Phoenician script

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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
Inscription on the Ahiram sarcophagus
The inscription on the lid of the Ahiram sarcophagus ( Byblos , approx. 1000 BC) is considered to be one of the oldest evidence of Phoenician writing.

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

The Phoenician alphabet (middle column) is the mother of various modern alphabets. V. l. n. r .: Latin , Greek , Phoenician , Hebrew , Arabic .
The modern equivalents of the Phoenician letters are on the same level as the "originals" in the middle column.
Related letters are highlighted in the same color. Arrows assign letters to their respective equivalents.
Phoenician Phoenician name Hebrew
square script 		Hebrew name Sound value
PhoenicianA-01.svg ʔalf א Aleph '( Vowel impulse )
PhoenicianB-01.svg bēt ב Beth b
PhoenicianG-01.svg gaml ג Gimel G
PhoenicianD-01.svg delt ד Daleth d
PhoenicianE-01.svg hē ה Hey H
PhoenicianW-01.svg woof ו Waw w
PhoenicianZ-01.svg zai ז Zajin z
PhoenicianH-01.svg ḥēt ח Chet ch
PhoenicianTet-01.png ṭēt ט Tet t
PhoenicianI-01.svg yōd י iodine j
PhoenicianK-01.svg kaf כ Cap k
PhoenicianL-01.svg lamd ל Lamed l
PhoenicianM-01.svg mēm מ Mem m
PhoenicianN-01.svg now נ Now n
PhoenicianX-01.svg semk ס Samech s
PhoenicianO-01.svg ʕain ע Ajin '(Vowel impulse)
Phoenician P-01.svg pē פ Pe p
PhoenicianTsade-01.svg ṣädē צ Tzade z (ts)
PhoenicianQ-01.svg qōf ק Koph q
PhoenicianR-01.svg rōš ר Resch r
PhoenicianS-01.svg šin ש Shin sch
Proto-semiticT-01.svg 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:

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 :

Phoenician inscription on a land grant, Alanya Archaeological Museum , Turkey
Unicode block Phoenician
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

Web links

Commons : Phoenician Alphabet  - album containing pictures, videos and audio files