The Alphabet. What is it?

What is an alphabet?

Good question. An alphabet is a set of letters or symbols used to write languages. In an alphabet, letters represent the sounds within the spoken language.

A "true alphabet" has both vowels (a sound pronounced with an open vocal tract) and consonants (where there is closure of the vocal tract).

Alphabets usually contain their letters in a specific order. This makes them useful for ordering written information (collation) by allowing us to sort words in alphabetical order. It also lets us use letters as a alternative to numerical ordering systems.