This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Writing systems, a WikiProject interested in improving the encyclopaedic coverage and content of articles relating to writing systems on Wikipedia. If you would like to help out, you are welcome to drop by the project page and/or leave a query at the project’s talk page.Writing systemsWikipedia:WikiProject Writing systemsTemplate:WikiProject Writing systemsWriting system articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Greece, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Greece on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GreeceWikipedia:WikiProject GreeceTemplate:WikiProject GreeceGreek articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Egypt, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Egypt on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.EgyptWikipedia:WikiProject EgyptTemplate:WikiProject EgyptEgypt articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Archaeology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Archaeology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ArchaeologyWikipedia:WikiProject ArchaeologyTemplate:WikiProject ArchaeologyArchaeology articles
Latest comment: 2 years ago3 comments3 people in discussion
Does anybody have information on why this abecedary has been linked to Greek in the first place? As far as I understand, its letter inventory is purely that of the original Phoenician (from aleph to taw), without the crucial and specifically Greek addition of upsilon. Since it's purely an abecedary (no actual words recorded), how can the linguistic background of its writers be known? Fut.Perf.☼00:46, 10 March 2012 (UTC)Reply
I had the same question. It's not mentioned is my sources for early Greek writing. Is it maybe just a good graphic match to early Greek? — kwami (talk) 05:07, 25 May 2012 (UTC)Reply
The shapes of the letters are the clue. The last letter of the Phoenician alphabet is taw, pronounced [t] and written by the Phoenicians as X. But the shape of the last letter on the Fayum tablets alphabet is not X but T, the Greek tau, pronounced [t]. Similarly, the sixth letter of the Phoenician alphabet is waw, pronounced [w] and written Y. But the sixth letter in the alphabet of the Fayum tablets is written as Ϝ, the Greek digamma, pronounced [w]. In short: although many of the letters on the tablets could be Phoenician or Greek (as you would expect since one was adapted from the other), the shape of a few letters point unequivocally to the alphabet being a Greek alphabet not a Phoenician one. Lloyd Bye (talk) 21:01, 27 April 2022 (UTC)Reply