An alphabet is a set of letters used to write a language. The English alphabet has 26 letters, from A to Z, that combine in countless ways to form all the words you read and write every day. When you learned your ABCs in kindergarten, you were learning the alphabet.

Not all writing systems use alphabets. Chinese uses thousands of characters called logograms, where each symbol represents a word or idea rather than a sound. Japanese uses syllabaries, where each symbol represents a syllable like “ka” or “mi.” Alphabets are different because each letter represents a single sound, and you combine those sounds to build words.

The alphabet you're reading right now has traveled through millennia and across continents. When you write your name, you're using a system of symbols refined by countless generations of writers, scribes, and scholars who wanted to capture human thoughts and preserve them in writing.