Build A Brand New ALPHABET - with Linguist DANNY BATE!

Build A Brand New ALPHABET - with Linguist DANNY BATE!

From What The If? by Philip Shane

April 30, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

Linguist Danny Bate discusses the challenges and creative processes involved in inventing an alphabet from scratch.

What the if you had to invent the alphabet from scratch? The Pharaoh hands you a stone tablet, a chisel, and an impossible assignment: condense every sound a human mouth can make into a handful of squiggles. Where do you even start? How do you decide what makes the cut? And once you do, how do you convince anyone else to use the thing? Linguist Danny Bate, author of "Why Q Needs U", takes us into the chaotic, contingent workshop of the ancient world's most consequential project, and the strange, very human accidents that shaped the 26 symbols you're reading right now. Want more Danny? Visit his home base at https://dannybate.com and grab his book at https://geni.us/WhyQNeedsU. —— When she's not studying zombie fungus at Harvard or helping us break the universe every week, our very own Gaby Paniccia writes science fiction. Her short story "The Automatic Grocery Store" is now featured on the popular podcast Escape Pod! Listen here: https://escapepod.org/2026/02/19/escape-pod-1033-the-automatic-grocery-store/ —— Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif —— Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Visit…

People in this episode

Host: Philip Shane

Guest: Danny Bate

Topics covered

  • linguistics
  • alphabet creation
  • human communication
  • history of writing
  • language development

Keywords

  • alphabet
  • linguist
  • Danny Bate
  • writing system
  • language
  • communication
  • history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard, Escape Pod, Patreon, What The If?

Books & works: Why Q Needs U, The Automatic Grocery Store

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