alphabet

The story

1. Proto-Semitic*ʔalp-
2. Phoenician𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp)
3. Ancient Greekἄλφα (álpha)
4. Proto-Semitic*bayt-
5. Phoenician𐤁𐤕 (bt)
6. Ancient Greekβῆτᾰ (bêtă)
7. Ancient Greekἀλφάβητος (alphábētos)
8. Medieval Greekἀλφάβητον (alphábēton)
9. Classical Latinalphabētum
10. Middle Englishalphabete
11. English todayalphabet

From Middle English alphabete, borrowed from Classical Latin alphabētum, from Ancient Greek ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos), from ἄλφα (álpha) and βῆτα (bêta), the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Α (A) and Β (B), lowercase forms α and β. The Greek names derived from aleph, the name of the Phoenician letter 𐤀 (ʾ, “ox”) and beth, the name of the letter 𐤁 (b, “house”), so called because they were pictograms of those objects, having developed from the Egyptian hieroglyphs F1 (𓃾) and pr (𓉐). Doublet of alfabeto. Dipslaced native Old English stæfrǣw (literally "staff-row").