Spading Up Ancient Words: The Exciting Story of the Archaeology of Words and the Alphabet

Dr. von Fange has written a number of interesting books and articles about the ancient world, including such topics as dinosaurs, cave man, ice and stone ages. This book is an exploration of an odd collection of ancient signs that we call the alphabet, and the unexpected history behind some of the words we use every day. How did the skull of an ox (upside down) showing its horns become our letter A, and did you know that 'B' is the floor plan of ancient homes? And the wavy letter 'M' is water? Why do alphabets have useless letters when the same sounds are already there? Why are the vowels placed so strangely among the consonants? Old alphabets served not one but three purposes. Let this book help you explore some of our ancient world! A few comments on Dr. von Fange's writings: Highly informative, scholarly, and lucid; some of the most fascinating material I have ever run across - I have devoured them several times already; a wealth of thought-provoking information.