The Letter

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Jargon is usually an outgrowth
of technology. Sometimes, if
the technology is around long
enough, its jargon becomes
part of our daily language. For
instance, the term “zipper” was
first used by B.F. Goodrich as
the brand name for overshoes
that featured a new fastener.
“Laser” is an acronym for Light
Amplification by Stimulated
Emission of .Radiation. And the
word “jeans,” everyone’s favor¬
ite apparel, is short for “Gene
fustian,” the heavy cotton cloth
first used to make them.

Perhaps jargon was also one
reason the Phoenicians devel¬
oped their own alphabet. They
lived in a more complicated
world than the Egyptians who
preceded them, a world filled
with more technology—and
perhaps more jargon. The
words of the Phoenicians
would then be difficult to com¬
municate in the manner of the
Egyptians. For example, in
ancient Egypt a warrior could
be represented by the pictures
of a man and a weapon, but

how would a merchant, money
lender, or trader be represent¬
ed? To cope with this problem,
the Phoenicians developed a
modified picture alphabet
around 1300 B.C. In this new
alphabet, pictures were used
not to represent the things they
depicted, but for a sound in the
name of the thing.

What looks like our P in the
Greek alphabet actually repre¬
sented the r sound, while the p
sound was signified by a more
geometric asymmetrical shape.
This character was then further
modified and, as the Greeks
were wont to do, made sym¬
metrical. The final outcome
was the sign they called pi.

17PTMP

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Alternate Italic

ITC Fenice

The letter P is a perfect
example. In Egyptian hiero¬
glyphics, the drawing of a
mouth would have meant just
that, a mouth, or perhaps
someone talking. In the Phoeni¬
cian alphabet the symbol of a
mouth represented the initial
sound of its Phoenician name,
pe, which actually had two
forms: a rounded shape that
looked a little like an upside-
down J, and a more angular
form that was derived from a
Sumerian character.

The Greeks borrowed the
sign from the Phoenicians, but
at that point the details of the

story get a little confusing.

The Romans inherited their
more rounded P, which looked
similar to the earlier Phoeni¬
cian sign, from the Etruscans.
In time the Romans reversed
the direction of the character
and in the process completed,
or nearly completed, the bowl
to make the monumental P
that serves as the prototype of
all forms of our letter.

Although it is not used near¬
ly as much as the E, the most
frequently used letter in our
alphabet, the P is nevertheless
very important to the English
language. Nearly 10 percent of
all English words begin with the
letter P, establishing its position
as third (following S and C) for
frequency of word beginnings.

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The P is a narrow letter,
superficially resembling a В or
an R. In spite of this, it is not
just an unfinished version of
either of these characters. The
bowl of the P should swing
lower, and in many designs
begins to rise a little as it nears
the main stroke. In the classic

T? p

И ITC Leawood JL

Roman version the bowl of the
P isn’t quite closed, and the
stroke that defines it ends in a
point just before reaching the
stem. In sans serif designs the
top and bottom of the bowl
generally join the vertical at
right angles.

In some alphabets, like
Bodoni and ITC Century, the
lower portion of the bowl con¬
nects with the main stem on a
strict horizontal axis. In others,
such as ITC Korinna, it may
advance on a downward curve.

P Bodoni

ITC Korinna ^

Regardless of how its loop is
structured, the P is an elegant
character that must be designed
carefully to ensure its optical
stability and balance.

ITC Kabel
Ultra

Copperplate
Gothic 32

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ITC Avant Garde
Gothic Bold

Minion
Swash

Bellevue

Castellar

Industria Inline

A bertus Italic

ic 810

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