Phoenician alphabet

Phoenician script
Script type	Abjad
Time period	c. 1050–150 BC Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician script
Child systems	Paleo-Hebrew Aramaic Greek Paleohispanic Libyco-Berber
Sister systems	South Semitic
ISO 15924
Unicode range	U+10900–U+1091F
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Phoenician alphabet

Origin

The earliest known alphabetic (or "proto-alphabetic") inscriptions are the so-called

The Phoenician alphabet is a direct continuation of the "Proto-Canaanite" script of the

Ahiram in Byblos, Lebanon, one of five known Byblian royal inscriptions, shows essentially the fully developed Phoenician script,^{[9][dubious – discuss]} although the name "Phoenician" is by convention given to inscriptions beginning in the mid-11th century BC.^[10]

Beginning in the 9th century BC, adaptations of the Phoenician alphabet thrived, including

According to Herodotus,^[15] the Phoenician prince Cadmus was accredited with the introduction of the Phoenician alphabet—phoinikeia grammata, "Phoenician letters"—to the Greeks, who adapted it to form their Greek alphabet. Herodotus claims that the Greeks did not know of the Phoenician alphabet before Cadmus. He estimates that Cadmus lived sixteen hundred years before his time (while the historical adoption of the alphabet by the Greeks was barely 350 years before Herodotus).^[16]

The Phoenician alphabet was known to the Jewish sages of the Second Temple era, who called it the "Old Hebrew" (Paleo-Hebrew) script.^{[17][clarification needed]}

Notable inscriptions

The conventional date of 1050 BC for the emergence of the Phoenician script was chosen because there is a gap in the epigraphic record; there are not actually any Phoenician inscriptions securely dated to the 11th century.^[18] The oldest inscriptions are dated to the 10th century.

• KAI 1: Ahiram sarcophagus, Byblos, c. 1000 BC.
• KAI 14: Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, 5th century BC.
• KAI 15–16: Bodashtart inscriptions, 4th century BC.
• KAI 24: Kilamuwa Stela, 9th century BC.
• KAI 46: Nora Stone, c. 800 BC.
• KAI 47: Cippi of Melqart inscription, 2nd century BC.
• KAI 26: Karatepe bilingual, 8th century BC
• KAI 277: Pyrgi Tablets, Phoenician-Etruscan bilingual, c. 500 BC.
• Çineköy inscription, Phoenician-Luwian bilingual, 8th century BC.

(Note: KAI = Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften)

Modern rediscovery

The Phoenician alphabet was deciphered in 1758 by

However, scholars could not find any link between the two writing systems, nor to hieratic or cuneiform. The theories of independent creation ranged from the idea of a single individual conceiving it, to the Hyksos people forming it from corrupt Egyptian.^{[20] [clarification needed]} It was eventually discovered^{[clarification needed]} that the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet was inspired by the model of hieroglyphs.

Table of letters

The chart shows the graphical evolution of Phoenician letter forms into other alphabets. The sound values also changed significantly, both at the initial creation of new alphabets and from gradual pronunciation changes which did not immediately lead to spelling changes.^[21] The Phoenician letter forms shown are idealized: actual Phoenician writing is less uniform, with significant variations by era and region.

When alphabetic writing began, with the

).

The

South Arabian

.

Origin			Letter		Name[22]	Meaning	Phoneme	Transliteration	Corresponding letter in
Egyptian hieroglyphs	Proto-Sinaitic	Proto-Canaanite	Image	Text					Libyco-Berber	Samaritan	Aramaic	Hebrew	Syriac	Parthian	Arabic	South Arabian	Ge'ez	Greek	Latin	Cyrillic	Brahmi	Devanagari	Mongolian
𓃾				𐤀‎	ʾālep	ox, head of cattle	ʾ [ʔ]	ʾ		ࠀ‎	𐡀‎	א	ܐ	𐭀	ﺍ, ء	𐩱	አ	Αα	Aa	А а	𑀅 /a/	अ /a/	/ (a / e / o / u / ö / ü)
𓉐				𐤁‎	bēt	house	b [b]	b		ࠁ‎	𐡁‎	ב	ܒ	𐭁	ﺏ	𐩨	በ	Β β	Bb	В в	𑀩 /b/	ब /b/	(ē / w)
𓌙				𐤂‎	gīml	throwing stick (or camel[23])	g [ɡ]	g		ࠂ‎	𐡂‎	ג	ܓ	𐭂	ﺝ	𐩴	ገ	Γ γ	Cc, Gg	Ґ ґ	𑀕 /g/	ग /g/	(q / γ)
𓉿				𐤃‎	dālet	door (or fish[23])	d [ d ]	d		ࠃ‎	𐡃‎	ד	ܕ	𐭃	د, ذ	𐩵	ደ	Δ δ	Dd	Д д	𑀥 /dʰ/	ध /dʰ/	—
𓀠?				𐤄‎	he	window (or jubilation[23])	h [h]	h		ࠄ‎	𐡄‎	ה	ܗ	𐭄	ه	𐩠	ሀ	Ε ε	Ee	Э э	𑀳 /ɦ/	ह /ɦ/	—
𓏲				𐤅‎	wāw	hook	w [w]	w		ࠅ‎	𐡅‎	ו	ܘ	𐭅	ﻭ	𐩥	ወ	( Υ υ	Ff, Uu, Vv, Ww, Yy	Ў ў	𑀯 /v/	व /v/	(o / u / ö / ü / w)
𓏭				𐤆‎	zayin	weapon (or manacle[23])	z [z]	z		ࠆ‎	𐡆‎	ז	ܙ	𐭆	ﺯ	𐩸		Ζ ζ	Zz	З з	𑀚 /ɟ/	ज /dʒ/	— — (s)
𓉗/𓈈?				𐤇‎	ḥēt	courtyard/wall[24] (?)	ḥ [ħ]	ḥ		ࠇ‎	𐡇‎	ח	ܚ	𐭇	ح, خ	𐩢	ሐ	Η η	Hh	Й й	𑀖 /gʰ/	घ /gʰ/	(q / γ)
𓄤?				𐤈‎	ṭēt	wheel[25]	ṭ [tˤ]	ṭ		ࠈ‎	𐡈‎	ט	ܛ	𐭈	ط, ظ	𐩷	ጠ	Θ θ		Ѳ ѳ	𑀣 /tʰ/	थ /tʰ/	—
𓂝				𐤉‎	yod	arm, hand	y [j]	j		ࠉ‎	𐡉‎	י	ܝ	𐭉	ي	𐩺	የ	Ι ι	Ιi, Jj	Ј ј	𑀬 /j/	य /j/	(i / ǰ / y)
𓂧				𐤊‎	kāp	palm of a hand	k [k]	k		ࠊ‎	𐡊‎	כך	ܟ	𐭊	ﻙ	𐩫	ከ	Κ κ	Kk	К к	𑀓 /k/	क /k/	(k / g)
𓌅				𐤋‎	lāmed	goad[26]	l [ l ]	l		ࠋ‎	𐡋‎	ל	ܠ	𐭋	ﻝ	𐩡	ለ	Λ λ	Ll	Л л	𑀮 /l/	ल /l/	— (t / d)
𓈖				𐤌‎	mēm	water	m [m]	m		ࠌ‎	𐡌‎	מם	ܡ	𐭌	ﻡ	𐩣	መ	Μ μ	Mm	М м	𑀫 /m/	म /m/	(m)
𓆓				𐤍‎	nūn	serpent (or fish[23][27])	n [ n ]	n		ࠍ‎	𐡍‎	נן	ܢ	𐭍	ﻥ	𐩬	ነ	Ν ν	Nn	Н н	𑀦 /n/	न /n/	/ / (n)
𓊽				𐤎‎	śāmek	pillar(?)	ś [s]	s		ࠎ‎	𐡎‎	ס	ܣ	𐭎		𐩯		Ξ ξ		Ѯ ѯ	𑀱 /ʂ/	ष /ʂ/	(s / š)
𓁹				𐤏‎	ʿayin	eye	ʿ [ʕ]	ʿ	?	ࠏ‎	𐡏‎	ע	ܥ	𐭏	غ	𐩲	ዐ	Ω ω	Oo	Ѡ ѡ	𑀏 /e/	ए /e/	—
𓂋				𐤐‎	pē	mouth (or corner[23])	p [p]	p		ࠐ‎	𐡐‎	פף	ܦ	𐭐	ف	𐩰	ፈ	Ππ	Pp	П п	𑀧 /p/	प /p/	(b)
𓇑 ?[28]		—		𐤑‎	ṣādē	papyrus plant/fish hook?	ṣ [sˤ]	ṣ		ࠑ‎	𐡑‎	צץ	ܨ	𐭑	ص, ض	𐩮	ጸ	( Ϻ ϻ)			𑀘 /c/	च /tʃ/	/ — (č / ǰ)
𓃻?				𐤒‎	qōp	needle eye	q [q]	q		ࠒ‎	𐡒‎	ק	ܩ	𐭒	ﻕ	𐩤	ቀ	( Φ φ	Qq	Ф ф	𑀔 /kʰ/	ख /kʰ/	—
𓁶				𐤓‎	rēs, reš	head	r [ r ]	r		ࠓ‎	𐡓‎	ר	ܪ	𐭓	ﺭ	𐩧	ረ	Ρ ρ	Rr	Р р	𑀭 /r/	र /r/	(l), (r)
𓌓				𐤔‎	šīn	tooth (or sun[23])	š [ʃ]	š		ࠔ‎	𐡔‎	ש	ܫ	𐭔	س, ش	𐩦	ሠ	Σσς	Ss	Щ щ	𑀰 /ɕ/	श /ɕ/	(s / š)
𓏴				𐤕‎	tāw	mark	t [ t ]	t		ࠕ‎	𐡕‎	ת	ܬ	𐭕	ت, ث	𐩩	ተ	Τ τ	Tt	Т т	𑀢 /t/	त /t/	(t / d)

Letter names

Phoenician used a system of acrophony to name letters: a word was chosen with each initial consonant sound, and became the name of the letter for that sound. These names were not arbitrary: each Phoenician letter was based on an Egyptian hieroglyph representing an Egyptian word; this word was translated into Phoenician (or a closely related Semitic language), then the initial sound of the translated word became the letter's Phoenician value.^[29] For example, the second letter of the Phoenician alphabet was based on the Egyptian hieroglyph for "house" (a sketch of a house); the Semitic word for "house" was bet; hence the Phoenician letter was called bet and had the sound value b.

According to a 1904 theory by Theodor Nöldeke, some of the letter names were changed in Phoenician from the Proto-Canaanite script.^{[dubious – discuss]} This includes:

• gaml "throwing stick" to gimel "camel"
• digg "fish" to dalet "door"
• hll "jubilation" to he "window"
• ziqq "manacle" to zayin "weapon"
• naḥš "snake" to nun "fish"
• piʾt "corner" to pe "mouth"
• šimš "sun" to šin "tooth"

Yigael Yadin (1963) went to great lengths to prove that there was actual battle equipment similar to some of the original letter forms named for weapons (samek, zayin).^[30]

Later, the Greeks kept (approximately) the Phoenician names, albeit they did not mean anything to them other than the letters themselves; on the other hand, the

Numerals

The Phoenician numeral system consisted of separate symbols for 1, 10, 20, and 100. The sign for 1 was a simple vertical stroke (𐤖). Other numerals up to 9 were formed by adding the appropriate number of such strokes, arranged in groups of three. The symbol for 10 was a horizontal line or tack (𐤗‎). The sign for 20 (𐤘) could come in different glyph variants, one of them being a combination of two 10-tacks, approximately Z-shaped. Larger multiples of ten were formed by grouping the appropriate number of 20s and 10s. There existed several glyph variants for 100 (𐤙). The 100 symbol could be multiplied by a preceding numeral, e.g. the combination of "4" and "100" yielded 400.

Phoenician is well prolific in terms of writing systems derived from it, as many of the writing systems in use today can ultimately trace their descent to it, and consequently Egyptian hieroglyphs. The Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian and Georgian scripts are derived from the Greek alphabet, which evolved from Phoenician; the Aramaic alphabet, also descended from Phoenician, evolved into the Arabic and Hebrew scripts. It has also been theorised that the Brahmi and subsequent Brahmic scripts of the Indian cultural sphere also descended from Aramaic, effectively uniting most of the world's writing systems under one family, although the theory is disputed.

Early Semitic scripts

The

The Phoenician alphabet continued to be used by the Samaritans and developed into the Samaritan alphabet, that is an immediate continuation of the Phoenician script without intermediate non-Israelite evolutionary stages. The Samaritans have continued to use the script for writing both Hebrew and Aramaic texts until the present day. A comparison of the earliest Samaritan inscriptions and the medieval and modern Samaritan manuscripts clearly indicates that the Samaritan script is a static script which was used mainly as a book hand.

Aramaic-derived

The Aramaic alphabet, used to write

By the 5th century BCE, among

It has been proposed, notably by Georg Bühler (1898), that the

It is certain that the Aramaic-derived Kharosthi script was present in northern India by the 4th century BC, so that the Aramaic model of alphabetic writing would have been known in the region, but the link from Kharosthi to the slightly younger Brahmi is tenuous. Bühler's suggestion is still entertained in mainstream scholarship, but it has never been proven conclusively, and no definitive scholarly consensus exists.

Greek-derived

The

These were an indigenous set of genetically related semisyllabaries, which suited the phonological characteristics of the Tartessian, Iberian and Celtiberian languages. They were deciphered in 1922 by Manuel Gómez-Moreno but their content is almost impossible to understand because they are not related to any living languages. While Gómez-Moreno first pointed to a joined Phoenician-Greek origin, following authors consider that their genesis has no relation to Greek.^[39]

The most remote script of the group is the

• Semi-syllabism. Half of the signs represent syllables made of occlusive consonants (k g b d t) and the other half represent simple phonemes such as vowels (a e i o u) and continuant consonants (l n r ŕ s ś).
• Duality. Appears on the earliest Iberian and Celtiberian inscriptions and refers to how the signs can serve a double use by being modified with an extra stroke that transforms, for example ge with a stroke becomes ke . In later stages the scripts were simplified and duality vanishes from inscriptions.
• Redundancy. A feature that appears only in the script of the Southwest, vowels are repeated after each syllabic signs.

Unicode

See also

• History of writing
• Ugaritic alphabet

Notes