Where did the English alphabet come from?

An alphabet is a system of writing in which symbols or letters represent all the sounds of language. Because ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics sometimes used symbols to represent language sounds, they are considered the root of true alphabets. The English alphabet came from the ancient Romans, who based theirs on the ancient Greeks. Modern English uses a modified form of this Latin alphabet. The written languages of western Europe, Africa, and the Americas, as well as scientific writing, all use the Roman, or Latin, alphabet. It has 26 letters, and is written from left to right.