Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

also use them in cooking and baking.

Almonds can also be pressed to obtain a

fragrant oil.

The United States, Spain, Greece, Iran,

and Turkey are major almond producers.

Most almonds produced in the United

States come from California.

There are two types of almonds: sweet

and bitter. Sweet almonds are the kind

people eat. Bitter almonds contain a

poison, but their oil can be used for

food after the poison is removed.

Almond trees do not grow much taller

than 30 feet (9 meters). They bloom in

early spring. Bitter almond blossoms are

white, and sweet almond blossoms are

pink. The fruits look like peaches, but

they are smaller and flatter. Inside each

fruit is a pit, or nut. The nut has a hard

A South American mask is made of a gold

and silver alloy. Its ears and eyes are made

of copper.

Stainless steel

is an alloy that

contains iron,

chromium,

and other metals.

Stainless

steel is useful

because it

does not rust

easily.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Almond 87

 

shell surrounding a seed. The seed is the

part that people eat.

As the fruit ripens, it splits open to

reveal the nut.Workers use machines to

shake the trees and make the nuts fall to

the ground. The nuts may be left to dry

on the ground, or they may be dried in

an oven.Workers then use machines to

shell, sort, and pack the nuts for shipment.

#More to explore

Nuts • Peach

Alphabet

An alphabet is a system used to represent

language in written form. Each letter

stands for a single spoken sound. Many

languages use alphabets. But some languages

use other systems to represent

words in writing. For instance, in Japanese

and Cherokee each symbol represents

a group of sounds rather than a

single sound. The Chinese writing system

uses symbols to represent the meaning

of words, not their sounds.

The Latin alphabet is the alphabet of

English and most European languages.

It has 26 letters. Other alphabets might

have fewer or more letters. Like other

alphabets, the Latin alphabet developed

from earlier forms.

EarlyWriting Systems

People in early societies drew pictures to

communicate ideas. In ancient times

people in the Middle East developed the

world’s first writing system. It used symbols

to stand for the meanings of words.

Later it also used some symbols to represent

the sounds of words.

More than 3,000 years ago people in

what is now Syria used a simpler writing

system. This system is called North

Semitic. Most modern alphabets trace

their history back to that system. North

Semitic used only 22 symbols. It did not

have any signs representing whole

words. Instead each letter represented a

consonant. There were no symbols for

vowels. People known as the Phoenicians

later slightly changed this system.

The fruits of the almond tree open to reveal

the nuts. The almond seeds are inside the

hard shells.

A computer keyboard has Latin and

Japanese letters. It sits on top of a document

written in Chinese characters.

88 Alphabet BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Greek and Latin Alphabets

The ancient Greeks changed the Phoenician

writing system to create their own

alphabet. Some people consider the

Greek alphabet to be the first true alphabet.

This is because it has symbols for

vowels and consonants. The Greek

alphabet is the ancestor of all modern

European alphabets, including Latin.

The ancient Romans, who spoke Latin,

developed the Latin alphabet. As the

Roman Empire grew, the Latin alphabet

spread throughout the empire’s vast

lands. It became the alphabet of many

other languages in addition to Latin.

The alphabet changed over time. New

letters were needed to pronounce words

in other languages. Other letters were

combined.

Other Alphabets

The North Semitic writing system also

gave rise to other ancient alphabets,

including Aramaic. The modern Hebrew

and Arabic alphabets developed from the

Aramaic alphabet. Today people in Israel

and Jews around the world use the

Hebrew alphabet. People in large parts of

theMiddle East and North Africa use

the Arabic alphabet. In Hebrew and

Arabic a small group of consonants gives

the basic meaning of a word. Vowels

slightly change the meaning.

The ancient Aramaic alphabet probably

also influenced the earliest-known writing

system of India. This system, called

Brahmi, dates back more than 2,500

years. Nearly all the modern alphabets of

India trace their history to Brahmi.

The Cyrillic alphabet was created more

than 1,000 years ago. Members of the

Eastern Orthodox church in eastern

Europe used it for religious texts. The

Cyrillic alphabet was based on the Greek

alphabet of the time. Today people in

Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and

elsewhere use versions of the Cyrillic

alphabet.

#More to explore

Language •Writing

Alps, The

The Alps are the youngest, highest, and

most densely populated mountain range

in Europe. They were formed about 44

million years ago. The Alps fill most of

Switzerland and Liechtenstein and

extend into France, Germany, Austria,

Italy, and Slovenia. On the west, the

The word

alphabet was

created from a

combination

of “alpha and

beta.” These

are the Latin

names for the

first and second

letters of

the Greek

alphabet.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Alps, The 89