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If one were to define the word telephone by 1835 standards, it might be understood as a "system for conveying words over distance by musical notes".  Credit would be due to Jean-François Sudre, a violinist, composer and music teacher, who invented a musical language called la Langue musicale universelle.

Although the concept for transmittal may have changed over time, the etymology of the word remains the same. Tele means far, distance, or from afar and phon means sound.

How one answers a telephone has also varied over the years. The use of the word hello as a telephone greeting has been credited to Thomas Edison. While Alexander Graham Bell preferred to use the term Ahoy, the word hello was preferred. 


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New Hampshire Telephone Museum
One Depot Street - PO Box 444 - Warner NH 03278
info@nhtelephonemuseum.org - 603.456.2234

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