Shaping the Pamphylian alphabet: the puzzle of the two digammas

Abstract

Abstract The origins and development of the Pamphylian alphabet and its relations with the other Greek alphabetic traditions have so far remained obscure. This study aims at elucidating the feature that, more than any other, has resisted a safe interpretation: the coexistence, without parallels in the Greek world, of at least two graphemes, namely <Ͷ> and <Ϝ>, representing the posterior approximant. To unravel the intricacy, we adopt a novel perspective, namely the ‘corpus doctrinae theory’, in order to address potential biases arisen from structuralist approaches. Preliminarily, we argue, on the basis of the distribution of the two graphemes, that such a cohabitation cannot always be explained by phonetic reasons. Therefore, we discuss the selection of <Ͷ> and <Ϝ> in the broader frame of the formation and transmission of the Greek alphabets, showing that Pamphylian did not stem from a single matrix-script, but rather goes back to the NE Peloponnesian corpus doctrinae. Such a filiation explains the origins of <Ͷ>, as both its paleography and phonetic value show that it is an adaptation of the Corinthian- type <B>.