Table of the Phoenician Alphabet
Names of Characters, Phonetics, Derivatives and Modern Equivalents
| Phoenician | Latin (passed via Etruscans to Roman Alphabet) | ||||
| Sign | Names in Phoenician, Arabic & Hebrew | Meaning | Phone | Latin | History |
 |
Aleph | Ox | A laryngeal consonent |
A | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent alryngeal consonant (‘), or glotal stop. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed its form, changed its name to Alpha and made the sign stand for the vowel A. |
 |
Beth, Bait | House | B consonant |
B | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent b consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and inverted/reversed its form, changed its name to Beta and made the sign stand for the consonant B. |
 |
Gimel, Gamel | Camel | G consonant |
C, G |
Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent g consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/curved its form, changed its name to Gamma and made the sign stand for the consonant G. |
 |
Daleth, Dal | Door | D consonant |
D | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent d consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/curved its form, changed its name to Delta and made the sign stand for the consonant D. |
 |
He | Window | H consonant |
E | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent h consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed its form, changed its name to Epsilon and made the sign stand for the vowel E. |
 |
Waw | Hook | W semi- consonant |
F | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent w semi- consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/altered its form, changed its name to Digamma and made the sign stand for the semi- consonant W. |
 |
Heth, Hait | Wall | H laryngeal consonent |
H | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent h laryngeal consonent. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and removed the upper and lower bars, changed its name to Eta and made the sign stand for the consonant H. |
 |
Yodh, Yad | Hand | Y semi- consonant |
I,J | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent y semi- consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and removed its bars, changed its name to Iota and made the sign stand for the vowel I. |
 |
Kaph | Hand | K consonant |
K | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent k consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/altered its form, changed its name to Kappa and made the sign stand for the consonant K. |
 |
Lamedh, Lam | Goad | L consonant |
L | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent l consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/altered its form, changed its name to Lamda and made the sign stand for the consonant L. |
 |
Mem, Mai | Water | M consonant |
M | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent m consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician andreversed/curved its form, changed its name to M???? and made the sign stand for the consonant M. |
 |
Nun | Snake | N consonant |
N | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent n consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/curved its form, changed its name to Nu and made the sign stand for the consonant N. |
 |
Ayin | Eye | 3 laryngeal consonant |
O | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent 3 laryngeal consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician but had no use for its sound in Indo-European. They called Omikron and made the sign stand for the vowel short O. |
 |
Pe | Mouth | P consonant |
P | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent g consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/curved its form, changed its name to Pi and made the sign stand for the consonant P. |
 |
Qoph | Monkey | Q voiceless velar |
Q | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent q voiceless velar. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and altered its form, changed its name to qoppa and but had no use for its sound in Indo-European so they used it for the sound K. |
 |
Resh, Ras | Head | R consonant |
R | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent r consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/altered its form, changed its name to Rho and made the sign stand for the consonant R. |
 |
Sin | Tooth | Sh consonant |
S | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent sh consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and reversed/curved its form, changed its name to Sigma and made the sign stand for the consonant S. |
 |
Taw, Tah | Mark | T consonant |
T | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent t consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and slightly altered its form, changed its name to Tau and made the sign stand for the consonant T. |
 |
Waw | Hook | W semi- consonant |
UV W | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent w semi- consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and altered its form, changed its name to Upsilon and made the sign stand for the vowel bare U. |
 |
Samekh, Sheen | Fish | S consonant |
X | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent s consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician and altered its form, changed its name to Xi and made the sign stand for the consonant X. |
 |
Zayin | Sword | Z consonant |
Z | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent z consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician as is, changed its name to Zeta and made the sign stand for the consonant Z. |
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Tet | Wheel | Heavy T | – | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent heavy T consonant. |
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Tsade | Hunt | Heavy S | – | Around 1700 B.C. this letter was used to represent heavy S consonant. After 900 B.C. the Greeks borrowed the sign from Phoenician as as a mathematical character sampi. |
