A comparative study of the world's major writing systems
1 阿卡德文的字符
阿卡德人聚居在蘇美爾人的北面。阿卡德語 (Akkadian) 和蘇美爾語是兩種很不同的語言。阿卡德語屬東部閃語 (East Semitic language)，而蘇美爾語則系屬不明，屬所謂黏着語 (agglutinative language)。阿卡德人起初並沒有文字，但由於在貿易上有記帳的需要，於公元前 2500 年左右開始向比鄰而居的蘇美爾人學習蘇美爾文，慢慢承襲了蘇美爾文的義符、音符和定符。可是，蘇美爾文並非專為阿卡德語而設，阿卡德人借用蘇美爾字符書寫阿卡德語時，傾向把字符作音符使用。蘇美爾人使用音符的方法，大大地影響了阿卡德文。 Continue reading “阿卡德文”
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Preface to The Origin of the Greek Alphabet
The birth of the Greek alphabet in the first quarter of the first millennium BC marks a milestone in the development of the writing systems of mankind. A new type of writing system suited to the phonological structures of Greek and many other European languages had been invented by the Greeks at the latest by the eighth century BC. Continue reading “Preface to The Origin of the Greek Alphabet : A New Perspective”
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This treatise is about how Greek segmental writing evolved from the Phoenician way of writing Greek names with both Phoenician signs and matres lectionis. Continue reading “Abstract of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet: A New Perspective”
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1 The role of Phoenician writing in the creation of the Greek alphabet
Nobody knows for certain why, how, when, and where exactly Greek alphabetic writing began. But it is quite certain that the Greek alphabet originated from the Phoenician script. There are evidences that this is the case. The early Greek letters are very much like the Phoenician signs. The order of the letters in the Greek alphabet is basically the same as that of the signs in the Phoenician alphabet. The Greeks called their letters Phoenician signs. Continue reading “Section 1 of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet : A New Perspective”
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2 Controversy over the nature of Phoenician signs
Since Greek letters were doubtless derived from Phoenician signs, it is important to ascertain the true nature of Phoenician signs before one can understand how Greek alphabetic writing started. A Phoenician sign is generally introduced in books on writing systems as a sign that stands for a consonant. For example, the Phoenician written word <_k_l_m> for ‘king’ (to be read from right to left in accordance with the direction of Phoenician writing) is generally transliterated in roman letters as <mlk>, which obviously cannot be easily pronounced. Continue reading “Section 2 of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet : A New Perspective”
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3 Phoenician signs seen from the Phoenicians’ perspective
If asked about the nature of their Phoenician signs, a Phoenician would probably explain in non-technical terms that a Phoenician sign had several “sounds”. To illustrate his point, he might read out all the possible “sounds” of a certain sign, say, <_n>. These “sounds” would be transcribed today as /na/, /ni/, /nu/, /na:/, /ni:/, /nu:/, /ne:/, and /no:/. Of these eight “sounds”, three are short and five are long.[1] To write any of these eight “sounds”, he would use the same sign <_n>. When reading the sign <_n> used in actual writing, he would know which of the eight “sounds” it stood for.
Continue reading “Section 3 of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet : A New Perspective”
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4 The nature of a Phoenician sign
Today one can study directly how the modern Arabic and Hebrew scripts relate to their spoken languages and how their letters are pronounced in a piece of writing. Since the above scripts are descended from Phoenician writing through Aramaic without structural modification, the inner structure of all these Semitic alphabetic scripts should be the same, just as the inner structure of the Greek, Etruscan, Latin, and English alphabetic scripts is the same. Continue reading “Section 4 of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet : A New Perspective”
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5 Pre-phonemic vs phonemic interpretations of a Phoenician syllable
A Phoenician sign represents in effect several CV syllables, including the weakened CV. It should be noted here that a Phoenician CV syllable can be spoken with varying degrees of accentuation of V in different polysyllabic words. Phonetically V could take on any value from a fully expressed V to a completely suppressed V, with varying degrees of accentuation of V in between. Continue reading “Section 5 of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet: A New Perspective”
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6 The reason why a Phoenician sign has multiple sound values
A Phoenician sign is a phonogram that has multiple sound values, which is quite different from what we commonly know of a phonogram. We usually think that a phonogram basically stands for one sound, such as an Akkadian syllabogram or a Japanese kana. To write such syllables as /na/, /ni/, and /nu/, a Phoenician would use one phonogram while a Japanese person would use three. Continue reading “Section 6 of The Origin of the Greek Alphabet : A New Perspective”
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