Písmene

Písmene are the basic symbols of a writing system used to represent speech sounds in a language. In alphabetic systems, each písmene typically corresponds to a single phoneme, though some languages use digraphs or diacritics to extend the set.

Písmene can be vowels or consonants. They may appear in uppercase and lowercase forms and often take diacritics to indicate tone, length, stress, or distinct sounds. Some languages also treat digraphs (two letters) or ligatures as single letters in certain contexts.

The concept of písmene has origins in ancient writing. Alphabetic scripts descend from Phoenician and Greek models and were adopted and adapted by Latin and Cyrillic traditions, among others. Over time, shapes and values of písmene shifted across languages and periods.

In modern usage, a language’s písmene constitute its alphabet, a defined set used to spell words and alphabetize lists. Diacritics may alter order in some alphabets, and some languages consider digraphs as separate letters for sorting.

In computing, písmene are encoded as Unicode code points. A basic Latin set fits within ASCII, while diacritics and non-Latin scripts require extended Unicode ranges. Fonts render písmene with typefaces, kerning, and ligatures.

Understanding písmene is central to literacy and typography, linking language, history, and technology.