𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍𐤉𐤌

Phoenician

Afro-Asiatic (Northwest Semitic, Canaanite) · historical / hidden variety

FamilyAfro-Asiatic (Northwest Semitic, Canaanite) SpeakersExtinct (~1500 BCE-3rd c. CE) ScriptPhoenician alphabet (𐤀𐤁𐤂) CountriesPhoenicia (Lebanon, coastal Syria/Israel) + Mediterranean colonies Official inPhoenician city-states (Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, Carthage) Vitalityextinct ISO 639-3phn

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

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87 core words in Phoenician

Water

𐤌𐤌

meːm

Fire

𐤀𐤔

ʔeʃ

Sun

𐤔𐤌𐤔

ʃameʃ

Moon

𐤉𐤓𐤇

jaraħ

Star

𐤊𐤊𐤁

koːkab

Night

𐤋𐤋

lajl

Rain

𐤌𐤈𐤓

maˈtˤar

Wind

𐤓𐤇

riːħ

Earth

𐤀𐤓𐤑

ʔarsˤ

Stone

𐤀𐤁𐤍

ʔaben

Mountain

𐤄𐤓

har

Sea

𐤉𐤌

jamm

Mother

𐤀𐤌

ʔem

Father

𐤀𐤁

ʔab

Daughter

𐤁𐤕

bat

I

𐤀𐤍𐤊

ʔanoːkiː

You

𐤀𐤕

ʔatta

We

𐤀𐤍𐤇𐤍

ʔanaħnu

Name

𐤔𐤌

ʃem

Person

𐤀𐤃𐤌

ʔadam

Head

𐤓𐤀𐤔

ruːʃ

Eye

𐤏𐤍

ʕajin

Ear

𐤀𐤆𐤍

ʔuzn

Mouth

𐤐

peː

Tooth

𐤔𐤍

ʃen

Tongue

𐤋𐤔𐤍

laʃon

Hand

𐤉𐤃

jad

Foot

𐤐𐤏𐤌

paʕam

Heart

𐤋𐤁

lib

Bone

𐤏𐤑𐤌

ʕasˤm

Blood

𐤃𐤌

dam

Love

—

—

Tree

𐤏𐤑

ʕesˤ

Dog

𐤊𐤋𐤁

kalb

Cat

𐤔𐤍𐤓

ʃunaːr

Fish

𐤃𐤂

daɡ

Horse

𐤎𐤎

suːs

House

𐤁𐤕

beːt

Milk

𐤇𐤋𐤁

ħalab

Wine

𐤉𐤍

jeːn

Iron

𐤁𐤓𐤆𐤋

barzel

Wheel

𐤂𐤋𐤂𐤋

ɡalɡal

Eat

𐤀𐤊𐤋

ʔakal

Drink

𐤔𐤕

ʃat

One

𐤀𐤇𐤃

ʔeħad

Two

𐤔𐤍𐤌

ʃnem

Three

𐤔𐤋𐤔

ʃaloʃ

Four

𐤀𐤓𐤁𐤏

ʔarbaʕ

Five

𐤇𐤌𐤔

ħameʃ

Hundred

𐤌𐤀𐤕

miʔat

Hello

𐤔𐤋𐤌

ʃalom

Thank you

—

—

Good

𐤈𐤁

tˤob

Red

𐤀𐤃𐤌

ʔadom

White

𐤋𐤁𐤍

laban

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Afro-Asiatic (Northwest Semitic, Canaanite)

Meaning PhoenicianPunicUgariticProto-SemiticOld AramaicMishnaic HebrewBiblical Hebrew
Water 𐤌𐤌 /meːm/ 𐤌𐤌 /meːm/ 𐎎𐎊 /maju/ *māʔ- /māʔ/ מין /majin/ מים /majim/ מים /majim/
Fire 𐤀𐤔 /ʔeʃ/ 𐤀𐤔 /ʔeʃ/ 𐎛𐎌𐎚 /ʔiʃt/ *ʔiš- /ʔiš/ נור /nuːr/ אש /ʔeʃ/ אש /ʔeʃ/
Sun 𐤔𐤌𐤔 /ʃameʃ/ 𐤔𐤌𐤔 /ʃameʃ/ 𐎌𐎔𐎌 /ʃapʃ/ *šamš- /šamš/ שמש /ʃamʃ/ חמה /ħamːa/ שמש /ˈʃɛmɛʃ/
Moon 𐤉𐤓𐤇 /jaraħ/ 𐤉𐤓𐤇 /jeraħ/ 𐎊𐎗𐎈 /jaːriχ/ *warḫ- /warḫ/ שהר /sahr/ לבנה /levɑnɑ/ ירח /jɔːreːaħ/
Star 𐤊𐤊𐤁 /koːkab/ 𐤊𐤊𐤁 /koːkab/ 𐎋𐎁𐎋𐎁 /kabkabu/ *kawkab- /kawkab/ כוכב /kawkab/ כּוֹכָב /koˈxav/ כּוֹכָב /koːˈxaːv/
Night 𐤋𐤋 /lajl/ 𐤋𐤋 /lajl/ 𐎍𐎍 /lajlu/ *layl- /lajl/ לליא /leːljaː/ לילה /ˈlajla/ לילה /ˈlajlaː/
Rain 𐤌𐤈𐤓 /maˈtˤar/ 𐤌𐤈𐤓 /maˈtˤar/ 𐎎𐎉𐎗 /maːˈtˤaru/ *maṭar- /maṭar/ 𐡌𐡈𐡓 /maːtˤar/ גשם /ˈɡeʃem/ גשם /ˈɡeːʃem/
Wind 𐤓𐤇 /riːħ/ 𐤓𐤅𐤇 /ruːħ/ 𐎗𐎈 /riːħu/ *rīḥ- /riːħ/ 𐡓𐡅𐡇 /riːħ/ רוח /ˈruaħ/ רוח /ˈruːaħ/
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