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{{Short description|Earliest writing script of the Phrygians}}
[[File:Phrygiae.jpg|thumb|right|300px|In the first column is the Greek alphabet, in the second - the Phrygian, and in the third, the corresponding sounds of the [[Bulgarian alphabet]].]]
{{More citations needed|date=September 2022}}
'''The Phrygian alphabet''' is the script used in the earliest [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] texts.
The '''Phrygian alphabet''' is the script used in the earliest [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] texts.


It dates back to the 8th century BCE and was used until the fourth century BCE ("Old-Phrygian" inscriptions), after which it was replaced by the common [[Greek alphabet]] ("New-Phrygian" inscriptions, 1st to 3rd century CE). The Phrygian alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet and is almost identical to the early West [[Greek alphabets]].
It dates back to the 8th century BCE and was used until the fourth century BCE ("Old-Phrygian" inscriptions), after which it was replaced by the common [[Greek alphabet]] ("New-Phrygian" inscriptions, 1st to 3rd century CE). The Phrygian alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet and is almost identical to the early West [[Greek alphabets]].


The alphabet consists of 19 letters – 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 14 consonants (b, g, d, v, z, y, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t).<ref name="ObradorCursach2018">{{cite book |last1=Obrador Cursach |first1=Bartomeu |title=Lexicon of the Phrygian Inscriptions |date=2018 |publisher=Doctoral dissertation, Universitat de Barcelona |pages=31-50 |url=https://www.tesisenred.net/bitstream/handle/10803/650834/BOC_PhD_THESIS.pdf |access-date=2021-07-06}}</ref> A variant of the Phrygian alphabet (with one additional letter - the so-called "Moesian ''s''") was used in the inscriptions of the [[Mysia]]n dialect. Words can be separated by three or four vertically spaced points. It is usually written from right to left, but 66 out of the ca. 400 Old-Phrygian inscriptions read from left to right, and in multi-line inscriptions there is usually a spelling of [[boustrophedon]] (18 inscriptions). <ref>[http://tapemark.narod.ru/les/563a.html Phonetic system in the Phrygian language (in Russian)]</ref>
The alphabet consists of 19 letters – 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 14 consonants (b, g, d, v, z, y, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t).<ref name="ObradorCursach2018">{{cite book |last1=Obrador Cursach |first1=Bartomeu |title=Lexicon of the Phrygian Inscriptions |date=2018 |publisher=Doctoral dissertation, Universitat de Barcelona |pages=31–50 |url=https://www.tesisenred.net/bitstream/handle/10803/650834/BOC_PhD_THESIS.pdf |access-date=2021-07-06}}</ref> A variant of the Phrygian alphabet was used in the inscriptions of the [[Mysia]]n [[Mysian language|dialect]]. Words are often separated by spaces or by three or four vertically spaced points. It is usually written from left to right ("dextroverse"), but about one-sixth of the inscriptions was written from right to left ("sinistroverse").<ref>Claude Brixhe (2008), 'Phrygian', in: Roger D. Woodard (ed.), ''The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor'' (Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press), pp. 69-80: p. 73: "a little less than one-third" was written from right to left. On the contrary, Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 35, implies that the majority was ''sinistroverse'': according to him only a small minority ("66 out of 395" Old-Phrygian inscriptions) were "dextroverse". However, his comprehensive catalogue of inscriptions in the same book, pp. 349-420, shows that in fact 84 out of ca. 550 Old-Phrygian inscriptions listed) are marked "←", and therefore the minority is "sinistroverse" (reading from right to left), so Brixhe is right. Apparently on p. 35 Obrador Cursach has inadvertently interchanged the words "dextroverse" and "sinistroverse".</ref> In multi-line inscriptions there is usually a spelling of [[boustrophedon]] (a few dozen inscriptions).<ref>Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 35.</ref><ref>[http://tapemark.narod.ru/les/563a.html Phonetic system in the Phrygian language (in Russian)]</ref>


== Alphabet ==
== Alphabet ==
The nineteen characters of the Old-Phrygian alphabet are:<ref>Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 34.</ref>
<!-- Unicode characters not yet available, Lydian characters used -->
<!-- Phrygian Unicode characters not yet available -->
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|+
|-
|-
! colspan="2"| Writing direction !! rowspan="2" | Phoneme !! rowspan="2" | New-Phrygian <br>equivalent
! colspan="2"| Writing direction !! rowspan="2" | Transcription !! rowspan="2" | Phoneme !! rowspan="2" | New-Phrygian <br>equivalent<ref>Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 55-58.</ref>
|-
|-
|-
|-
! ΑΒΓ⇒ !! style="transform: scale(-1, 1)" | ΑΒΓ⇒
! ⇐ !! ⇒
|-
|-
| 𐤠 || Α || /a/, /a:/ || Α
| [[File:PhrygianAlphaL2R.png|12px]] || 𐤠 || ''a'' || {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/aː/}} || Α
|-
|-
| 𐤱,𐤡 || Β,8 || /b/ || Β
| Β, 8 || style="transform: scale(-1, 1); direction: rtl;" | B || ''b'' || {{IPA|/b/}} || Β
|-
|-
| [[File:PhrygianGammaR2L.png|12px]] || Γ || /g/ || Γ
| 𐊩 || style="transform: scale(-1, 1); direction: rtl;" | 𐊩 || ''g'' || {{IPA|/ɡ/}} || Γ
|-
|-
| Δ,Λ || Δ,Λ || /d/ || Δ
| 𐊅, 𐊍 || 𐊍, 𐊅 || ''d'' || {{IPA|/d/}} || Δ
|-
|-
| 𐊤, [[File:PhrygianEpsL2Rvariant.png|12px]] || [[File:PhrygianEps R2L.png|12px]], [[File:PhrygianEpsR2Lvariant.png|12px]] || ''e'' || {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}} || Ε, Η
| 𐤄 || Ε || /e/, /e:/ || Ε, ΕΙ, Η, ΗΙ
|-
|-
| 𐤥 || F || /w/ || ΟΥ
| F || style="transform: scale(-1, 1); direction: rtl;" | F || ''v'' || {{IPA|/w/}} || ΟΥ
|-
|-
| Ι || Ι || /i/, /i:/ || Ι
| Ι || Ι || ''i'' || {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}} || Ι, ΕΙ
|-
|-
| Κ, [[File:PhrygianKappaVariant3 R2L.png|12px]], 𐊵, 𐊜, [[File:PhrygianKappaVariant2.png|12px]] || style="transform: scale(-1, 1); direction: rtl;" | 𐊜 ,𐊵 ,K || ''k'', [[File:PhrygianKappaVariant3 R2L.png|12px]], 𐊵, 𐊜, [[File:PhrygianKappaVariant2.png|12px]] || {{IPA|/k/}} || Κ
| 𐤨,𐊜 || Κ,𐊜 || /k/ || Κ
|-
|-
| 1 || [[File:PhrygianLabdaL2R.png|12px]] || /l/ || Λ
| 𐰃 || [[File:PhrygianLabdaR2L.png|12px]] || ''l'' || {{IPA|/l/}} || Λ
|-
|-
| 𐤪 || 𐊃 || /m/ || Μ
| 𐌌 || [[File:PhrygianMu R2L.png|12px]] || ''m'' || {{IPA|/m/}} || Μ
|-
|-
| 𐤫 || 𐊏 || /n/ || Ν
| 𐊪 || [[File:PhrygianNu R2L.png|12px]] || ''n'' || {{IPA|/n/}} || Ν
|-
|-
| Ο || Ο || /o/, /o:/ || Ο, Ω
| Ο || Ο || ''o'' || {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/oː/}} || Ο, Ω
|-
|-
| [[File:PhrygianPiR2L.png|12px]] || 𐊓 || /p/ || Π
| 𐌐 || [[File:PhrygianPiR2L.png|12px]] || ''p'' || {{IPA|/p/}} || Π
|-
|-
| 𐌛 || style="transform: scale(-1, 1); direction: rtl;" | 𐌛 || ''r'' || {{IPA|/r/}} || Ρ
| 𐤭 || Ρ || /r/ || Ρ
|-
|-
| [[File:PhrygianSigmaR2L.png|12px]] || [[File:PhrygianSigmaL2R.png|12px]] || /s/ || Σ
| [[File:PhrygianSigmaL2Rvariant.png|12px]], [[File:PhrygianSigmaL2R.png|12px]], [[File:PhrygianSigmaL2Rvariant2.png|12px]], [[File:PhrygianSigmaL2Rvariant1.png|12px]] || 𐰩, [[File:PhrygianSigmaR2L.png|12px]] || ''s'' || {{IPA|/s/}} || Σ
|-
|-
| Τ || Τ || /t/ || Τ
| Τ || Τ || ''t'' || {{IPA|/t/}} || Τ
|-
|-
| 𐤰 || 𐊄 || /u/, /u:/ || ΟΥ
| 𐊄 || 𐤰 || ''u'' || {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}} || ΟΥ, O
|-
|-
| [[File:PhrygianYodR2L.png|12px]] || [[File:PhrygianYodL2R.png|12px]] || /j/ || Ι
| 𐰀, X || 𐰁,𐰀 || ''y'' || {{IPA|/j/}} || Ι
|-
|-
| 𐊁,Φ,𐤑 || 𐊁,Φ || /z/ (/zd/?) || Ζ
| 𐊁, 𐌘, [[File:PhrygianZetaVariant2.png|12px]], Ͳ || 𐊁 || 𐊁, 𐌘, [[File:PhrygianZetaVariant2.png|12px]], Ͳ || {{IPA|/z/}} ({{IPA|/zd/}}?) || Ζ
|}
|}


Latest revision as of 01:46, 5 November 2023

The Phrygian alphabet is the script used in the earliest Phrygian texts.

It dates back to the 8th century BCE and was used until the fourth century BCE ("Old-Phrygian" inscriptions), after which it was replaced by the common Greek alphabet ("New-Phrygian" inscriptions, 1st to 3rd century CE). The Phrygian alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet and is almost identical to the early West Greek alphabets.

The alphabet consists of 19 letters – 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 14 consonants (b, g, d, v, z, y, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t).[1] A variant of the Phrygian alphabet was used in the inscriptions of the Mysian dialect. Words are often separated by spaces or by three or four vertically spaced points. It is usually written from left to right ("dextroverse"), but about one-sixth of the inscriptions was written from right to left ("sinistroverse").[2] In multi-line inscriptions there is usually a spelling of boustrophedon (a few dozen inscriptions).[3][4]

Alphabet[edit]

The nineteen characters of the Old-Phrygian alphabet are:[5]

Writing direction Transcription Phoneme New-Phrygian
equivalent[6]
ΑΒΓ⇒ ΑΒΓ⇒
𐤠 a /a/, /aː/ Α
Β, 8 B b /b/ Β
𐊩 𐊩 g /ɡ/ Γ
𐊅, 𐊍 𐊍, 𐊅 d /d/ Δ
𐊤, , e /e/, /eː/ Ε, Η
F F v /w/ ΟΥ
Ι Ι i /i/, /iː/ Ι, ΕΙ
Κ, , 𐊵, 𐊜, 𐊜 ,𐊵 ,K k, , 𐊵, 𐊜, /k/ Κ
𐰃 l /l/ Λ
𐌌 m /m/ Μ
𐊪 n /n/ Ν
Ο Ο o /o/, /oː/ Ο, Ω
𐌐 p /p/ Π
𐌛 𐌛 r /r/ Ρ
, , , 𐰩, s /s/ Σ
Τ Τ t /t/ Τ
𐊄 𐤰 u /u/, /uː/ ΟΥ, O
𐰀, X 𐰁,𐰀 y /j/ Ι
𐊁, 𐌘, , Ͳ 𐊁 𐊁, 𐌘, , Ͳ /z/ (/zd/?) Ζ

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Obrador Cursach, Bartomeu (2018). Lexicon of the Phrygian Inscriptions (PDF). Doctoral dissertation, Universitat de Barcelona. pp. 31–50. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  2. ^ Claude Brixhe (2008), 'Phrygian', in: Roger D. Woodard (ed.), The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor (Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press), pp. 69-80: p. 73: "a little less than one-third" was written from right to left. On the contrary, Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 35, implies that the majority was sinistroverse: according to him only a small minority ("66 out of 395" Old-Phrygian inscriptions) were "dextroverse". However, his comprehensive catalogue of inscriptions in the same book, pp. 349-420, shows that in fact 84 out of ca. 550 Old-Phrygian inscriptions listed) are marked "←", and therefore the minority is "sinistroverse" (reading from right to left), so Brixhe is right. Apparently on p. 35 Obrador Cursach has inadvertently interchanged the words "dextroverse" and "sinistroverse".
  3. ^ Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 35.
  4. ^ Phonetic system in the Phrygian language (in Russian)
  5. ^ Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 34.
  6. ^ Obrador Cursach (2018), p. 55-58.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

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