Scripts

Latin Script

Latin script originally was the writing of ancient Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages it has become the Roman Catholicism writing and has been spread throughout western Europe and all over the world with this doctrine. At present, most European nations, some nations in Asia, almost all African countries and all nations of two Americas and Oceania use Latin script to write their languages.

Cyrillic Script

Cyrillic alphabet shares the same roots as Latin does: both are derived from Greek script. However, Latin evolved fron Greek historically, while Cyrillic was invented. This alphabet was named after the Greek monk Constantine (also called Saint Cyrill) who in 862 AD came with his brother, St. Methodius, to Moravia to spread Christianity and teach Slavs "in their own language."

Until the end of 17th century Cyrillic style used in most written and printed communications was POLU-USTAV, a distant relative of Western medieval scripts. In early 18 century by Peter the Great, the reform-minded emperor of Russia, was introduced a simplified, latinized version of the alphabet. The character shapes of the new style, called GRAZHDANSKY SHRIFT, or 'civil type,' were based on the forms of late 17th century Dutch faces, so the new font had Western-style punctuation, lower case letters and Arabic figures.
 

Greek Script

Greek script has a long history. The writing system of ancient Greece remains and is used in present-day Greece, thougt the modern Greek somewhat differs from ancient Greek language.
 

Armenian Script

Armenian alphabet, which consists of 39 characters, was created in 405 A.D. by St. Mesrop (Mashtots). It was first used in, and obviously, designed for, the first Armenian Bible,translated from Greek by St. Sahak. The earliest Armenian print goes back to early 16th century, and the first Bible in the Armenian was printed in Amsterdam in 1662. The current surge in demand for Armenian typefaces is due to an on-going spread of text processing and desktop publishing in Armenian.
 

Georgian Script

According to one tradition in Georgia, Georgian script was invented by King Parnavas in the 3rd century AD; but another tradition attributes it to St. Mesrop in 5th century. In any case, the system of Georgian script was undoubtedly influenced by Greek writing system.
 

Hebrew Script

Hebrew script has not been changed since the square Hebrew alphabet developed from Aramaic script in 2nd century B.C. Its alphabet consists of only twenty-two consonants, and is read from right to left on a horizontal line, as are Phoenician and Aramaic.
 

Arabic Script

Arabic script may be considered Moslem writing, for the area employing it coincides with the area of Moslem influence. The Moslem holy book, the Koran, is usually written in Arabic. Arabic is written with twenty-eight letters and is read from right to left on a horizontal line.