Phoenician alphabet facts for kids

Each letter of Phoenician gave way to a new form in its daughter scripts. Left to right: Latin, Greek, Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic

The Phoenician alphabet was a very old way of writing. It was used by people called the Phoenicians. They lived in places that are now Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. This alphabet was used for a long time, from about 1200 BC to 500 BC. People wrote it from right to left. It only had letters for consonant sounds, like 'b' or 'm'. Sometimes, they used special "helpers" for some vowel sounds.

This alphabet was used to write languages like Phoenician and Aramaic. It grew out of an even older writing system called the Proto-Sinaitic script. Later, the Phoenician alphabet changed and became the Ancient Greek alphabet. Most of the alphabets we use today, including the one for English, came from the Phoenician alphabet. It's like the great-grandparent of many writing systems!

Before people used the modern Arabic numerals (like 1, 2, 3), the Arabic language used a system where each letter also stood for a number. This special system is called Abjad.

How the Alphabet Worked

The Phoenician alphabet was one of the first true alphabets. Unlike older systems that used pictures for whole words or syllables, the Phoenician alphabet had a symbol for each basic sound. This made writing much simpler and easier to learn. Because it was simpler, more people could learn to read and write. This was a big deal for trade and sharing ideas.

The Phoenicians were great sailors and traders. As they traveled around the Mediterranean Sea, they shared their writing system with many different cultures. This is why their alphabet had such a huge impact on the world.

Its Big Impact on Other Languages

The Phoenician alphabet was incredibly important because it led to many other alphabets.

The Greek Connection

The Ancient Greeks learned about the Phoenician alphabet. They made some changes to it. The biggest change was adding letters for vowel sounds. The original Phoenician alphabet only had consonants. By adding vowels, the Greeks created the first alphabet that looked a lot like the ones we use today.

Spreading Across the World

From the Greek alphabet, other alphabets developed. For example, the Latin alphabet, which is what English uses, came from the Greek alphabet. So, when you write, you are using a system that has roots all the way back to the Phoenicians! Many alphabets in the Middle East, like Hebrew and Arabic, also came from the Phoenician alphabet or its close relatives.

Images for kids

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  Seal inscribed in the Phoenician script (also known as Paleo-Hebrew)

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  Study of Phoenician medals, by Jean-Jacques Barthélemy

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  The Pococke Kition inscriptions, transcribed by Jean-Jacques Barthélemy. No. 1 is Pococke's No. 2 (KAI 35), and No. 3 is Pococke's No. 4. The other two are Hebrew transliterations of the same inscriptions.

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  Photograph of section of the Zayit Stone, 10th century BCE: (right-to-left) the letters waw, he, het, zayin, tet (𐤅𐤄𐤇𐤆𐤈)

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  Phoenician alphabet, deciphered by Jean-Jacques Barthélemy in 1758. No.1 is from the Cippi of Melqart, No.2 is from the coins, and No. 3 is from the Pococke Kition inscriptions.

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  A page from the Samaritan version of Leviticus

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  Southwest stele of Fonte Velha

See also

In Spanish: Alfabeto fenicio para niños