5 of the world’s most beautiful (and endangered) alphabets

Source: Matador Network
Story flagged by: Maria Kopnitsky

SINCE THE BIRTH OF THE ALPHABET in the Near East around 2000 BC, endless writing systems from different languages and cultures have thrived and perished. The classic example is Egyptian, a highly developed civilization whose legacy remains the form of a famous hieroglyphic writing system…which we’ve never been able to fully decipher.

Over the last 2,500 years, the Latin alphabet has become so popular it’s swept away writing systems of peoples once dominated by the Romans. However, more than two billion people still write in other formats, and a few of them display an impressive handmade beauty.

Below are five of the most aesthetically attractive alphabets in the world, and the reasons why you’re probably never going to read them.

  1. Burmese (Myanmar)
  2. Sinhalese (Sri Lanka)
  3. Georgian (Georgia)
  4. Tagalog (Philippines)
  5. Hanacaraka (Indonesia)

Read the full article in Matador Network here: http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/5-beautiful-endangered-alphabets/

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