Which of these societies was the first to develop a phonetic alphabet?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks which society first developed a phonetic alphabet, a system where symbols represent individual sounds. 
Option a: Phoenicians. This is the historically correct choice; the Phoenicians are widely credited with creating the earliest widely used phonetic alphabet around 1050 BCE, which simplified writing by using symbols for consonant sounds and later influenced many other alphabets. 
Option b: Chinese. Chinese writing is logographic and character-based, not a phonetic alphabet. While Chinese characters carry pronunciation information, they are not an alphabet where each symbol maps to a single sound. 
Option c: Greek. The Greek alphabet did derive from the Phoenician script and added vowels, but it came after the original Phoenician alphabet, so it is not the first phonetic alphabet. 
Option d: Roman. The Roman alphabet ultimately derives from the Greek through the Etruscans, and thus is even later in origin; it is not the first phonetic alphabet. 
Therefore, considering the historical development of writing systems, the Phoenicians are the earliest to establish a phonetic alphabet among the options listed.

Introduction to Global Histor 10-20251 Review Aztec/Mexica Prep Quiz 1

Which of these societies was the first to develop a phonetic alphabet?

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