South Arabian alphabet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from South Semitic script)
Jump to: navigation, search
Epigraphic South Arabian
Type Abjad
Languages Ge'ez, Old South Arabian
Time period ca. 9th c. BC to 7th c. AD
Parent systems Proto-Sinaitic
Epigraphic South Arabian
Child systems Ge'ez
Sister systems Phoenician alphabet
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The ancient South Arabian alphabet (also known as musnad المُسند) branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in about the 9th century BC. It was used for writing the Yemeni Old South Arabic dialects of the Sabaean, Qatabanian, Hadrami, Minaean, Himyarite, and proto-Ge'ez (or proto-Ethiosemitic) in D`mt. The earliest inscriptions in the alphabet date to the 9th century BC in Akkele Guzay, Eritrea[1] and in the 8th century BC, found in Babylonia and in Yemen. Its mature form was reached around 500 BC, and its use continued until the 7th century AD, including Old North Arabian inscriptions in variants of the alphabet, when it was displaced by the Arabic alphabet. In Ethiopia it evolved later into the Ge'ez alphabet, which, with added symbols throughout the centuries, has been used to write Amharic, Tigrinya and Tigre, as well as other languages (including various Semitic, Cushitic, and Nilo-Saharan languages). A highly cursive zabur script—also known as "South Arabian Minuscules"[2]—was used by the ancient Yemenis to inscribe everyday documents on wooden sticks in addition to the rock-cut monumental musnad letters displayed below.

Contents

(epigraphic) Old South Arabian alphabet
Character
Transcription
IPA
h
[h]
l
[l]
ḥ
[ħ]
m
[m]
q
[q]
w
[w]
s2
[ɬ]
r
[r]
b
[b]
t
[t]
s1
[s]
k
[k]
n
[n]
ḫ
[x]
s3
[s̪]
f
[f]
ʾ
[ʔ]
ʿ
[ʕ]
ḍ
[ɬʼ]
g
[g]
d
[d]
ġ
[ɣ]
ṭ
[tʼ]
z
[z]
ḏ
[ð]
y
[j]
ṯ
[θ]
ṣ
[tˢʼ]
ẓ
[θʼ]
Other transcriptions ś,š š,s s,ś

  1. ^ Fattovich, Rodolfo, "Akkälä Guzay" in von Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. Encylopaedia Aethiopica: A-C. Weissbaden: Otto Harrassowitz KG, 2003, p.169.
  2. ^ Stein 2005.

  • Stein, Peter (2005). "The Ancient South Arabian Minuscule Inscriptions on Wood: A New Genre of Pre-Islamic Epigraphy". Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap “Ex Oriente Lux” 39: 181–199. 
  • Beeston, A.F.L. (1962). "Arabian Siblants". Journal of Semitic Studies 7: 222-233. 

  This Yemen-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
  This writing system-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Arabian_alphabet"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.