[Kim_Bruning]

> As far as I know, a phonetic alphabet was invented only once among humans, which makes it a rarity even for us.

A bit of an aside, but I'm a bit puzzeled by this statement. There are many phonetic alphabets invented through history of course. Are you saying they all have the same root or inspiration?

[andsoitis]

> A bit of an aside, but I'm a bit puzzeled by this statement. There are many phonetic alphabets invented through history of course. Are you saying they all have the same root or inspiration?

I think you're thinking "alphabet", which indeed, has been independently invented multiple times. The most widely used alphabet is the one derived from the Phoenician script. Other alphabets that were independently invented include the Brahmic scripts and the Hangul script.

However, the "phonetic alphabet" (also known as the NATO phonetic alphabet) was only invented once. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet#

[Tijdreiziger]

Why would it only have been invented once? Various spelling/phone alphabets are and have been in use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_alphabet

[andsoitis]

There was indeed a first invention from which others were inspired, if my history knowledge is accurate and the Wikipedia article is read carefully.

In contrast, alphabets have been invented multiple times completely independently without knowledge of the others.

[funnybeam]

Yes, all phonetic alphabets come from the same root - the Greek alphabet - it has only been invented once.

There are many other writing systems but they tend to be pictorial or syllabic.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/writing/Types-of-writing-sy...

[hoseja]

Yes, that seems to be the case.