Phoenician alphabet

The Phoenician alphabet dates from around 1000 BC and is derived from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet. It was used by the Phoenicians to write Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language. Modern alphabets thought to have descended from the Phoenician include Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin (via the Old Italic alphabet), and Cyrillic. Like Proto-Canaanite, Arabic and Hebrew, Phoenician is a consonantal alphabet (an abjad), and contains no symbols for vowel sounds, which had to be deduced from context.

Related Topics:
Alphabet - 1000 BC - Proto-Canaanite alphabet - Phoenicia - Phoenician - Semitic - Hebrew - Arabic - Greek - Latin - Old Italic alphabet - Cyrillic - Abjad - Vowel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phoenician inscriptions have been found in archaeological sites at a number of former Phoenician cities and colonies around the Mediterranean, such as Byblos (in present-day Lebanon) and Carthage in North Africa.

Related Topics:
Byblos - Lebanon - Carthage

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~