Loading AI tools
The Phrygian alphabet is the script used in the earliest Phrygian texts.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2022) |
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 were written from right to left ("sinistroverse").[2] In multi-line inscriptions there is usually a spelling of boustrophedon (a few dozen inscriptions).[3][4]
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 |
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
