The Phoenician Language: Where did it come from?
Alaina Loomis
Background
There is much debate regarding the origin of the Phoenician language. The reasoning behind the confusion is a rather complex ordeal. The proof of documentation in regions along the Mediterranean, such as Syria, Phoenicia, Byblos, and Palestine, holds much confusion for historians due to the disconnect between location and dates. There is great disagreement among historians for several reasons, one of them being the lack of proper dating of documents. However, we can break down the arguments into two views of the origin of the Phoenician alphabet. One argument, shared by historians such as the Greek Herodotus and Pliny, is that the alphabet originated in Phoenicia. This view takes into account the view of Phoenicia as a part of Palestine. The second view claims that the alphabet originated in Syria and that the Phoenicians later took this and perfected it. The claim over origin became a political issue as Palestine was not considered Phoenician by Syria, even though they claimed themselves to be.
To address the formation and evolution of the Phoenician alphabet, regardless of a specific origin, other surrounding scripts that have influenced its creation should be addressed. In the Mediterranean area, during the early centuries B.C., there were three main scripts. The first was Egyptian and its famous hieroglyphics. This script was made up of mainly ideographic symbols that represented phonetics, containing only consonants. An important point to note, however, is that although the Egyptians had a written alphabet they chose not to utilize it, and used symbols instead[1] (much like the Chinese and Japanese). The second script in the region was cuneiform, used by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. This script, much like hieroglyphics, used over 100 pictures and signs to represent words and phrases. The main difference was that the symbols represented both consonants and vowels. Finally, the Crete regions used a script referred to as “Linear A,” which was also made up of signs. This script, although short-lived and not very effectively spread to other cultures, used a more advanced concept in that each of the 100 plus signs held a specific syllabic value (i.e. “ba” “ke” “do” or “bi”). These scripts influenced other languages in the surrounding area of Palestine, such as the Babylonian language.
Turning Point
There were several documented attempts to simplify the languages because both the Egyptian and Babylonian languages were far too complex to tackle in one region. One attempt was made in the in the first centuries of the second millennium, known as Byblos. It was “pseudo-hieroglyphic” and included about 100 signs. This script was influenced more by the script of Crete than that of Egypt, and did not really spread very far or last for too long.[2] A second attempt, that proved to be very influential, was made in the Sinai Region in Palestine during the 15th century B.C. by the “Syrians of Palestine,” also known as the Canaanites. This script was the major transition from and connection between Egyptian and Phoenician script.
Discovered near a turquoise mine in Sinai, evidence of this script was seen in the temple of Serabit el-Khadim. This script evolved into a Semitic alphabet as it was used by Semitic-speaking scholars.[3] This new script stressed the relationship between the phonetic value of signs and the object. Small changes were made, namely the acrostic principle, where symbols are shortened and take only the first consonant. Egyptian signs were evident influences, translated into the Semitic style, taking only the phonetic value, and creating about thirty signs total.[4]
Other evidence of evolution to the Semitic script was seen from the 15th to 13th centuries B.C. in Ugarit, which overlooked the Mediterranean. The people of Ugarit spoke Babylonian and wrote in cuneiform due to supplies of the region that limited their style of writing to harsh-lined signs created by certain writing tools used for pottery specific to that region. The Semitic alphabet was then translated into cuneiform due to the limited resources and fashion of writing native to the land, creating the first real alphabetic characters, meaning that the graphic signs no longer matched their phonetic values.[5] This form of the Semitic script did not, however, prove to spread to many other locations. The form of Proto-Sinaic script that spread was that which was revised in Palestine and contained about 22 characters. This script then spread to Canaan, which is commonly referred to as Phoenicia, and then was lastly transformed to Ahiram inscription in 1000 B.C., into what the Phoenician alphabet is known as today.[6]
Effect
After the creation of the Phoenician alphabet, much of the spoken language of Phoenicia and surrounding areas was recorded. Oral tradition became written evidence for further generations to reference. The spread of a now richer culture to surrounding areas was also a result of this. The creation of the Phoenician alphabet then spread to Greece by means of commerce (See Greek Language article), leading to the formation of the Greek alphabet.[7]
[1] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 86.
[2] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 87.
[3] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 89.
[4] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Pages 89-90
[5] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 91.
[6] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 92.
[7] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 95.
Bibliography
I. Fenici, Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri. Abbeville Press. New
York. 1988: Pages 86-95
Alaina Loomis
Background
There is much debate regarding the origin of the Phoenician language. The reasoning behind the confusion is a rather complex ordeal. The proof of documentation in regions along the Mediterranean, such as Syria, Phoenicia, Byblos, and Palestine, holds much confusion for historians due to the disconnect between location and dates. There is great disagreement among historians for several reasons, one of them being the lack of proper dating of documents. However, we can break down the arguments into two views of the origin of the Phoenician alphabet. One argument, shared by historians such as the Greek Herodotus and Pliny, is that the alphabet originated in Phoenicia. This view takes into account the view of Phoenicia as a part of Palestine. The second view claims that the alphabet originated in Syria and that the Phoenicians later took this and perfected it. The claim over origin became a political issue as Palestine was not considered Phoenician by Syria, even though they claimed themselves to be.
To address the formation and evolution of the Phoenician alphabet, regardless of a specific origin, other surrounding scripts that have influenced its creation should be addressed. In the Mediterranean area, during the early centuries B.C., there were three main scripts. The first was Egyptian and its famous hieroglyphics. This script was made up of mainly ideographic symbols that represented phonetics, containing only consonants. An important point to note, however, is that although the Egyptians had a written alphabet they chose not to utilize it, and used symbols instead[1] (much like the Chinese and Japanese). The second script in the region was cuneiform, used by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. This script, much like hieroglyphics, used over 100 pictures and signs to represent words and phrases. The main difference was that the symbols represented both consonants and vowels. Finally, the Crete regions used a script referred to as “Linear A,” which was also made up of signs. This script, although short-lived and not very effectively spread to other cultures, used a more advanced concept in that each of the 100 plus signs held a specific syllabic value (i.e. “ba” “ke” “do” or “bi”). These scripts influenced other languages in the surrounding area of Palestine, such as the Babylonian language.
Turning Point
There were several documented attempts to simplify the languages because both the Egyptian and Babylonian languages were far too complex to tackle in one region. One attempt was made in the in the first centuries of the second millennium, known as Byblos. It was “pseudo-hieroglyphic” and included about 100 signs. This script was influenced more by the script of Crete than that of Egypt, and did not really spread very far or last for too long.[2] A second attempt, that proved to be very influential, was made in the Sinai Region in Palestine during the 15th century B.C. by the “Syrians of Palestine,” also known as the Canaanites. This script was the major transition from and connection between Egyptian and Phoenician script.
Discovered near a turquoise mine in Sinai, evidence of this script was seen in the temple of Serabit el-Khadim. This script evolved into a Semitic alphabet as it was used by Semitic-speaking scholars.[3] This new script stressed the relationship between the phonetic value of signs and the object. Small changes were made, namely the acrostic principle, where symbols are shortened and take only the first consonant. Egyptian signs were evident influences, translated into the Semitic style, taking only the phonetic value, and creating about thirty signs total.[4]
Other evidence of evolution to the Semitic script was seen from the 15th to 13th centuries B.C. in Ugarit, which overlooked the Mediterranean. The people of Ugarit spoke Babylonian and wrote in cuneiform due to supplies of the region that limited their style of writing to harsh-lined signs created by certain writing tools used for pottery specific to that region. The Semitic alphabet was then translated into cuneiform due to the limited resources and fashion of writing native to the land, creating the first real alphabetic characters, meaning that the graphic signs no longer matched their phonetic values.[5] This form of the Semitic script did not, however, prove to spread to many other locations. The form of Proto-Sinaic script that spread was that which was revised in Palestine and contained about 22 characters. This script then spread to Canaan, which is commonly referred to as Phoenicia, and then was lastly transformed to Ahiram inscription in 1000 B.C., into what the Phoenician alphabet is known as today.[6]
Effect
After the creation of the Phoenician alphabet, much of the spoken language of Phoenicia and surrounding areas was recorded. Oral tradition became written evidence for further generations to reference. The spread of a now richer culture to surrounding areas was also a result of this. The creation of the Phoenician alphabet then spread to Greece by means of commerce (See Greek Language article), leading to the formation of the Greek alphabet.[7]
[1] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 86.
[2] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 87.
[3] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 89.
[4] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Pages 89-90
[5] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 91.
[6] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 92.
[7] Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. 1988. Page 95.
Bibliography
I. Fenici, Giovanni Garbini. The Phoenicians. Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri. Abbeville Press. New
York. 1988: Pages 86-95