Die Widerspiegelung von Körperlichkeit in der Entstehung des Alphabets

Abstract

Body-related aspects are reflected in the alphabet in two different ways. On the one hand, features of the body are depicted in the early pictographs and ideographs. On the other hand, the structure of the human body determines the use of signs, with regard to both the perception and the production of signs. A perspective of information theory is outlined, and on this basis the origin and history of the Latin alphabet is dis­cussed.