As we know, the Greek alphabet comes from the Phoenician one. However, what many don’t know is that, the names of the majority of the Greek alphabet’s letters also come from their Phoenician counterparts. Those names in Phoenician are regular words, whereas in Greek we see them as just letter names without a particular meaning.
| Letter & IPA Pronunciation (P) | Letter & IPA Pronunciation (AG) | Name (P) | Name (AG) | IPA Name Pronunucation (AG) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𐤀 [ʔ] | Α [a] | ʾālep (ox) | ἄλφα | [álpʰa] |
| 𐤁 [b] | Β [b] | bēt (house) | βῆτα | [bɛ̂ːta] |
| 𐤂 [g] | Γ [g] | gīml (camel) | γάμμα | [gámma] |
| 𐤃 [d] | Δ [d] | dālet (door) | δέλτα | [délta] |
| 𐤄 [h] | Ε [e] | he (window) | ἓ ψιλόν | [è psilón] |
| 𐤅 [w] | Ϝ [w] | wāw (hook) | δίγαμμα | [dígamma] |
| 𐤆 [z] | Ζ [zd] | zayin (weapon) | ζῆτα | [zdɛ̂ːta] |
| 𐤇 [ħ] | Η [ɛː] | ḥēt (wall) | ἦτα | [ɛ̂ːta] |
| 𐤈 [tˤ] | Θ [tʰ] | ṭēt (wheel) | θῆτα | [tʰɛ̂ːta] |
| 𐤉 [j] | Ι [i] | yod (arm) | ἰῶτα | [iɔ̂ːta] |
| 𐤊 [k] | Κ [k] | kāp (palm of a hand) | κάππα | [káppa] |
| 𐤋 [l] | Λ [l] | lāmed (goad) | λάβδα | [lábda] |
| 𐤌 [m] | Μ [m] | mēm (water) | μῦ | [mŷː] |
| 𐤍 [n] | Ν [n] | nūn (serpent) | νῦ | [nŷː] |
| 𐤎 [s] | Ξ [ks] | śāmek (fish) | ξεῖ | [ksêː] |
| 𐤏 [ʕ] | Ο [o] | ʿayin (eye) | ὂ μικρόν | [ò mikrón] |
| 𐤐 [p] | Π [p] | pē (mouth) | πεῖ | [pêː] |
| 𐤑 [sˤ] | Ϻ [s] | ṣādē (papyrus plant) | σάν | [sán] |
| 𐤒 [q] | Ϙ [k] | qōp (needle eye) | κόππα | [kóppa] |
| 𐤓 [r] | Ρ [r] | reš (head) | ῥῶ | [r̥ɔ̂ː] |
| 𐤔 [ʃ] | Σ [s] | šīn (tooth) | σῖγμα | [sîːŋma] |
| 𐤕 [t] | Τ [t] | tāw (mark) | ταῦ | [tâu̯] |
| Υ [y] | ὖ ψιλόν | [ŷː psilón] | ||
| Φ [pʰ] | φεῖ | [pʰêː] | ||
| Χ [kʰ] | χεῖ | [kʰêː] | ||
| Ψ [ps] | ψεῖ | [psêː] | ||
| Ω [ɔː] | ὦ μέγα | [ɔ̂ː méga] |
Notes
A few main differences between the Ancient Greek and Phoenician alphabets are the following:
- The letters Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, Ω are additions to the Greek alphabet and do not have Phoenician equivalents.
- For the Phoenician letters that correspond to sounds not present in Ancient
Greek, the Greeks converted them to represent vowels, which the Phoenicians
did not write in the first place. In particular:
- 𐤀 (/ʔ/) → Α (/a/)
- 𐤄 (/h/) → Ε (/e/). A similar sound to /h/, however, did exist in Ancient Greek and is represented with the rough breathing symbol (e.g., ἁ → /ha/).
- 𐤇 (/ħ/) → Η (/ε:/)
- 𐤉 (/j/) → Ι (/i/)
- 𐤏 (/ʕ/) → Ο (/o/)
Sources
- Χριστίδης, Αναστάσιος-Φοίβος — Ιστορία της αρχαίας ελληνικής γλώσσας
- Waal, Willemijn — On The “Phoenician Letters”
- Phoenician Encyclopedia — Table of Phoenician Alphabet
- Wiktionary — Greek Letter Names