Development of the Greek alphabet based on a Phoenician model

Historical Context Essay

Alan Johnston (University College London)

Ed. by Laura Swift, The Open University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University)

Domains

Scripts

Dates

Date of occurrence c.-800

Places

Ancient Greece (Location)

The development of the Greek alphabet

This essay discusses the Greek alphabet from its origins to the period when it reaches a stage very much as that of the present-day sequence, thus encompassing the years in which the classical canon of Greek authors was originally set down, c.700-200 BC. The topic is not without disputed detail, not least at what point, and indeed in what media, such texts, especially in the early period, were written.

Origins and transfer

While there is no disagreement that what were termed “Phoenician letters” in Greek were a borrowing from the Levant, from Phoenicia or perhaps the Aramaic-speaking area to its north, the date of the …

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4026 words

Citation: Johnston, Alan. "Development of the Greek alphabet based on a Phoenician model". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 May 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=11132, accessed 05 May 2024.]

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