1. Both are phonetic alphabets. It means their symbols represent sounds, as opposed to logograms (which represent words) or syllabaries (which represent syllables).
2. Both alphabets are alphabetic, which means they contain symbols representing consonantal and vocalic sounds. In English, the 26 letters of the alphabet represent:
* 21 consonant sounds: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z
* five vocalic sounds: a, e, i, o, u
In cuneiform, the signs can be used as syllabic, alphabetic, or logographic. However, it primarily contains symbols representing syllabic sounds. This is evident by the Sumerian cuneiform text, which predominantly consists of syllabic writing, with occasional logograms for common words and concepts.
3. Both alphabets are written from left to right. This was not the case with the early Semitic adaptation of cuneiform, written right-to-left, but it became the practice when the language was later borrowed and adapted by Indo-European scribes like the Hittite and Luwians, who write left-to-right.
However, there are also some significant differences between the English alphabet and the cuneiform alphabet:
1. The English alphabet has only 26 letters, while the cuneiform alphabet has hundreds of symbols. This is because they are syllabic and logographic.
2. English is written with characters representing single sounds, while cuneiform is largely written with characters representing a combination of consonantal and vocalic components.
3. Cuneiform is one of the oldest writing systems in the world, while English has only been around for about 1,000 years.