History of the Letters

A
It comes from the Phoenician letter aleph, which meant 'ox' and was written as the
our uppercase, just upside down, with the feet up because it represented the
horns of the ox, the stripe that crosses them marked the ears and the vertex formed the
hocico. According to paleographers, the Phoenicians took it from an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph.
what represented the head of an ox. Over time, the Phoenicians knocked down this sign to
the right, leaving it very similar to a trumpet. The Phoenicians copied it.
Greeks, to use it as the letter A, already placed as we know it.
Lowercase appeared in the 2nd century, as the angular strokes rounded.
uppercase with quick writing and connecting the letters. And the less rounded shape and
what now appears on all computer keyboards (a) was born for printing.
B
B is the second letter of the Spanish alphabet and the first of its consonants. It is the
tenth letter with the most words (3,833) that start with it in the academic dictionary
from 2001 (4.35%). It was pronounced, although in phonetics this sound is represented as follows:
It has a soft, almost sweet sound, produced with the help of the lips as if we were going to
give a kiss.
C
The letter 'L' is the one by which the greatest number of collected words begin in the
academic dictionary (22nd edition, 2001) with a total of 12,577 entries (including the
which start with Ch), representing 14.29% of the total.
Its origin is in an Egyptian hieroglyph in the shape of a staff, which the Phoenicians adopted.
for their alphabet named degimel. This sign was in turn copied by the Greeks,
with the name degamma, which had several forms, including the C. From there it passed to the alphabet
Latin, which initially used the same letter for both the C sound and the sound.
G, until Spurius Camilius invented this last letter. And so, already differentiated, they arrived
both, C and G, into Spanish.
Until 1726, it coincided in its form with another letter, laç, known as "cedilla c".
Daughter, as we will see, from lazy that could represent a sonorous sound (to spread it wrote
in the times of Berceo, the current spreading) or a dull sound (alcaçaba wrote Nebrija in
it was uncloaked, but with identical pronunciation).
CH
LaCh(che) is a digraph: A punctuation sign composed of two letters to represent a
phoneme.
Between 1803 and 1993, Ch was considered an independent letter, but in 1994 it lost this status.
condition when returned to section C, in the alphabetical order that corresponded to it
(between the words that start with Ce~ and those that start with Ci~). And that is how
One should look for words that begin with Ch in modern dictionaries.
When the entire word that starts or contains Chestá in uppercase is written
with a capital C and H (CHAVAL). But when it starts a word that goes behind
From a point where a paragraph begins, only the C (Chaval) is capitalized.
D
LaD(de) is the fifth letter with the most words collected in the academic dictionary that
they start with her: 5.793, a 6.58%.
It derives from an Egyptian ideogram that represents a door with a triangular shape that
indeed he remembered the piece of skin that closed the door of the tents. The
Phoenicians adapted it by simplifying it and gave it the name dedalet (the Hebrews did as well),
what does 'door' mean. The Greeks took it calling it delta, rounding it in a
of its varieties. Thus it was adopted by the Latin alphabet, also creating a lowercase (d) for
accommodation of the uppercase for practical writing. And thus came the uppercase and the
lowercase in Spanish.
Its sound is very similar to that of lat, but softer (when pronouncing lat, the
vocal cords, which do so when pronouncing 'lad'. This subtle difference explains that
Some Latin words will change their endings to 'des' when adopted by Romance languages.
Spanish: PATER > father, MATER > mother, ACŪTUS > sharp, PRATUM > meadow… No
it happened like this with the Latin TRITĬCUM, whose phonetic evolution in Spanish was trídigo >
tridgo (around 1100) > wheat. In our language, the sound of this letter relaxes sometimes
until it disappears and other times it undergoes transformations that disguise it. They load the
words that end in ~adoy the one that appears at the end of a word (trick, mercy,
Coffins are rarely or never pronounced.
The one that ended up disappearing was the deodir (derived from the Latin AUDĪRE), embodied
Berceo's texts are often found in the Cidy; but it endures in all its derivatives.
cults: audible, hearing, audience... The same happened with laddeparadiso (voice of
Iranian origin that reached us through Avestan, Greek, and Latin), lost among
elCidy Berceo; but it remains in its paradisiacal derivative. And also with the
word root (Berceo writes it with y and without), coming from the Latin RADIX, ~ĬCIS, which has
remained reduced to the root, although not its radical derivative.
E
After the letter E, the most frequent vowel in Spanish is A, with 11.75%
occurrence. And in the academic dictionary there are 7,174 entries with words that
they start with this letter (the third), with an 8.15%.
It was represented by the Egyptians as the figure of a person with outstretched arms.
towards the sky, worshiping a celestial divinity. The Phoenicians schematized this figure
by adopting it to their alphabet with a vertical line cut by three horizontals pointing
to the left. The Greeks adopted it giving it the form that has come down to us.
like the uppercase E. The lowercase version was born centuries later, as a consequence of the
comfort and speed when writing.
F
The letter F (efe) is the 13th that heads the most words in the dictionary, with 2,860.
3.25% of the total.
The capital F comes from the Phoenician sign for vav, from which other letters have also derived.
three letters: U, V, Y. The Greeks imported the Phoenician letter without significant changes and it
the Etruscans did the same, giving it a more recognizable shape for us; the
the Latin alphabet inverted its strokes and left it just as we know it today. The traits
The straight lines of the capital F were softened and rounded to form the f.
lowercase.
G
The thirteenth letter with which most words begin: 2.934, 3.33%.. The
Latin inherited from the Greeks, through the Etruscans, the letter C with which to represent two
sounds: the [k] that appears in encamay [g]. So, as there was no G, it
wrote VIRCO although it is pronounced virgo. This was so because the Etruscans did not
They knew the sound [g]; but the Romans did, so it was a problem for them not to have it.
a specific letter for this sound and thus differentiate it from the [k] of the C. There could have been
adopted the Greek gamma (Γ), which did represent the sound [g], but the Romans
they mistakenly believed that it also had the sound [k]. So they did not resolve this
problem until Espurio Carvilio invented the G, in the 3rd century BC, adding a
stripe to C.
The other pronunciation of 'lages' is strong, when it harms the vowels, resonating then.
like: people, gender. It is here where a conflict between the two letters (g, j) persists that
it has not yet been properly resolved. It has been accepted that conjugations are written
that began by writing themselves as cong (such as lodging, outlaw, rider, woman outfit),
derived from a very clear image: the most usual endings in -aje, such as luggage,
pairing, kitchenware, page, toll, stew, massage, tools (which is excepted from, by
certain, circumlocutions) mostly come from French voices with ~age; but
also foreign, farm and fence, also coming from French,
ohereje, follaje, homenaje, jerigonza, lenguaje, linaje, mensajeymonje, de origen
provençal, oviaje, taken from Catalan. Likewise, alternatives have been accepted.
Gibraltarite / Gibraltarite, hijra / hijra, genette / horsewoman and others. But the rules do not
they are clear.
Over time, it has been suppressed in some cases: the most notable is the
H
It is the fifteenth letter that heads the most words in the dictionary: 2,189.
2.48%. His man is hache, from the French hache, and this from the low Latin hacca, modification
deach, vulgar pronunciation instead of deah (with conspiracy), which was the old name
latino of this letter. Paradoxically, it began its journey in Spanish by writing itself
There is a text from 1433.
In the Phoenician alphabet, there was a letter known by the name of het, which is the ancestor.
from our H and was represented with a figure of two overlapping rectangles, something
inclined. It is not very clear where this Phoenician came from. It was pronounced as
gently inhaled. The Greeks adopted it from the Phoenicians giving it the shape
capital letter that we know today by the elimination of the upper and lower strokes, and
keeping the soft aspiration. It passed to Latin, where it began to lose the sound until
to remain silent. And so it came to Spanish: it is written but not pronounced.

I
The vowels are the eleventh letter that heads the most words in the dictionary, with 3,105, the
3’52% of the total. Laies, along with lau, the most closed vowel for which its emission is enough
separate the jaws about four millimeters. It is the highest-pitched vowel, that is, the one that is
produce with the maximum vibrations per second.
The most remote ancestor of Laide that is known with certainty is the Phoenician.
Greeks started writing it just as we know the capital I. The alphabet
Latino copied it, but adding two small circles at each end. For a long time
time, in Spanish it was written in lowercase without the current dot, which caused
Many disorders for its correct reading, as it was often confused with other letters;
to differentiate it, it was sometimes written by prolonging it upwards (like a capital I) or
from below (where laj came from), and even with a little circle at one end, almost like the
Romans. In the Middle Ages, it was decided to accentuate it, and thus the current dot remained.
to invent the printing press.
Laicomparte shares sound with lay, to whom it ceded the use as a copulative conjunction in 1726.
In 1815 it was decided that it is a vowel in all cases, except when it is at the end of words.
that end in ai, ei, oiy frequently in ui (Uruguay, law, I give, very).
There are words with two consecutive i's, like anti-inflammatory.
For its part, the company recovered its etymology very soon, despite the
Latin COMPANĬA (from CUM and PANIS) first passed into Spanish as compaña, but not
the same happened with his derivative companion.
J
The consonant J is the nineteenth letter that begins the most words in the dictionary:
961, 1.09%. Lajes daughter of lai. It did not exist in the Phoenician, Greek, or Latin alphabets.
A peculiar consonantal sound of lajse occurred in the transition from Latin to Castilian Romance.
by multiple procedures: the propiai (IOCUM > game); a follow-up
deeoi(MULIER >woman, PALEA >straw); a group-
cul-(AURICLE > ear, OCULUS > eye); a group-sc-(FASCIA > band); and even by
adaptation of Arabic sounds (šáyẖ> chief, aššuwár> wardrobe, šuríl> mackerel). For this
sound also served lai (cause of not a few confusions, since the word old,
example, it could be seen writingwievieovjeio), until, between the 16th and 17th centuries, it
they were separated, with the first as a vowel and the second as a consonant and with sound
own. The French humanist Pierre de la Ramée was the inventor of the sign of J
uppercase and lowercase, for its adaptation to printing in the 16th century.
K
LaK(ka) is the twenty-fourth letter with the most words starting in the dictionary: 101,
0'11%. It has always been regarded as a useless and foreign letter, as already
Romans only had ten words that started with this letter, although the
they took from the Greek alphabet which, in turn, copied it from the Phoenician (but giving it the
) and the Phoenicians, in short, took it from Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, where
it represented a hand or a fist. Between 1815 and 1869 it disappeared from the dictionary
academic.
L
LaL(e) is the fourteenth letter that heads the most words in the dictionary: 2,495
(including the 134 from the LL), 2.83%. The Phoenicians had this letter in their alphabet with the
name of the 'staff', shaped effectively like this utensil that they used
pastors to drive the oxen. The Greeks adapted it with the name
it delambdapero by replacing the curve of the letter in an acute angle. An angle that
the Romans made it straight when they copied it for the Latin alphabet. And so it reached the
Spanish. Except for the size, the capital L and the lowercase l were written the same, but at
to link it with other letters in handwriting, the lowercase had a belly
superior.
LL
LaLL (she) is, like laCh, a digraph 'a punctuation mark composed of two letters for
represent a phoneme', which for a long time was considered a letter
independent, but has, since 1993, been reincluded in the section of the L. There are
134 entries in the academic dictionary that start with this digraph.
The uppercase letter is written LL when the entire word is in uppercase (LLAVE) or Ll.
when the other letters of the word are lowercase (Key). The lowercase is written.
The sound that represents the peculiar aspects of Spanish, different from what was pronounced by the
Romans in words that passed into the Romance language with slight variations,
como VALLIS (leídoval-lis) >valleyCAPILLUS (leídocapil-lus) >cabello.
M
LaM(eme) is the sixth letter that starts the most words in the dictionary: 5,367, 6.10%.
Lames is considered an onomatopoeia of babbling, of the attempt to speak, which is what it is.
preferred for children to learn to call their mother in many languages (mamaen
traditional Spanish, which was accented, mom, in the 18th century by French imitation). To
Just like laby lap, you lick a letter that children easily learn to pronounce.
because it is articulated with the lips in a visible way.
Labeling

Lettering is the art of drawing. It is all the perfection that is achieved when one is
tracing the literals of the same.

There are two main types of labeling: manual and digital. Manual labeling is
it is done with a brush and brush, while in digital labeling it is used
aplotterof cutting or inkjet in the case of tarpaulins.

Legibility is a term used in the typographic design of signage to define a

desirable quality in the printing of the letters of the text. Something legible is the ease or
complexity of reading a letter or a specific text as seen in the signs
billboards etc.

CLASSES OF LETTERS

These have influences from the humanist calligraphy typical of the 15th century and of the
lapidary tradition specific to Rome. In these, the feet of the letters were carved so that the
stone does not jump at the corners. Roman letters are characterized by being harmonious in
the proportions are regular and show important contrasts between the straight sectors and
Curves and their finishes provide great legibility.

Within the Romans there are the following groups:

Ancient or Garaldas: these are typical of France in the 16th century. The ancient letters are
they are characterized by having uneven thicknesses in the stem of the same letter. In addition,
are characterized by their modulation, concave shape and triangular finish, and by having
discreet square tips. The contrast they have is subtle, while
that its modulation is pronounced, similar to calligraphy. Within the letters
Ancient, the most representative are: Caslon, Goudy, Palatino, Garamond, Century
Oldstyle and Times New Roman.

Of transition: these letters emerged in the 18th century and they show the transition
between ancient Roman letters and modern ones. These letters show a modulation
greater than the stocks, which are contrasted through auctions. This gives them a
horizontal or concave shape, leaving aside the triangular. The most significant types.
Among the transition letters are: Caledonia and Baskerville.

Modern: these letters emerged in the 18th century. They are characterized by a sudden and
accentuated contrast of straight strokes and lines, generating cold, elegant letters,
harmonious and rigid. The ends of these letters are straight and thin and maintain the same
thick. The pole is characterized by having a marked vertical modulation,
contrasted and rigid. Modern letters are less legible when their body is
small and in fragments of continuous texts. The most modern fonts
Representatives are: Firmin Didot, Modern No. 20, Bodoni, and Fenice.

Mecanos: these letters contain no constructive similarity with the rest of the
Roman letters with embellishments, forming an isolated group. The only thing that
sharing is having a seat in its characters. The machines lack contrast and
modulation. Some examples are Stymie and Lubalin.

Incised: like the previous ones, these letters form an isolated group. They
They are characterized by having slender, tapered features and their contrast is light.
In addition, they have flared feet that suggest an imaginary line of reading.
letters have large and descending and ascending fine eyes, which makes that
They are very legible. Within this group, the most significant letters are Baltra and Alinea.

PALO SECO: in these, their characters are reduced to their essential scheme. The letters
lowercase letters are formed by straight lines and circles that are presented joined, while
that the uppercase letters take on the Phoenician and Greek forms. The sans-serif letters are divided
in two groups:

Linear without modulation: they have a uniform thickness, lack modulation and
contrast and are characterized by their geometry. These letters are usually poorly legible in
running texts. The most representative examples are Futura, Univers, Avant Garde,
Helvetica, Eras and Kabel.
TYPEWRITER

Paper holding plate: metal sheet on which the paper rests.

2. Side paper guide: angled piece on which the left edge is supported
of the paper when inserting it. It should be used in position '0' to facilitate attachment
the margins.

3. Roller: black rubber cylinder on which the paper turns and strikes the type.
to write.

4. Roller knob: one at each end of the roller. They rotate the roller towards
forward or backward, to allow the movement of the paper.

5. Paper holding bar: it has two small movable rollers that press
firmly the leaves and allows to hold so that it slides without bending.

6. Paper release lever: a lever that, when activated, releases the paper for removal without
to bend.

7. Alignment scale: a ruler used to measure and number the spaces to the
length of the roller.

8. Release lever of the left and right cart: allows moving the cart
freely to any point on the scale.

9. Print point indicator: line, arrow, or other mark that denotes the space
on the scale of the car in which the machine will print.

10. Backspace or line spacer: it is located at a new line of writing.

11. Spacebar: bar to separate or space words, letters, numbers, or signs.

12.Margin fixers: they are used to fix the left and right margin stops.
right. Most portable typewriters have margin stops.
for manual adjustment. To fix both margins, the stop must be pressed
 marginal and drag it to the right or left until the desired point in the
scale.

Car scale: a rule used to measure and number the spaces along the
roller. Generally located at the back, parallel to it.

14. Roller scale: a ruler used to measure and number the spaces along
of the roller.

15.Line spacing regulator: adjustable lever used to adjust the spacing

between lines of writing, that is, single line, one and a half line spacing, double
or triple line spacing.

16. Shift keys (left and right): are used to write letters
uppercase letters and the symbols that are located on the top of some keys.

17.Fixed uppercase key: it is used to write outside the marked margins, without
move or delete these.

18.Margin writer: it is used to write outside the marked margins, without

move or delete them.

19.Tab stop lever: it is activated to release or nullify the different stops.

scale points.

20.Tab stop setter: it is used to set tab stops at different

scale points.

21. Tab key: it is used to move the cursor to the points on the scale
previously established.

22.Backspace key: it is used to go back in writing space by space.

23. Tape change indicator: lever that allows selecting the part of the tape
which will be used for printing.

Lever to change the direction of the belt: it works automatically and allows
that the path of the tape changes direction.

25. Tape reel: they are wheels on which the tape is wound.

26. Key pressure regulator: it is adjusted according to the pressure applied.

requires when hitting the keys.

27. Temporary roller release: this mechanism is used to write on

any line of paper.

28. Type guide: indicates the printing point of the type.

29. Automatic line locator: lever that allows writing anywhere
line of the paper.

30. Envelope and card holder: it is used to hold envelopes and cards on the
roller.

31. Ribbon guide: lift the ribbon so that the types print on the paper.