𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍𐤉𐤌
Phoenician
Afro-Asiatic (Northwest Semitic, Canaanite) · historical / hidden variety
Phoenician was the Northwest Semitic language of the Phoenician city-states from c. 1500 BCE. The 22-letter Phoenician alphabet is the direct or indirect ancestor of nearly all modern alphabets — Greek, Latin, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and South Asian Brahmic scripts. Punic was its late variant in Carthage.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Phoenician
Water
𐤌𐤌
/majim/
Fire
𐤀𐤔
/ʔeʃ/
Sun
𐤔𐤌𐤔
/ʃameʃ/
Moon
𐤉𐤓𐤇
/jaræħ/
Mother
𐤀𐤌
/ʔem/
Father
𐤀𐤁
/ʔab/
Eat
𐤀𐤊𐤋
/ʔakal/
Drink
𐤔𐤕
/ʃat/
Love
𐤀𐤇𐤁
/ʔaheb/
Heart
𐤋𐤁
/lib/
Tree
𐤏𐤑
/ʕesˤ/
House
𐤁𐤕
/bajit/
Dog
𐤊𐤋𐤁
/kalb/
Cat
𐤔𐤍𐤓
/ʃunaːr/
Hand
𐤉𐤃
/jad/
Eye
𐤏𐤍
/ʕajin/
Hello
𐤔𐤋𐤌
/ʃalom/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
𐤀𐤇𐤃
/ʔeħad/
Good
𐤈𐤁
/tˤob/
Sources
- Krahmalkov (2001) — A Phoenician-Punic Grammar
- Glottolog: phoe1239
Words compared
Compared with related Afro-Asiatic (Northwest Semitic, Canaanite) languages
| Meaning | Phoenician | Punic | Old Aramaic | Ugaritic | Sabaean | Mishnaic Hebrew | Biblical Hebrew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 𐤌𐤌 /majim/ | 𐤌𐤉𐤌 /majim/ | מין /majin/ | 𐎎𐎊 /maju/ | 𐩣𐩺 /maːʔ/ | מים /majim/ | מים /majim/ |
| Fire | 𐤀𐤔 /ʔeʃ/ | 𐤀𐤔 /ʔeʃ/ | אש /ʔɛʃ/ | 𐎛𐎌𐎚 /ʔiʃt/ | 𐩱𐩪 /ʔas/ | אש /ʔeʃ/ | אש /ʔeʃ/ |
| Sun | 𐤔𐤌𐤔 /ʃameʃ/ | 𐤔𐤌𐤔 /ʃameʃ/ | שמש /ʃamʃ/ | 𐎌𐎔𐎌 /ʃapʃ/ | 𐩦𐩣𐩪 /ʃams/ | חמה /ħamːa/ | שמש /ʃemeʃ/ |
| Moon | 𐤉𐤓𐤇 /jaræħ/ | 𐤉𐤓𐤇 /jeraħ/ | שהר /sahr/ | 𐎊𐎗𐎈 /jaːriχ/ | 𐩥𐩧𐩭 /warkʰ/ | לבנה /levɑnɑ/ | ירח /jɔːreːaħ/ |
| Mother | 𐤀𐤌 /ʔem/ | 𐤀𐤌 /ʔem/ | אמ /ʔem/ | 𐎜𐎎 /ʔumm/ | 𐩱𐩣 /ʔumm/ | אם /ʔem/ | אם /ʔeːm/ |
| Father | 𐤀𐤁 /ʔab/ | 𐤀𐤁 /ʔav/ | אב /ʔab/ | 𐎜𐎁 /ʔabu/ | 𐩱𐩨 /ʔab/ | אב /ʔɑv/ | אב /ʔɔːv/ |
| Eat | 𐤀𐤊𐤋 /ʔakal/ | 𐤀𐤊𐤋 /ʔakal/ | אכל /ʔakal/ | 𐎍𐎈𐎎 /laħam/ | 𐩱𐩫𐩡 /ʔakal/ | אוכל /ʔoχel/ | אכל /ʔɔːxal/ |
| Drink | 𐤔𐤕 /ʃat/ | 𐤔𐤕 /ʃat/ | שתה /ʃataː/ | 𐎌𐎚𐎊 /ʃataju/ | 𐩪𐩩𐩺 /ʃataja/ | שותה /ʃote/ | שתה /ʃɔːθɔː/ |
| Love | 𐤀𐤇𐤁 /ʔaheb/ | 𐤀𐤇𐤁 /ʔaheb/ | רחם /raħem/ | 𐎜𐎈𐎁 /ʔaːhab/ | 𐩥𐩵𐩵 /wadda/ | אהבה /ʔɑhɑvɑ/ | אהב /ʔɔːhav/ |
| Heart | 𐤋𐤁 /lib/ | 𐤋𐤁 /lib/ | לב /leb/ | 𐎍𐎁 /libbu/ | 𐩡𐩨 /lubb/ | לב /lev/ | לב /leːv/ |
| Tree | 𐤏𐤑 /ʕesˤ/ | 𐤏𐤑 /ʕeʦʕ/ | עץ /ʕeːsˤ/ | 𐎓𐎕 /ʕasˤu/ | 𐩲𐩳 /ʕaːð/ | אילן /ʔilɑn/ | עץ /ʕeːsˤ/ |
| House | 𐤁𐤕 /bajit/ | 𐤁𐤕 /bajit/ | בית /beːt/ | 𐎁𐎚 /bajtu/ | 𐩨𐩺𐩩 /bajt/ | בית /bajit/ | בית /bajiθ/ |
| Dog | 𐤊𐤋𐤁 /kalb/ | 𐤊𐤋𐤁 /kalb/ | כלב /kalb/ | 𐎋𐎍𐎁 /kalbu/ | 𐩫𐩡𐩨 /kalb/ | כלב /kelev/ | כלב /kelev/ |
| Cat | 𐤔𐤍𐤓 /ʃunaːr/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | חתול /ħɑtul/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | 𐤉𐤃 /jad/ | 𐤉𐤃 /jad/ | יד /jad/ | 𐎊𐎄 /jadu/ | 𐩺𐩵 /jad/ | יד /jɑd/ | יד /jɔːð/ |
| Eye | 𐤏𐤍 /ʕajin/ | 𐤏𐤍 /ʕajin/ | עין /ʕajn/ | 𐎓𐎐 /ʕajnu/ | 𐩲𐩺𐩬 /ʕajn/ | עין /ʕajin/ | עין /ʕajin/ |
| Hello | 𐤔𐤋𐤌 /ʃalom/ | 𐤔𐤋𐤌 /ʃalom/ | שלם /ʃəlaːm/ | 𐎌𐎍𐎎 /ʃalaːmu/ | 𐩪𐩡𐩣 /salaːm/ | שלום /ʃɑlom/ | שלום /ʃɔːloːm/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐩢𐩣𐩵 /ħamad/ | תודה /todɑ/ | תודה /toːðɔː/ |
| One | 𐤀𐤇𐤃 /ʔeħad/ | 𐤀𐤇𐤃 /ʔeħad/ | חד /ħad/ | 𐎀𐎈𐎄 /ʔaːħadu/ | 𐩱𐩢𐩵 /ʔaħad/ | אחד /ʔeħɑd/ | אחד /ʔeħɔːð/ |
| Good | 𐤈𐤁 /tˤob/ | 𐤈𐤁 /tˤob/ | טב /tˤab/ | 𐎉𐎁 /tˤaːbu/ | 𐩷𐩨 /tˤajjib/ | טוב /tov/ | טוב /tˤoːv/ |
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