ABSTRACT
An examination of the origins of the written vernaculars of the West throws into the limelight some central issues of communication history, notably the establishment of cultural and scriptural imperialism, of emergent regionalism, information elitism and democratization, of transmission processes, and of the complex interaction of word, sound and image. The rise to prominence of the Roman alphabet and of the Latin language was largely the result of the bureaucratic needs of the large and amorphous Roman Empire and of its spiritual and, to some extent, temporal heir - the Christian Church. Dissemination of a religion of the Word entails not only the translation problems of preaching in the field, for which interpreters are often initially required, but also the teaching of the necessary literacy skills to read and copy texts. The adaptation of the Greek alphabet to produce those of Armenia and Georgia is similarly ascribed to the missionary St Mesrob during the early fifth century.
