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2023-05-06 15:34 dustin  
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this is now really the final cave of the series, and i thought i could make something special out of it:  
  
||| write your name with phoenician letters! |||  
  
the following assumes that your language is written with latin letters.  
  
of course, you could just replace each letter of your name by the historic phoenician equivalent. however, it makes sense to distinguish between historic and phonetic equivalents here, and there are quite some differences because, as we saw in the series, some sound values have considerably changed as the letters made their ways from phoenician to latin through various other languages!  
  
to write your name in phoenician, the basic steps are quite simple:  
\ write down your name and remove all vowels (remember that the phoenicians did not write vowels!)  
\seperate the consonants into single sounds. for example: if your name contains an "x" which is spoken [ks], then seperate it into [k] + [s].   
\ for each consonant sound, find the phoenician letter according to the table below. if you don't find an equivalent for a specific sound, then try to find a close sound in the table!  
\ finally reverse the writing direction (the phoenicians wrote from right to left!)  
  
transcription table:  
first of all, here's the phoenician alphabet:  
<a href="https://boulderdash.krissz.hu/images/caves/WZS9m3zNBfxa.png?type=20230421133746" target="external">https://boulderdash.krissz.hu/images/caves/WZS9m3zNBfxa.png?type=20230421133746</a>  
! note that every row is written from right to left !  
the equivalent latin letters/ digraphs given in this table  are based on english pronounciation.  
top row:  
1. alep = "glottal stop" (see below!)  
2. bet = "b", "v"  
3. giml = "g" (before a, o, u, for example in "game")  
4. dalet = "d", soft "th" (for example, in "the")  
5. he = "h"  
6. waw = "w"  
7. zayin = "z"  
8. het = spanish "j" sound  
middle row:  
9. tet = hard "th" (for example, "thing"  
10. yod = "y" at the beginning of a word ("yes")  
11. kap = "k" = "c" (before a, o, u)  
12. lamed = "l"  
13. mem = "m"  
14. nun = "n"  
15. samek = "s"  
bottom row:  
16. 'ayin  
17. pe = "p", "f"  
18. sade = "ts" double sound  
18. qop = "q"  
19. resh = "r"  
20. shin = "sh"  
21. taw = "t"  
  
for my name, everything is quite simple indeed:  
  
\ write without vowels: dstn  
\ seperate into single sounds: d s t n  
\ phoenician equivalents: dalet samek taw nun  
\ reverse direction: nun taw samek dalet  
result: see the cave map! :d  
  
a kind of special case is the so-called "glottal stop", represented by the first phoenician letter "alep". this sound is still used in many languages today, but often without using a letter for it, so native speakers often don't notice that they actually make that sound! for example, the glottal stop is a big part of german spoken language, but i didn't know until i read about it! :d  
  
the glottal stop might be relevant for your name in the following two cases:  
\ your name starts with a vowel.  
\ your name contains a double vowel which is spoken with a short break between the two vowels.  
  
here's the wikipedia article on the glottal stop sound:  
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/glottal_stop" target="external">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/glottal_stop</a>  
in the audio sample, the speaker makes a glottal stop at the beginning and two in the middle. the article also contains a list of examples for the glottal stop sound in different languages.  
  
so if your name does contain a glottal stop sound, even if your language doesn't use an extra letter for it, then the phoenician equivalent would be the letter "alep".  
  
\\\ phoenician sounds and letters \\\  
finally, here comes a more detailed list of all phoenician sounds. almost all of the sounds can be found and heard in the consonant chart on wikipedia:  
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_pulmonic_consonant_chart_with_audio" target="external">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_pulmonic_consonant_chart_with_audio</a>  
"ipa" stands for "international phonetic alphabet", where every sound of every international language has one specific letter/symbol.  
  
top row from right to left (!) (referring to the far above link to the phoenician alphabet):  
  
1. alep  
spoken like: "glottal stop" (see above)  
sound name: glottal stop/plosive  
ipa symbol: like [?] but without the dot  
english example: "uh-oh" (the glottal stop sound occurs at the beginning and in the middle)  
there are no real english words with the glottal stop!  
  
2. bet  
spoken like: english "b"  
sound name: voiced bilabial plosive/stop  
ipa symbol: [b]  
english example: "boulder"  
related sound: [v] as in "voodoo" (voiced labiodental fricative)  
  
3. giml  
spoken like: english "g" before back vowels  
sound name: voiced velar plosive/stop  
ipa symbol: [g]  
english example: "game"  
  
4. dalet  
spoken like: english "d"  
sound name: voiced alveolar plosive/stop  
ipa symbol: [d]  
english example: "diamond"  
related sound: soft [th] as in "the" (voiced dental fricative)  
  
5. he  
spoken like: english "h"  
sound name: voiceless glottal fricative  
ipa symbol: [h]  
english example: "house"                               
  
6. waw  
spoken like: english "w"  
sound name: voiced labial-velar approximant  
ipa symbol: [w]  
english example: "wall"  
  
7. zayin  
spoken like: english "z"  
sound name: voiced alveolar fricative  
ipa symbol: [z]  
english example: "zero"  
  
8. het  
spoken like: pharyngealized "h"  
sound name: voiceless pharyngeal fricative  
ipa symbol: a (lowercase) [h] with an extra stroke  
english example: --- (semitic sound)  
in general, pharyngealized sounds are characteristic for semitic languages; more examples will follow!  
related sound: spanish [j] as in "don quijote"  
  
middle row from right to left (!):  
  
9. tet  
spoken like: pharangealized "t"  
sound name: voiceless pharyngealized alveolar plosive/stop  
ipa symbol: [t] with an extra pharyngealization symbol (a reverse "?" without the dot)  
english example: --- (pharyngealized sounds are characteristic for semitic languages)  
remark: you can't find this sound in the consonant chart linked above because it's technically not a "pure" single sound. here's a youtube video with the audio:  
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SHTiDKHO8U" target="external">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SHTiDKHO8U</a>  
related sound: hard [th] as in "thing" (voiceless dental fricative)  
  
10. yod  
spoken like: english "y" at the beginning of a word  
sound name: voiced palatal approximant  
ipa symbol: [j]  
english example: "yes"  
  
11.kap  
spoken like: english "c" before back vowels, or english "k" or "q"  
sound name: voiceless velar plosive/stop  
ipa symbol: [k]  
english example: "king"  
  
12. lamed  
spoken like: english "l"  
sound name: alveolar lateral approximant  
ipa symbol: [l]  
english example: "loop"  
  
13.mem  
spoken like: english "m"  
sound name: voiced bilabial nasal  
ipa symbol: [m]  
english example: "magic wall"  
  
14. nun  
spoken like: english "n"  
sound name: alveolar nasal  
ipa sound: [n]  
english example: "no"  
  
15. samek  
spoken like: english "s"  
sound name: voiceless alveolar sibilant  
ipa symbol: [s]  
english example: "slime"  
  
bottom row from right to left (!):  
  
16. 'ayin  
spoken like: pharyngealized, voiced "h"  
sound name: voiced pharyngeal fricative  
ipa symbol: a reverse [?] without the dot  
english example: --- (characteristic semitic sound)  
  
17. pe  
spoken like: english "p"  
sound name: voiceless bilabial plosive/stop  
ipa symbol: [p]  
english example: "peter liepa"  
related sound: [f] as in "firefly" (voiceless labiodental fricative)  
  
18. sade  
spoken like: pharyngealized "s"  
sound name: voiceless pharangealized alveolar sibilant fricative  
ipa symbol: [s] with an extra pharyngealization symbol (reverse "?" without the dot)  
english example: --- (pharyngealization is typical for semitic languages)  
related (double) sound: [ts] as german "z" is spoken  
  
19. qop  
spoken like: similar to english "q" but the sound is produced deeper behind in the throat  
sound name: voiceless uvular plosive  
ipa symbol: [q]  
english example: similar to "queen"  
  
20. resh  
sounds like: the rolling "r"  
sound name: voiced alveolar trill  
ipa symbol: [r]  
english example: --- (in english, the "r" isn't rolling at all!)  
related sounds: all kinds of different "r" sounds!  
  
21. shin  
spoken like: english "sh"  
sound name: voiceless postalveolar sibilant fricative  
ipa symbol: a stretched [s] like the mathematical integration symbol  
english example: "dash"  
  
22. taw  
spoken like: english "t"  
sound name: voiceless alveolar plosive/stop  
ipa symbol: [t]  
english example: "titanium wall"  
  
it was big fun to make the series and write all those comments on each letter! it also motivated me to do the research at all, and i'm quite happy how much i've learned about the alphabet myself :d i intend to make a similar series sometime not too far in the future - what could that one be about...?! :d  
  
cave difficulty: 2/10