Home›Greek Script Family›Originates In LanguageBrowse ByOriginates In LanguageThis page groups alphabets by the language family that first used them. Wikipedia notes that "runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as rune-rows, runic alphabets or futharks, native to the Germanic peoples." Browsing by originates-in-language lets a visitor find every alphabet first used by the same language family.FactsOriginates In LanguageSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsDirectoryCategoryWell-attestedScripts & Magical Alphabets 1Originates In LanguageFilter Results5 entriesDiaspora PresenceAllCoptic Orthodox emigration from Egypt since the mid twentieth century established parish communities across the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe, where the liturgical use of Coptic continues alongside Arabic and the local vernacular. (1)Era of AttestationAllAncient Greek is attested from around 1450 BCE, in the Mycenaean Linear B tablets, with the alphabetic Greek of Homer and the city-states following from around the eighth century BCE. (1)Coptic is attested from around the second to third century CE, when Egyptian began to be written with a Greek-derived alphabet rather than in the older hieroglyphic, hieratic or Demotic scripts. (1)Language FamilyAllEgyptian branch of the Afroasiatic language family; the final stage of the ancient Egyptian language, written using the Greek alphabet supplemented with additional signs for sounds Greek lacked. (1)Hellenic branch of the Indo-European language family; the Archaic and Classical period Greek of roughly the eighth through fourth centuries BCE, predating the later Koine common dialect. (1)Italic branch of the Indo-European language family; the classical literary standard of the late Roman Republic and Empire, descended from the earlier Archaic Latin covered separately. (1)South Slavic, within the Balto-Slavic branch of Indo-European, based on the Slavic speech of the Thessaloniki region that Cyril and Methodius knew. (1)Liturgical and Scriptural RoleAllFirst Slavic literary language, devised for Cyril and Methodius's ninth-century mission; still used liturgically by several Slavic Orthodox churches (1)Liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; language of the Nag Hammadi library, a major collection of Gnostic Christian texts discovered in Egypt in 1945. (1)Original language of the Homeric epics and Homeric Hymns, foundational texts for Greek religion; preserves Delphic oracular tradition, Eleusinian Mystery references and the Greek Magical Papyri ritual corpus. (1)The Catholic Church's official language for canon law and formal magisterial documents; language of the Vulgate Bible (translated by Jerome, circa 405 CE) and of the Tridentine Mass used for over four centuries. (1)Modern AreaAllLiturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in Egypt, no longer anyone's mother tongue, and carried into Coptic immigrant communities in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe alongside the local vernacular. (1)Still used liturgically today, in its later Church Slavonic recensions, by the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and other Slavic Orthodox churches, though no longer anyone's native language. (1)Native ScriptAllOriginally written in Glagolitic script, later Cyrillic (1)The Coptic alphabet, the Greek letters with additional signs taken from Demotic for Egyptian sounds Greek does not write. (1)The Greek alphabet, adapted from a Phoenician abjad with unused consonant signs reassigned to vowels, and written in local variants before the Ionic form became standard. (1)The Latin alphabet, in monumental capitals for inscriptions and in the book hands and later minuscule that carried the manuscripts. (1)Place of OriginAllAncient Greek originated on the Greek mainland and the Aegean islands, developing from a shared Hellenic ancestor before spreading with Greek colonization across the wider Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. (1)Coptic originated in Egypt, the final stage of the Egyptian language, written with a Greek-derived alphabet supplemented by signs from Demotic and used above all by Egypt's Christian community. (1)Latin originated in Latium, the region around Rome in central Italy, becoming the language of the Roman Republic and Empire and the common ancestor of the Romance languages. (1)Old Church Slavonic was devised by Saints Cyril and Methodius for their ninth century mission to Great Moravia, based on the Slavic dialect spoken around Thessaloniki. (1)BrowseCompareAncient GreekOriginates In Language1 entryCopticOriginates In Language1 entryEtruscan LanguageOriginates In Language1 entryLatinOriginates In Language1 entryOld Church SlavonicOriginates In Language2 entriesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.