Anabecedarium (also known as anabecedary orABCs or simply anABC) is aninscription consisting of the letters of analphabet, almost alwayslisted in order. Typically, abecedaria (or abecedaries) are practice exercises.
Some abecedaria include obsolete letters which are not otherwise attested in inscriptions. For example, abecedaria in theEtruscan alphabet fromMarsiliana (theTuscan town) include the letters B, D, and O, which indicate sounds not present in theEtruscan language and are therefore not found in Etruscan inscriptions. Others, such as those known fromSafaitic inscriptions, list the letters of the alphabet in different orders, suggesting that the script was casually rather than formally learned.
Some abecedaria found in theAthenian Agora appear to be deliberately incomplete, consisting of only the first three to six letters of the Greek alphabet, and these may have had a magical or ritual significance.[1] A deliberately incomplete abecedarium found atHymettos inAttica may have been avotive offering.[2]
Near the beginning of the Christian era, theLatin alphabet had already undergone its principal changes, and had become a definite system. TheGreek alphabet was growing closer to the Latin alphabet. Towards the 8th century of Rome, the letters assumed their artistic forms and lost their older, narrower ones. Thethree letters added byEmperor Claudius have never been found in use in Christian inscriptions. The letters fell into disuse after Claudius's death. The alphabet used formonumental inscriptions was very different from thecursive. Theuncial, occurring very rarely onsculptured monuments, and reserved for writing, did not appear until the 4th century. The majority of objects bearing the abecedaria are not of Christian origin, with the exception of two vases found atCarthage. These objects included tablets used by stone-cutters' apprentices while learning their trade. Stones have also been found in thecatacombs, bearing the symbols A, B, C, etc. These are arranged, sometimes, in combinations which have puzzled scholars. One such stone, found in the cemetery of St. Alexander, in the Via Nomentana, is inscribed as follows:
AXBVCTESDR . . . . . .BCCEECHI EQGPH. . . .M MNOPQ RSTVXYZ
This can be compared with adenarius of L. Cassius Caecinianus, which has the following inscription:
AX, BV, CT, DS, ER, FQ, GP, HO, IN, LM
Jerome explained this similarity. Children were made to learn the alphabet in pairs of letters, joining the first letter of the alphabet with the last letter (AX), the second letter with the second to last (BV), and so on. A stone found at Rome in 1877, and dating from the 6th or 7th century, seems to have been used in aschool, as a model for learning the alphabet, and points to the continuance of old methods of teaching.
AnAbecedary, a full alphabet carved in stone or written in book form, was historically found inchurches,monasteries and other ecclesiastical buildings. Abecedaries are generally considered to be medieval teaching aids, particularly for theilliterate. The alphabet may have been thought to possesssupernatural powers along the lines of therunic alphabet. Each letter would have had a symbolic meaning to the devout.
An example, the first seven letters or so of which were found in 1967, is from the long demolished Church of St Mary of the Grey Friars inDumfries, Scotland. In this case, the letters are inscribed in theLombardic script of the 1260s and the complete structure would probably have stood near the high altar[citation needed].
One of the oldest examples is now in use as a gravestone inKilmalkedar, nearDingle, Ireland. It has the appearance of a standing stone and is known as the Alphabet Stone, displaying as it does an alphabet dating from early Christian times.[3]
Abecedarian psalms and hymns exist, these are compositions likePsalm 119 in Hebrew, and theAkathist hymn in Greek, in which distinct stanzas or verses commence with successive letters of the alphabet.[4]
The New England Primer, a schoolbook first printed in 17th-centuryBoston, includes an abecedary of rhymingcouplets iniambicdimeter, beginning with:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abecedaria".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.