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d for fish/door (abc history)
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by
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dustin
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DUSTIN                            2023-01-21 18:30
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WHILE DEALING WITH THE OLDEST BUTTERFLIES OF HIS CAREER, ^ ASKS THE LETTER „D“ ABOUT ITS ORIGINS. HOWEVER, HE WON'T GET A CLEAR ANSWER THIS TIME!  
  
HISTORY OF THE LETTER "D":  
  
| THE MOST LIKELY PROTO-SINAITIC PREDECESSOR IS EITHER A FISH (FIRST SHAPE IN THE CAVE) OR A DOOR SYMBOL (SECOND SHAPE). THERE ARE MANY HIEROGLYPHS WHICH MIGHT HAVE INSPIRED THOSE, SO "D" IS ONE OF THE MOST MYSTERIOUS LETTERS CONCERNING ITS EARLY HISTORY!  
  
| THE FOURTH LETTER OF THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET WAS DALETH ("DOOR") WITH A TRIANGULAR SHAPE (THIRD SHAPE). IT WAS PROBABLY INSPIRED EITHER BY THE TAIL OF THE FISH OR BY THE DOOR OF A TENT.  
  
| THE ANCIENT GREEK ADAPTED THE PHOENICIAN LETTER WITHOUT BIG VISUAL MODIFICATIONS AND CALLED IT "DELTA".  
  
| ON ITS WAY THROUGH THE OLD ITALIC AND FINALLY THE LATIN ALPHABET, THE TRIANGULE'S TOP CORNER WAS ROUNDED AND THE WHOLE LETTER ROTATED BY 90 DEGREES TO GET ITS FINAL FORM.  
  
| THE SOUND VALUE OF ALL THESE LETTERS HAS ALWAYS BEEN [D] (AS IN "DIAMOND"), EXCEPT FOR THE OLD ITALIC, WHICH DID NOT USE THIS SOUND. THIS TIME, HOWEVER, THAT DID NOT LEAD TO SO MUCH CONFUSION AS IT WAS THE CASE WITH THE PREVIOUS LETTER „C“! THE ETRUSCIANS BARELY USED THE LETTER, BUT LATER, THE ROMANS ADAPTED IT WITH THE [D] SOUND AGAIN.  
  
TO SUM IT UP, THE SHAPE OF THE LETTER "D" IS PROBABLY EITHER A FISH TAIL OR A TENT DOOR! :D  
  
REMARK: IN MODERN GREEK, "DELTA" IS NO LONGER SPOKEN AS [D]. THE SOUND HAS DEVELOPPED TO A SOFT-SPOKEN (VOICED) ENGLISH [TH] AS IN "THE", "THERE" OR "THESE", SO THE LETTER ITSELF IS SPOKEN SOMETHING LIKE "THELTA".   
THE VOICELESS VERSION OF THE ENGLISH [TH], AS IN "THIN" OR "THUNDER", IS ACTUALLY REPRESENTED BY ANOTHER GREEK LETTER, NAMELY "THETA"! SO THE MODERN GREEKS ACTUALLY HAVE TWO DIFFERENT LETTERS FOR THE ENGLISH „TH“, DEPENDING ON WHETHER IT'S SPOKEN VOICED OR VOICELESS!  
  
CAVE DIFFICULTY: 2/10