Martinez Dettinger: Hebrew Aleph Bet and Oral Traditions

 It appears that the structure of the Greek language, the fact that it was not based on a system like the Semitic that was hospitable to omission of vowels from writing, turned out to be a perhaps accidental but crucial intellectual advantage. Kerckhove (1981) has suggested that, more than other writing systems, the completely phonetic It appears that the structure of the Greek language, the fact that it was not based on a system like the Semitic that was hospitable to omission of vowels from writing, turned out to be a perhaps accidental but crucial intellectual advantage. 

Ong, Walter J.. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word (New Accents) (Kindle Locations 1744-1746). Taylor & Francis. Kindle Edition. 

Here Ong states that the Hebrew alphabet is no phonetic because it allows for the omission of vowels. He also argues that more advanced systems of phonetic writing, meaning that they are less pictographic, are more removed from the things themselves. This makes me wonder where the hebrew symbols derived from? The Hebrew characters are found on tablets as old as the Gezer calendar which is dated back to the tenth century BCE. Jewish mystics have written about the spiritual meanings behind the letters. For example they say that the first letter of the aleph-bet, aleph is representative of two worlds.

"The shape of the Aleph is two Yods י, one above and one below, with a diagonal line, the Vav ו, between them, representing the higher world and the lower world, with the Vav separating and connecting the two.

Aleph represents the creation of something from nothing. It is the essential symbol of beginnings and ultimate reality that cannot be talked about, timeless, spaceless, and present everywhere. It is the One that cannot be divided, representing perfection beyond human comprehension."

http://www.walkingkabbalah.com/hebrew-alphabet-letter-meanings/

This reminds me of the common dualism of earth and sky found in creation myths, including in the Old Testament. I wonder if the characters could be traced back to their origins in primary orality and traditional stories. 

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