Development of the English alphabet. The Old Greek alphabet derived from Phoenician and was in use by 900-800 BC. A western variant, known as the Euboean or Cumae alphabet, was used between the 8th to 5th centuries BC. The Etruscans adopted it and spread writing within the Italic peninsula, leading to the development of the Latin alphabet by the Romans. Uncial was used by Latin and Greek scribes (4th and 8th centuries AD) and was written in capitals, as other alphabets. Minuscule cursive (lower case) script developed from rapidly written versions of uncial, incorporating the linking of letters in the 4th century AD. Table from The Story of the Alphabet (Edward Clodd, 1900).