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g is c's sister (abc history)
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by
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dustin
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DUSTIN                            2023-01-27 20:01
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WHEN ^ LOOKED AT THE GREEK ALPHABET AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS ABC JOURNEY, BY FAR THE MOST STRIKING THING WAS THE EARLY POSITION OF THE LETTER "Z". HOW DID IT END UP LAST IN THE LATIN ALPHABET? NOW HE FINDS OUT PART OF THE ANSWER: "C"'S NEWLY BORN SISTER "G" NEEDED A PLACE IN THE ALPHABET AND "Z" HAD TO CLEAR ITS SPACE!  
  
HISTORY OF THE LETTER "G":  
  
| "G" SHARES MOST OF ITS HISTORY WITH "C" (SEE CAVE "C FOR STICK" FOR MORE DETAILS). THEIR MAIN PREDECESSORS WERE THE PHOENICIAN "GIMEL" AND THE GREEK "GAMMA".  
  
| AS DESCRIBED IN THE C-CAVE, THE ROMANS HAD A PHONETIC PROBLEM BECAUSE THEY HAD THREE LETTERS (C, K AND Q) FOR THE [K] SOUND (AS IN "KING" OR "CAVE") BUT NO LETTER FOR THE [G] SOUND (AS IN "GAME"). FIRST THEY USED THE "C" FOR BOTH [K] AND [G] SOUNDS, BUT THIS LED TO MISUNDERSTANDINGS, SO THEY DECIDED TO ADD AN "ACCENT LINE" TO THE C WHEN IT SHOULD BE SPOKEN AS [G]. AND THERE WE HAVE IT - "C" + "-" = "G"! :D  
  
| BUT THERE WAS A NEW PROBLEM: WHERE TO PUT THE NEW LETTER "G" IN THE ALPHABET? ONE MIGHT THINK THAT IT COULD JUST BE PLACED BESIDE THE "C", BUT THIS WOULD CHANGE THE NUMERICAL POSITION OF ALL FOLLOWING LETTERS, AND THAT WAS OUT OF QUESTION BECAUSE THE LETTERS WERE HIGHLY ASSOCIATED WITH NUMBERS. AND HOW ABOUT PUTTING "G" AT THE END OF THE ALPHABET? WELL, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN A POSSIBILITY, AND USUALLY THIS IS HOW NEW LETTERS ARE DEALT WITH, BUT THERE WAS A MORE ELEGANT SOLUTION IN THIS CASE...  
  
| THIS SOLUTION HAD TO DO WITH THE LETTER "Z". IN THE EARLIEST FORMS OF THE LATIN ALPHABET, "Z" HAD ACTUALLY BEEN IN SEVENTH POSITION (AS ADOPTED FROM THE GREEKS, WHO STILL HAVE THIS EARLY "Z" POSITION TODAY!) SO AT THAT TIME, THE ALPHABET STARTED ABCDEFZHI... BUT ACTUALLY, THE "Z" LETTER WAS HARDLY EVEN USED BY THE ROMANS BECAUSE THEY DID NOT USE THE [Z] SOUND (AS IN "ZIGZAG" OR "ZOO") IN LATIN LANGUAGE. SO THEY DECIDED TO KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE - THEY DELETED "Z" FROM THEIR ALPHABET (YES, COMPLETELY!) AND FILLED THE GAP WITH THE NEWLY CREATED "G". THIS WAY, ALL THE OTHER LETTERS KEPT THEIR NUMERICAL POSITIONS. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, BACK TO BUSINESS! :D  
  
SO HERE WE HAVE ANOTHER LETTER RELATION YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T EXPECT: "Z" HAD TO LEAVE TO MAKE SPACE FOR BABY-"G"! :D  
OF COURSE, IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THIS CAN'T BE THE END OF "Z"'S STORY, BUT THE TIME FOR "Z"'S FULL (HI)STORY WILL COME, OF COURSE, A LOT LATER IN THIS SERIES! ;)  
  
BACK TO THE „G“, WE'VE SEEN NOW THAT IT IS ONE OF THE FEW LETTERS WHICH WAS ACTUALLY INVENTED BY THE ROMANS, NOT DIRECTLY ADOPTED FROM ANOTHER ALPHABET. IN FACT, „G“ IS THE 5TH-YOUNGEST LETTER IN THE LATIN ALPHABET! CURIOUS WHICH FOUR LETTERS ARE EVEN YOUNGER? KEEP READING THIS SERIES...! ;)  
  
CAVE DIFFICULTY: 4/10