Phoenician script
Phoenician script | ||
---|---|---|
Font | Abdschad | |
languages | Phoenician , Hebrew, and other Semitic languages | |
Usage time | 11th to 5th century BC Chr. | |
Used in | Palestine, Mediterranean | |
ancestry |
Protosinaitic script Phoenician script |
|
Derived | Aramaic script , Greek script , Old South Arabic script | |
relative | Old Hebrew script , Punic script | |
particularities | written horizontally from right to left | |
Unicode block | U + 10900-U + 1091F | |
ISO 15924 | Phnx | |
The Phoenician writing is a left-handed consonants font 22 characters, the order of the abjad numerals took over and until the 5th century BC from the 11th. BC in Lebanon , Palestine and Syria . It was not only used to write the Phoenician language , but also for a long time the Aramaic , Hebrew and other Semitic languages . The ancient Hebrew script is a variant of the Phoenician script.
The writing was at the latest in the 11th century BC. Developed by the Phoenicians by abstracting the Protosinaitic script . The oldest evidence is an inscription on the sarcophagus of Ahiram of Byblos in today's Lebanon (around 1000 BC). However, the sequence of the alphabet, which the Phoenician and ancient Hebrew scripts have in common, must be older, as the Ugaritic alphabet already presupposes it. From the Phoenician script the Aramaic script , the Greek script , the old South Arabic script - and through their descendants also almost all of today's alphabetic scripts emerged.
The Phoenician alphabet as the basis of later alphabets
Phoenician | Phoenician name |
Hebrew square script |
Hebrew name | Sound value |
---|---|---|---|---|
ʔalf | א | Aleph | '( Vowel impulse ) | |
bēt | ב | Beth | b | |
gaml | ג | Gimel | G | |
delt | ד | Daleth | d | |
hē | ה | Hey | H | |
woof | ו | Waw | w | |
zai | ז | Zajin | z | |
ḥēt | ח | Chet | ch | |
ṭēt | ט | Tet | t | |
yōd | י | iodine | j | |
kaf | כ | Cap | k | |
lamd | ל | Lamed | l | |
mēm | מ | Mem | m | |
now | נ | Now | n | |
semk | ס | Samech | s | |
ʕain | ע | Ajin | '(Vowel impulse) | |
pē | פ | Pe | p | |
ṣädē | צ | Tzade | z (ts) | |
qōf | ק | Koph | q | |
rōš | ר | Resch | r | |
šin | ש | Shin | sch | |
dew | ת | Taw | t |
The Phoenician alphabet is the basis of the Aramaic alphabet (which in turn is the basis of the Hebrew , Arabic , and presumably also the various Indian alphabets ), as well as the Greek (and thus the Latin and Cyrillic ) alphabet. This can be recognized at first glance by the two identical initial letters, in some alphabets there are also more than two identical initial letters:
- Phoenician alphabet: Aleph , Beth , Gimel , Daleth , He , Waw , Zajin , ...
- Aramaic alphabet : Aleph, Beth, Gemal, Daleth, He, Waw, Zai, ... Mem, Nun ...
- Greek alphabet : Alpha , Beta , Gamma , Delta , Epsilon ...
- Latin alphabet : A , B , C (≈ G ), D , E ...
- Cyrillic alphabet : А , Б (≈ "B"), В (≈ V, W), Г (≈ G), Д , Е ...
- Hebrew alphabet : Aleph , Beth , Gimel , Daleth , He , Waw , Zajin ...
- Arabic alphabet : Alif , Bā …
The Arabic alphabet (Abdschadiya) then deviates from the almost uniform sequence, as the letters were later regrouped according to their visual similarity. In the older version, the Abdschad , this order is still preserved. The Indian alphabets also deviate from the standard order due to a later regrouping according to sound similarity.
Derivatives of the Phoenician alphabet are directly or at least as a source of inspiration underlie almost all scripts used today in the world, with the exception of the East Asian scripts ( Chinese script and descendants).
The individual letters
The Phoenician names of the letters are often replaced by the almost identical Hebrew names. The exact origin of the letter forms is often unclear or controversial and partly influenced by the meaning of later Hebrew or Arabic words with a similar sound.
ʔalf, Aleph
Aleph is a Semitic guttural , a glottic closure as in German edit between e and a, which here do not form a diphthong; it was not until the Greek alphabet that the sign became the vowel a, alpha . The letter is derived from the stylized representation of a bull's head (alef = cow). Latin equivalent: A .
bēt, Beth
Beth is a consonant that is derived from the stylized representation of the floor plan of a house (beth = house). In Greek it became the letter beta . Latin equivalent: B .
gaml, Gimel
The Gimel is a consonant that is derived either from the stylized representation of a camel's back (gamel = camel) or from a boomerang-like throwing weapon. In Greek it became the letter gamma . Latin equivalents: C and G .
delt, Daleth
The Daleth is a consonant derived from the representation of an opened tent door. In Greek it became the letter delta . Latin equivalent: D .
hē, he
He is a Semitic guttural that first became the vowel epsilon in the Greek alphabet . The letter is derived from the stylized representation of a person praying with raised hands, as is still widely practiced today. But perhaps he also represents a window Latin equivalent. E .
wow, waw
Waw is a consonant that is derived from the representation of a hook or a nail. In Greek this became the letters Digamma and Ypsilon . Western counterparts: F , U , V , W and Y .
zai, zajin
Zajin is a consonant that is derived from the stylized representation of a scale or a stabbing weapon, possibly also a handcuff-like shackle. In Greek it became the letter zeta . Latin equivalent: Z .
ḥēt, Chet
Chet is a Semitic guttural. The letter is derived from the representation of a wall or a fence or an enclosed area such as an inner courtyard. Some sources also name a strand of hair as a possible pictographic origin. In Greek it became the letter Eta . Latin equivalent: H .
ṭēt, Tet
Tet is a consonant that is believed to be derived from the representation of a spool of thread or a wheel. In Greek it became the letter theta . No Latin equivalent.
yōd, iodine
Iodine is a Semitic guttural that first became the vowel Iota in the Greek alphabet . The letter is derived from the representation of a hand (yod = hand) including arm. Latin counterparts: I and J .
kaf, Kaph
Kaph is a consonant that is believed to be derived from the representation of an open hand. In Greek it became the letter kappa . Latin equivalent: K .
lamd, Lamed
Lamed is a consonant that is believed to be derived from the representation of a shepherd's staff or scepter. In Greek it became the letter lambda . Latin equivalent: L .
mēm, Mem
Mem is a consonant derived from the representation of a water line. In Greek it became the letter My . Latin equivalent: M .
nūn, well
Now is a consonant that is believed to be derived from the representation of a snake or an eel-like fish. In Greek this became the letter Ny . Latin equivalent: N .
semk, Samech
Samech is a consonant that is believed to be derived from the representation of a buttress or a (vertebral) column. In Greek, this became the letters Xi and Chi . Latin equivalent: X .
ʕain, Ajin
Ajin is a Semitic guttural which only became the vowels omicron and omega in the Greek alphabet . The letter is derived from the stylized representation of an eye. Latin equivalent: O .
pē, Pe
Pe is a consonant that is derived from the stylized representation of a mouth, especially the lips. In Greek it became the letter pi . Latin equivalent: P .
ṣädē, Zade
Zade is a consonant derived from the representation of either a grasshopper or a plant. This letter was temporarily adopted in the Greek alphabet as Sampi , but was later only used as a numeric symbol. No Latin equivalent.
qōf, Qoph
Qoph is a consonant derived from the highly stylized representation of a sitting monkey with a drooping tail or a sewing needle with an eye. In Greek this became the letter Qoppa , which was only retained for its numerical value 90. Latin equivalent: Q .
rōš, Resch
Resch is a consonant that is derived from the stylized representation of a human head in profile. In Greek it became the letter rho . Latin equivalent: R .
šin, Schin
Schin is a consonant that is believed to be derived from the stylized representation of a tooth or the sun. In Greek it became the letter sigma . Latin equivalent: S .
dew; Taw
Taw is a consonant whose written form is a cross-like marker. In Greek it became the letter Tau . Latin equivalent: T .
Unicode
The Phoenician alphabet is included in the Unicode worldwide character encoding standard in the range U + 10900 - U + 1091F . An alternative proposal to treat all northwestern Semitic Abdschaden as font variants of the Hebrew alphabet was rejected.
If the browser used can display the required Unicode version and a font with glyphs for the Phoenician script is installed, the Phoenician letters are shown in the following table and can e.g. B. copied to the clipboard :
Letter | character | Unicode name | Codepoint |
---|---|---|---|
Aleph | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER ALF | U + 10900 |
Beth | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER BET | U + 10901 |
Gimel | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER GAML | U + 10902 |
Daleth | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER DELT | U + 10903 |
Hey | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER HE | U + 10904 |
Waw | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER WAU | U + 10905 |
Zajin | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER ZAI | U + 10906 |
Chet | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER HET | U + 10907 |
Tet | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER TET | U + 10908 |
iodine | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER YOD | U + 10909 |
Cap | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER KAF | U + 1090A |
Lamed | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER LAMD | U + 1090B |
Mem | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER MEM | U + 1090C |
Now | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER NOW | U + 1090D |
Samech | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER SEMK | U + 1090E |
Ajin | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER AIN | U + 1090F |
Pe | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER PE | U + 10910 |
Zade | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER SADE | U + 10911 |
Qoph | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER QOF | U + 10912 |
Resch | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER ROSH | U + 10913 |
Shin | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER SHIN | U + 10914 |
Taw | ? | PHOENICIAN LETTER TAU | U + 10915 |
? | PHOENICIAN NUMBER ONE | U + 10916 | |
? | PHOENICIAN NUMBER TEN | U + 10917 | |
? | PHOENICIAN NUMBER TWENTY | U + 10918 | |
? | PHOENICIAN NUMBER ONE HUNDRED | U + 10919 | |
(undefined area) | |||
? | PHOENICIAN WORD SEPARATOR | U + 1091F |
See also
literature
- Aubet, Maria Eugenia: The Phoenicians and the West. Cambridge University Press, London 2001, ISBN 978-0-521-79543-2 .
- Markoe, Glenn: Phoenicians. University of California Press, 2000, ISBN 0-520-22613-5 .
- Thiolett, Jean-Pierre: Je m'appelle Byblos. H&D, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-914266-04-9 .
- Little Pauly .
Web links
- Response to the revised "Final proposal for encoding the Phoenician script in the UCS" (L2 / 04-141R2) (Arguments against the separate encoding of the Phoenician characters) (2004)
- The Unicode Standard 5.0, Section 14.7: Phoenician (PDF; 326 kB)
- The Unicode Standard 5.0, Code Chart Phoenician (PDF; 67 kB)
- Alphabet comparison list (PDF; 124 kB) ( Memento from June 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ISO coding of the letters (PDF; 818 kB)