+his+own+speech+sounds+and+of+the+manner+in+which+they+were+articulated.+This+was+the+vital+step.+The+next+step+was+to+represent+the+articulatory+differences+in+terms+of+visual+patterns.+One+way+to+understand+what+might+have+been+involved+is+to+attempt+to+replicate+the+process+oneself.%0A&rft.publisher=Peter+Lang&rft.contributor=Bichakjian%2C+Bernard+H.&rft.contributor=Chernigovskaya%2C+Tatiana&rft.contributor=Kendon%2C+Adam&rft.contributor=Moller%2C+Anke&rft.date=2000&rft.type=Book+Chapter&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3311%2F1%2Falphabet.pdf&rft.identifier=++Allott%2C+Robin++(2000)+The+Articulatory+Basis+of+the+Alphabet.++%5BBook+Chapter%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3311%2F