The Greek and Latin Signaries

Abstract

Abstract The study of writing systems in general, and of the histories of the Greek and Latin alphabets in particular, are matters for specialists. And although certain facts are pretty solidly established, for example that the ultimate origin of these alphabets is the Phoenician signary, there continues to be much discussion of the details. The dating of many inscriptions crucial to the debate is uncertain. Indeed, some long-standing views about relative dates are being questioned, such as the too-ready assumption that inscriptions using simpler signaries (lacking the supplementary characters, for example) are primitive prima facie, and therefore necessarily earlier than inscriptions in more elaborate signaries. Newly-discovered inscriptions have been challenging settled opinion about the age or route of diffusion of this or that detail. Those interested in a proper discussion of the histories of the amphimediterranean signaries should consult specialized treatments of these matters. THE PHOENICIAN-BASED ALPHABETS. The Greek alphabet is in reality a collection of similar signaries differing in such matters as their inventories of signs, the shapes of the letters, and even in the values of the letters. These differences are partly regional and partly chronological. The Latin alphabet-technically rather the Latin ABC, but the term alphabet is too well established to be dislodged by puristic qualms-belongs to a family of signaries known as Italic, which include the alphabets used to write Oscan, Umbrian, Etruscan, and most other Italic languages (17-8).