The inscription on Midas Monument, Phrygian Valley in Eskişehir (Turkey) Part I – ΜΙΔΑΙ

As already presented, the Midas Monument is a high rock-cut relief in the shape of a pedimented temple front that lies on the cliff side of the citadel of the ancient Phrygian city of Mida (Yazılıkaya in Turkish), province of Eskişehir in northwest nowadays Turkey.

The monument bears a dedication on the upper left hand side in Old Phrygian by Ates, son of Arkias, that has “ΜΙΔΑΙ ΛΑFΑΓΤAEI FΑΝAKTEI ΕΔΑΕΣ” to the effect of ‘Midai (She of Mida, Cybele) overlord and leader of people dwells/is present here,’ likely fashioned in the late eighth century BC.

It was initially erroneously taken for King Midas’s tomb, hence its name, due to the presence of the name ‘Midai’ in the above mentioned inscription, yet the latter eventually turned out to be yet another epithet of Phrygian supreme goddess Cybele, apparently as patron and protector of the city.

For that matter, the site served as a sanctuary of Cybele herself where a statue of the goddess would be placed in the entrance-shaped niche at the bottom of the monument, potentially representing a ‘spiritual doorway,’ during rituals or ceremonies.

So let’s probe into this inscription breaking it down part by part.

ΜΙΔΑΙ

To begin with, I am very confident that the city of Mida followed the same naming pattern as other ancient cities that lay under the aegis of Cybele whether Mycenaean and later Achaean, such as Athenai (Athens) and Thebai (Thebes), or also very likely other Phrygian counterparts, such as Kolossai or Kelainai, to the effect of ‘Midai.’

Along these lines, Cybele herself would take up the name of each city that evoked her as a protector by means of an epithet in a form that would spell ‘She/The Lady of (name of the city).’

Thereby Cybele carried the epithet ‘Αθηνή’ (Atḗnē), spelling ‘She/Lady of Athens,’ ‘Θηβή’ (Tḗbē), meaning ‘She/Lady of Thebes,’ or ‘Μυκηνή’ (Mukḗnē), meaning ‘She/Lady of Mycenae,’ as an instance.

The reasoning behind the plural names of ancient cities is far from clear but, looking at the form ‘Midai’ (Cybele) for Mida in the inscription in discussion, I am beginning to speculate that the suffix ‘-ai,’ voiced as ‘a-i’ (very similar in both sound and function to later Latin ‘-ae’), may have not had a plural function initially but rather shaped a feminine possessive form of the name referred to.

The above argument can be supported by Phrygian male patronyms such as ‘ΑΡΚΙΕϝΑΙΣ,’ meaning ‘son of ΑΡΚΙΑΣ,’ where the respective suffix ‘-ais’ (voiced as ‘a-i-s’) comes at the end of the possessive adjective, corresponding to the female ‘-ai’ above.

Therefore, the name ‘ΜΙΔΑΙ’ in the inscription most certainly shapes a feminine possessive form spelling ‘She/Lady of Mida’ in this case. By implication, ‘ΑΘΗΝΗ’ (Atḗnē) would have been ‘ΑΤΕΝΑΙ/ΑΘΗΝΑΙ’⁽¹⁾ and ‘ΘΗΒΗ’ (Tḗbē) would have been ‘ΤΕΒΑΙ/ΘΗΒΑΙ’⁽¹⁾ respectively as epithets of Cybele in earlier stages.

As the letter ‘H’⁽²⁾ with a similar sound (long ‘e’) came along, as well as other developments, the use of the suffix ‘-ai’ could then have been likely gradually delegated to eventually help form plural feminine nouns later.

Many modern historians suggest that there were sisterhoods of priestesses devoted to Cybele⁽³⁾ bearing her epithet, such as ‘Athenai’ or ‘Thebai,’ in the respective cities which may have eventually influenced such a switch in function into plural of the suffix ‘-ai’ with female names.

Therefore, ancient cities under the aegis of Cybele seem to have eventually ended up carrying the respective (plural) name of the sisterhood of priestesses dedicated to her therein.

****************************************************************************************************

(1) Same pronunciation as ‘Atena-‘i’ and ‘Teba-‘i’ respectively.

(2) Eventually, ‘H’ supplanted ‘ai’ as suffix in feminine possessive forms in tongues/dialects such as Phrygian and Ionian (which carries a profound Phrygian platform).

(3) More precisely, modern historians say that it is the very same goddess in all those ancient cities, which adds up.

Cybele is clearly the protectress of Athens and most likely Thebes, venerated as principal goddess, so it follows that she would have been of Mycenae as well.

Zeus is a Phrygian name (epithet)

As I have maintained time and again, the name ‘Zeus’ does not constitute a theonym (a god’s proper name) nor is equivalent to a specific god but an epithet and a title applied to the respective king god in a polytheistic system or over a geographical area in ancient times.

In ancient societies, either out of respect or fear or social demand (or a combination thereof), people would evade to invoke a god or goddess directly by one’s name and employ instead an honorary epithet or title that conveyed a specific trait of one.

The hand of Sabazios

Phrygian Sabazios

‘Zeus’ (ΖΕΥΣ, ‘mighty,’ ‘ heavenly,’ ‘divine’) shapes a variation of ‘Deus’ (ΔΕΥΣ) deriving both on Proto-Indo-European ‘Dyēus’ (sky god) that I long speculated that it emerges in the Phrygian language probing the name of Phrygian god Sabazios.

Sabazios (ΣΑΒΑΖΙΟΣ, voiced as ‘savazios’ in Common/Koine) was pronounced as ‘sabazdios’ in Phrygian, the same way as in the later Hellenic tongues, and is the Zeus that was venerated in Athens, among others, as I have said again.

Furthermore, he is the real god of wine that was venerated widely across the Aegean, Anatolia (Minor Asia) and a large part of the Balkans and not Dionysus, which is also a title and not a theonym, for whom he is erroneously confused.

For that matter, his name breaks down as ‘Saba-‘⁽¹⁾, a product (syrup) made from grape must in wine-making (used as a word in the very same manner by the Hellenes) and the second component ‘-zdios’ spelling ‘(king) god’ in a genitive form.

I have to add here that Dionysus (voiced as ‘Dionusos’ by the Hellenes) actually originates in the also Phrygian ‘ΔΙΟΝΣΙΝ’ (pronounced as ‘diunsin,’ which appears in the form ‘ΔΙΟΥΝΣΙΝ’ in neo-Phrygian).

Now, for ‘Sabazdios’ (Sabazios) to bear as second component the form ‘-zdios’ (zios) in genitive that means that in the nominative the latter would be either ‘Zdeus’ (Zeus) or ‘Zdis’ (Zis), as the second appears as a principal deity among the Thracians who show substantial influences by the Phrygians religionwise.

And the evidence that it is the former (‘zdeus,’ Zeus) arrived when I first stumbled on the Phrygian deity Ma Zeus and about a couple of weeks later on the also Phrygian god Ti Zeus.

The above mentioned appear in that form in Phrygian inscriptions, by means of further evidence, as well as other ancient and early medieval sources while the use of ‘Zeus’ clearly spells that it is an epithet/title and not a theonym (proper name of a god).

Ti Zeus and Ma Zeus

Ti Zeus (ΤΙ ΖΕΥΣ) is a storm/weather sky god that actually proves to be none else than the Olympian Zeus we are taught about while he is also associated with further Phrygian god Bas (ΒΑΣ, ‘bas,’ most likely bearing the sense of ‘guardian’) even though the latter may as well shape simply yet another epithet of the former.

As regards Ma Zeus, I personally reckon that it is not lunar god Mas (ΜΑΣ) or Men (ΜΗΝ, pronounced as ‘men’) as widely thought around as he doesn’t seem to be a king god, bearing actually the epithet ‘ΔΕΥΣ/ΔΕΣ’ (god) instead, but regards supreme Phrygian goddess Cybele (pronounced as ‘kubele’), who seems to have also carried the name ‘Ma’ as mother (of all gods).

Which, in turn, means that ‘Zeus’ wasn’t employed only for gods but for goddesses as well⁽²⁾. Albeit a section of (modern) historians regard that Ma was a different goddess as she was venerated under that name in Cappadocia, the truth is that, as it often happens, that she is apparently none else than Cybele again worshipped under that appellation with some additional traits suited to the fabric of the region.

On top of that, the argument that Ma is also a war goddess gets balanced out by Cybele being often portrayed on a chariot drawn by lions carrying a bird of prey while escorted by Nike which demonstrate that she bore herself profound elements of a warlike goddess.

After all, for her to be protectress of the very city-state of Athens, among many others, she ought to have carried this aspect – and as it turns out ‘Athena’ wasn’t a name of a goddess but epithet of Cybele herself as protectress of the city (more in a forthcoming special post)!

Let there be noted that Zeus was pronounced as ‘zdeus’ both in Phrygian, where it also appears later in the form ‘Zes’ (ΖΕΣ), and the Hellenic dialects that are much later. Accordingly, Deus (ΔΕΥΣ, ‘god’) is also an epithet, further presenting the form Des (ΔΕΣ), that originates in the Phrygian language as well.

The Phrygian structure

It is of particular interest the form and structure of the names of Phrygian gods as the epithet/title always follows the theonym which evokes the word order in French (e.g., voiture noir).

Actually, there could be a link between the Franks (nowadays French) and the Phrygian, even though modern historians are quick to dismiss that, as I keep stumbling on pieces of potential evidence that suggest it.

Among others, it comes particularly intriguing, to me at least, that for instance there appears the word ‘ΓΑΛΛΟΙ’ in the Phrygian language, probably pronounced as ‘Galloj’⁽³⁾ quite reminiscent of ‘Gaulois(e)’), which was the name of the priests of Cybele.

Finally, as an aside, let me add that the word ‘μήνας’ (minas, ‘month) in modern Greek comes from the name of above mentioned Phrygian god ΜΗΝ (‘men’), borrowed in this very form in the later Hellenic dialects, which further carries this sense.

****************************************************************************************************

(1) It appears, as a great surprise, in the very same form and meaning in the modern English language.

(2) Cybele seems to have originally been hermaphrodite which may account for her being attributed the title ‘Zeus.’

(3) Note also Roman ‘Galloi/Galli’ for the Gauls.

The primordial Ourea (or more likely Ur-Ea)

The Ourea (/ˈu:rea/, or alternatively Orea /`orea/) were ten primordial deities offspring of Titaness Gaia (or Gaea) that preceded most of the Titans and corresponded to as many respective deified holy mountains as guardians that spanned most of the very ancient known world.

Mount Uludağ, northwest modern Turkey, the ancient Phrygian Mount Olympus or Ulympus

Albeit considered part of the Hellenic (more properly Helenic – and not Greek!) mythology, they are actually inactive characters therein and some only present some action in stories beyond its sphere which, along with the clearly Anatolian structure of the name, strongly recommends an origin from the east.

That said, both forms look most likely Phrygian in descent as the interchange between the sounds /u/ and /o/ as concerns the letter ‘O’ is conspicuous in Old Phrygian, stretching over the best part of their history, where ‘Ω’ and apparently also the diphthong ‘OY’ were introduced to render the former sound in New Phrygian, attested between the first and third century AD (if not earlier).

The Hellenes (more properly Helénoi, or Helénēs), on the other hand, did not use ‘OY’ to render the sound /u/ but ‘Y,’ or ‘Ω’ (Ionians), whereas it was the so-called Koine (Common) that did when it emerged in Anatolia around 330 BC, a ‘bastard’ dialect they didn’t reckon as Hellenic but barbaric anyway.

Which, in turn, spells that ‘Orea’ is the older and ‘Ourea’ a much later form of the appellation in writing though the former effectively contained the latter phonetically.

On top of that, not only the stem ‘or-‘ seems to feature well in Old Phrygian but there was further a similar word ‘ΟΡ-ΥΑΝ’ (voiced as ‘or-uan’ or ‘ur-uan’) that means ‘guardian’ or ‘warden,’ a trait that well fits that of the Ourea.

Nonetheless, the quest of the roots of the name most likely doesn’t wind up here but rather runs far deeper in the past and east among the very influential Hurrians, out of the ranks of whom the Phrygians look as though they may as well have emerged themselves.

Looking closer, the pattern and pronunciation of either Our-ea or Or-ea strongly suggest and reflect a most likely earlier Hurrian form as ‘Ur-Ea’⁽¹⁾ behind it; where ‘ur,’ pronounced as either /ur/ or /or/ just like Phrygian ‘Or-,’ carries the sense of ‘elevated/above ground,’ ‘primeval/primordial’ or ‘source of (divine) light’ whilst ‘ea’ spells ‘earth, ground, mound’ and therefore meets the profile a great deal.

Now, the ten Ourea, or Orea, are lined up on several websites as Aitna (or Aetna), Athos, Helicon, Kithairon, Nys(s)os, Olympus 1, Olympus 2, Oreios, Parnes, and Tmolus – yet a list that doesn’t fully add up on a couple of grounds.

First, there cannot be two (or more) of the same offspring that bear the very same name and yet the above list displays two Ourea under the appellation Olympus, which correspond to the respective mountains in ancient Phrygia and Thessaly. Therefore, one of them is not the original.

Second, the line-up on display doesn’t show Belos (or Belus), a confirmed Oureo⁽²⁾ (or Oreo), which is actually the original name of Mount Olympus in Thessaly (nowadays Greece). The name itself breaks down as Bel-os/us and forms the apparent Anatolian and Hellenic rendering of Bel, Belu or Ba’al (meaning ‘Lord,’ ‘Master’), a major Akkadian, Babylonian and Phoenician god (or gods).

For that matter, Herodorus recounts that Cadmus⁽³⁾ and his men drove away the Hestiaeans, apparently Leleges (Luwian speaking peoples out of Anatolia), from northwestern Thessaly which entails a Phoenician hold over the region, with storm god Ba’al (Zeus)⁽⁴⁾ set up on the ‘throne’ of the mountain, in the wake in deep ancient times.

On the other hand, the Phrygian Olympus is the genuine one as there was actually a Phrygian mountain god named Olympos, who may be the same as the namesake Oureo, that was an early consort of supreme goddess Cybele as well as considered the inventor of the flute and father of the flute-playing Satyrs.

The name Olympus, or alternatively Ulympus, is most likely Phrygian as well. But I will discuss the matter of Olympus, which is very intriguing, at far greater length in a separate post as it merits. For the time, let’s now look at the proper make-up of the Ourea:

Aitna (or Aetna), Athos, Helicon, Kithairon, Nys(s)os, Olympus (Phrygia), Belus (later Thessalian Olympus), Oreios, Parnes, and Tmolus.

****************************************************************************************************

****************************************************************************************************

(1) Ea is also the name of the Akkadian and Babylonian god of the earth.

(2) Oureo (or Oreo) is most likely the root of modern Greek ‘όρος’ (`oros,’ mountain).

(3) Belus was also a legendary Pharaoh of Egypt of divine lineage who was further twin brother of King Agenor of Tyre (Phoenicia), father of Cadmus, and long ancestor of Perseus, the legendary founder of Mycenae.

(4) As I have reiterated, Zeus is an epithet (title) and not a theonym applied to king gods and Ba’al was a storm god that resembled the Zeus we have in mind a great deal at that.

A Phrygian tribe with an intriguing name

Recently, I stumbled on the name of a Phrygian tribe, on two-three different websites at that, that intrigued me a great deal: ϝΡΕΚΥΝ!

That initial letter (ϝ) is actually called digamma or wau, a very ancient letter that first appears in the Phrygian alphabet, which is very much the ancestor of ‘w’ and sounded the same.

Why is that name intriguing? Because it sounded like ‘wrek’un,’ the ‘w’ with a sound like in ‘witch,’ that feels very similar to ‘Γραικός’ which actually is the Greek translation of… ‘Greek!’

As I have figured out, ‘ϝΡΕΚΥΝ’ has got to be a nominative plural form so most likely carried a suffix of ‘-ΟΣ’ at the end in the singular as ‘ϝΡΕΚΟΣ’ along the same lines with other old Phrygian words ending in ‘-YN,’ such as ‘ΑϝΤΥΝ’ (they) against ‘ΑΥΤΟΣ’ (he) and ”ΞΕΥΝ’ (strangers, foreigners) against apparently ‘ΞΕΝΟΣ’ (stranger, foreigner) respectively.

Which would have made it almost identical to ‘Γραικός’ (Greek) in pronunciation. So could the origin of ‘Greek’ and ‘Greeks’ be actually Phrygian, even more so given that I am not quite convinced that they come from ‘Graecian’ as generally given?

The term ‘Greek’ surfaced only towards late antiquity or early middle ages and equated to the speakers of Koine (Common) which itself emerged as a ‘contact’ language/dialect in Anatolia (Minor Asia) among the all the more multinational troops of Alexanders the Great, so it can all as well add up.

I haven’t been able to find anything further on them. I should also note that there is a hill with a very similar name, Wrekin, in east Shropshire (England) that doesn’t seem to have a known etymology.

Το Παλαιό Φρυγικό Αλφάβητο

Όπως έχω ήδη αναφέρει, το Παλαιό Φρυγικό αλφάβητο εμφανίζεται προς τα τέλη του ένατου αιώνα π.Χ. και αποτέλεσε τη γραφή που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στα Φρυγικά κείμενα, όπως πιστοποιείται σε περίπου 400 επιγραφές που έχουν βρεθεί στην Ανατολία (Μικρά Ασία) και περαιτέρω, μέχρι περίπου το 300 π.Χ. πριν τελικά αντικατασταθεί από το Νεο-Φρυγικό (δεξιότατη στήλη), που εμφανίζεται μεταξύ 1ου και 3ου αιώνα μ.Χ.

Είναι στην πραγματικότητα το πρώτο γνωστό αλφάβητο που παρουσιάζει κανονικά φωνήεντα, 5 από αυτά (Α, Ε, Ι, Ο, Υ), μαζί με επιπλέον 14 σύμφωνα που αθροίζονται σε 19 συνολικά γράμματα, μολονότι αυτά στην πραγματικότητα μπορεί να ήταν 21 ή και περισσότερα καθώς τα ‘8’ και ‘Φ’ για παράδειγμα δείχνουν να προφέρονται ως ‘φ’ και δασυνόμενο⁽¹⁾ ‘π’ αντίστοιχα σε αντίθεση με ότι εμφανίζεται στον πίνακα.

Όλα τα γράμματα, με μερικά να αναπαριστάνονται με περισσότερα από ένα σύμβολα, ήταν κεφαλαία και το Φρυγικό κείμενο κατά κύριο λόγο γραφόταν από αριστερά προς τα δεξιά αν και περίπου ένα έκτο των κειμένων που έχουν βρεθεί παρουσιάζει ένα προσανατολισμο΄από δεξιά προς αριστερά, με τις επιγραφές πολλαπλών γραμμών σε Βουστροφηδόν μορφή (εναλλασσόμενες γραμμές με αντίστροφο προσανατολισμό). Οι λέξεις μπορούσαν να διαχωρίζονται με ενδιάμεσα διαστήματα επίσης.

Προέρχεται από το Φοινικικό αλφάβητο που έφθασε στη χώρα της Φρυγίας μέσω των Συρο-Χιττιτικών πολιτειών που εμφανίστηκαν στην νοτιοανατολική Ανατολία περίπου την ίδια εποχή που το ίδιο το Φρυγικό βασίλειο αναδύθηκε στην κεντροδυτική περιοχή της ακολουθώντας την κατάρρευση της Χιττιτικής αυτοκρατορίας στα τέλη του 13ου με αρχές του 12ου αιώνα π.Χ.

Μάλιστα, τα Λεσβιακά Αιολικά αλφάβητα (αργότερα αποκαλούμενα ως πρώιμα Ελληνικά) που εμφανίζονται προς τα μέσα του όγδοου αιώνα π.Χ. είναι σχεδόν πανομοιότυπα με το Φρυγικό και αναδύθηκαν στη Λέσβο, εξού και το όνομα, η οποία ενδεχομένως να ήταν υπό Φρυγική κυριαρχία αλλά σίγουρα κάτω από έντονη επηροή από αυτούς όπως η κουλτούρα του νησιού υποδεικνύει την εποχή εκείνη.

Μεταξύ ενός αριθμού από αρχαίους συγγραφείς, ο Πλάτων παρατηρεί στο διάλογό του με τίτλο ‘Κρατύλος’ ότι πολλές Φρυγικές λέξεις είναι σχεδόν πανομοιότυτες ή πολύ όμοιες με τις ελληνικές όταν η Φρυγική γλώσσα είναι κατά πολύ παλαιότερη, συνεπώς η προέλευση αυτών είναι προφανής.

Μερικές ανάμεσα σε πολλές ενδιαφέρουσες (κυρίως Παλαιές) Φρυγικές λέξεις είναι:

ΑΔΙΚΕΣΕΙ (‘αντικέσε(ι)’) που σημαίνει ‘αδικία’ – ΑΔΙΚΙΑ στα Ελληνικά

ΑΓΚΥΡΑ (‘αγκκούρα’ ή ‘ανκούρα’) που σημαίνει ‘καταφύγιο ή άγκυρα’ – ΑΓΚΥΡΑ στα Ελληνικά

ΑΝΑΡ (”αναρ’) που σημαίνει ‘άνδρας’ – ΑΝΗΡ στα Ελληνικά

ΑΥΤΟΣ (‘autos’) meaning ‘he’ (older form ΑϝΤΟΣ) – ΑΥΤΟΣ in Hellenic

ΒΑΛΗΝ (‘μπαλέ(ε)ν’) που σημαίνει ‘βασιλιάς’ – ΒΑΛΗΣ (μοντέρνο ΒΑΛΕΣ) στα ελληνικά (κύριο χαρτί σε χαρτοπαίγνια)

ΔΕΩΣ⁽²⁾ (‘ντέους’) που σημαίνει ‘θεός’ – ΔΕΥΣ στα Ελληνικά

ΔΙΚΕ (‘ντίκε’) που σημαίνει ‘δικαιοσύνη’ – ΔΙΚΗ (δικαστική διαδικασία) στα Ελληνικά

ΔΙΟΥΝΣΙΝ (‘ντιοούνσιν’) που σημαίνει ‘Διόνυσος’⁽³⁾ – ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ στα Ελληνικά

ΕΙΛΙΚΡΙΝΗ (‘ε(ι)λικρινέ(ε)’) που σημαίνει ‘αγνός’ – ΕΙΛΙΚΡΙΝΗΣ (τίμιος) στα Ελληνικά

EKATAIA (‘εκατάια’) που σημαίνει ‘ανήκει στην Εκάτη’ – ΕΚΑΤΑΙΟΣ στα Ελληνικά

ΕΚΕΙ (‘εκέ(ι)’) που σημαίνει ‘εκεί’ – ΕΚΕΙ στα Ελληνικά

ΕΛΕΓΟΣ (‘ελεγκος’) που σημαίνει ‘ποίημα/τραγούδι θρήνου’ – ΕΛΕΓΕΙΑ στα Ελληνικά

KE (‘κε’) που σημαίνει ‘και’ – ΚΑΙ στα Ελληνικά

ΚΑΡΠΥΣ (‘καρπους’) που σημαίνει ‘φρούτο, αποτέλεσμα’ – ΚΑΡΠΟΣ στα Ελληνικά

ΚΥΝΕΣ (‘κουνες’) που σημαίνει ‘σκύλοι’ – ΚΥΝΕΣ στα Ελληνικά

ΜΑ ΖΕΥΣ (‘Μα Ζντέους’) που σημαίνει ‘Μα (θεότητα) Θεία/Παντοδύναμη’ – ΖΕΥΣ (δεύτερη λέξη) στα Ελληνικά

MHN (‘μεν’) που σημαίνει ‘μήνας’ – ΜΗΝ στα Ελληνικά

ΞΕΥΝ (‘ξεουν’) που σημαίνει ‘ξένοι’ (πολύ πιθανώς ‘ΞΕΝΟΣ’ στον ενικό) – ΞΕΝΟΣ/ΞΕΙΝΟΣ στα Ελληνικά (ενικός)

ΠΑΝΤΑ (‘πάντα’) που σημαίνει ‘όλα’ – ΠΑΝΤΑ στα Ελληνικά

ΠΑΤΗΡ (‘πατέρ’) που σημαίνει ‘πατέρας’ – ΠΑΤΗΡ στα Ελληνικά

ΠΕΝΘΕΡΟ/Ω (‘πεντερό/ού’) που σημαίνει ‘πεθερός’ – ΠΕΝΘΕΡΟΣ στα Ελληνικά

ΠΟΔΑΣ (‘ποντας’) που σημαίνει ‘πόδια’ – ΠΟΔΑ (αιτιατική ενικού) στα Ελληνικά

ΠΥΡ (‘πουρ’) που σημαίνει ‘φωτιά’ – ΠΥΡ στα Ελληνικά

ΤΑΠΗΣ (‘ταπές’) που σημαίνει ‘χαλί’ – ΤΑΠΗΣ (ταπές) στα Ελληνικά

ΥΔΩΡ (‘ουντούρ’) που σημαίνει ΄νερό’ – ΥΔΩΡ στα Ελληνικά

Μερικά ενδιαφέροντα σημεία στην προφορά συγκεκριμένων γραμμάτων:

Α, μπορούσε να προφέρεται τόσο ως βραχύ όσο και ως μακρό ‘a:.’

Β, είναι ιδιαίτερα αξιοπερίεργο ότι στην περίπτωση της λέξης ‘ΒΕΔΥ’ (νερό) προφέρεται ως ‘w’ με αποτέλεσμα αυτή να αποδίδεται φωνητικά ως ‘γ(ου)έντου(;).’

Ωστόσο, αισθάνομαι ότι το σύμβολο ‘8’ πιθανότατα δεν προφερόταν ως ‘μπι’ (όπως εμφανίζεται στον πίνακα) αλλά μάλλον ως ‘φ’ κρίνοντας ιδιαίτερα από την χρήση του σε μερικούς άλλους λαούς όπως οι γείτονες Λυδοί, που το μοιράζονταν.

Δ, η παραλλαγή ‘Λ’ που εμφανίζεται ακριβώς δίπλα είναι πανομοιότυπη με το ‘Λ,’ ένα γράμμα στα ελληνικά αλφάβητα που φέρει το Λυδικό όνομα ‘λάμπντα’ και προφανή καταγωγή με ήχο ‘λ.’ Προφανώς ένα επιπλέον σφάλμα στον παρουσιαζόμενο πίνακα.

E, αποδιδόταν ως βραχύ ‘ε’ με την παραλλαγή του δεξιά προφανώς ως μακρό.

F, το πολύ γνωστό ‘wau’ που προφερόταν όπως το Αγγλικό ‘w,’ υιοθετημένο στις ελληνικές διαλέκτους ως ‘δίγαμμα.΄

Ι, αποδιδόταν τόσο ως βραχύ όσο και ως μακρό ‘ι.’

Κ, η παραλλαγή του ως ‘𐊵’ μπορεί να προφερόταν ως ‘κς’ αντιθέτως, πιθανώς αντικαταστάθηκε με ‘Ξ’ στο νεο-Φρυγικό αλφάβητο…;

O, προφερόταν τόσο ως βραχύ όσο και ως μακρό ‘ο,’ με το δεύτερο να τείνει ως ήχος ή και να είναι ισοδύναμο προς το ‘ου,’ πριν το ‘Ω’ εισαχθεί για να αντιπροσωπεύει τον μακρό ήχο προς τα τέλη του 4ου αιώνα π.Χ.

S, οι παραλλαγές του προς τα δεξιά μπορεί να προφέρονταν ως ‘ουρανικό (παχύ) σ,’ όπως ακριβώς στο Αγγλικό ‘show.’

𐌘, προφερόταν ως δασυνόμενο ‘π,’ σε αντίθεση με ό,τι εμφανίζεται στον πίνακα και πάλι.

Το 𐰀, αποδιδόταν φωνητικά όπως το ‘ζ’ ή ίσως ακόμη και ως ‘τσ,’ πιθανώς ανάλογα και με τη λέξη, σε μερικές Φρυγικές διαλέκτους.

Φαίνεται ότι αντικαταστάθηκε με το ‘J’ στο νεο-Φρυγικό το οποίο υποδεικνύει ότι οι Φρύγες όχι μόνο υιοθέτησαν το Ευκλείδειο αλφάβητο, το οποίο στην πραγματικότητα προέρχεται από την Ανατολία⁽⁴⁾, και το προσάρμοσαν στη γλώσσα τους αλλά το επέκτειναν από την άποψή τους, από τη μία πλευρά, ενώ το ίδιο το νέο γράμμα πιθανώς να προφερόταν είτε ως ‘ζ’ ή ως ‘γ,’ από την άλλη.

Χ, δεν είναι ξεκάθαρο ποιο ήχο αντιπροσώπευε στο Παλαιό, μάλλον ως ‘ζ,’ αλλά αποδιδόταν ως δασυνόμενο ‘κ’ στο νεο-Φρυγικό αλφάβητο.

Ζ, προφερόταν ως ‘ζντ’ (αναπαρίστατο και από άλλα σύμβολα όπως ‘𐊁’ ή ‘Ͳ’ στο Παλαιό αλφάβητο)****.

Τελικώς, κάποια σύμφωνα μπορεί να άλλαξαν ήχο στη νεο-Φρυγική γλώσσα που ομιλούνταν μεταξύ του πρώτου και τρίτου αιώνα μ.Χ.

=============================================================

(1) Το αγγλικό ‘aspirated’ αποδίδεται ως ‘δασυνόμενο(ς)’ στη γλώσσα μας ενώ στην πραγματικότητα δηλώνει εκπνοή κατά την προφορά ενός γράμματος, όπως για παράδειγμα το ‘h’ στη λέξη ‘home’ (Αγγλικά) – η δάσυνση (ή παρόμοιες μορφές) υπήρχε στις περισσότερες ελληνικές διαλέκτους (αρχαιότητα) αλλά χάθηκε νωρίς στην Κοινή, γλώσσα ‘επαφής’ από την οποία προέρχεται η δική μας.

(2) Το ‘ΔΕΩΣ’ ήταν πολύ πιθανώς ‘ΔΕΥΣ’ στην Παλαιά Φρυγική πριν να ενσωματωθεί το ‘Ω.’

(3) Το ‘ΔΙΟΥΝΣΙΝ’ ήταν πολύ πιθανώς ‘ΔΙΟΝΣΙΝ’ στην Παλαιά Φρυγική.

(4) Στοιχεία δείχνουν, ωστόσο, ότι το νεο-Φρυγικό αλφάβητο μπορεί να προήλθε κατευθείαν από το Παλαιό αντιθέτως, όπως η παρουσία των ‘Η’ και ‘J’ ήδη στο δεύτερο.

(5) Το εμφανιζόμενο ως ισοδύναμο ‘Ͳ,’ μια πρώιμη μορφή του λεγόμενου ‘Σαμπί,’ μπορεί να ήταν στην πραγματικότητα ένα διαφορετικό γράμμα που να αντιστοιχούσε στο ‘σσ,’ ή ακόμη και στο ‘ττ.’ Ίσως και το περαιτέρω ισοδύναμο του ‘𐊁’ επίσης αν και μπορεί να λειτουργούσε ως δασυνόμενο ‘k’ και ένας πρόδρομος του νεο-Φρυγικού ‘X’ από αυτή την άποψη.

ΣΣ Ο πίνακας προέρχεται από το Wikipedia.

A Phrygian word in the English language?

I was quite stunned to stumble on the word ‘saba,’ which is a sweet grape syrup made from grape must, in the English language several weeks ago.

The reason? Albeit it is formally given as an alternate of ‘sapa’ which comes from the namesake Latin word, bearing the same meaning, the word ‘saba’ appears exactly in that form and meaning even earlier than Latin and more precisely in the Phrygian language.

It shapes also the first component in the name of Phrygian king god Saba-zios (pronounced as ‘Saba-zdios’) who was the real god of wine venerated in Anatolia and over the Aegean erroneously confused with Dionysos, which is actually not a theonym (name of a god) but an epithet (title) and also Phrygian in origin at that.

And that can hardly be a coincidence. Even more so when the Latin word comes from the earlier Proto-Italic ‘sapā’ which in turn has an Indo-European root of ‘sab-‘ or ‘sap,’ suggesting an interchange of ‘b’ and ‘p.’

The Old Phrygian Alphabet

As already mentioned, the Old Phrygian alphabet emerges towards the late ninth century BC and was the script employed in Phrygian texts, as attested in near 400 inscriptions found in Anatolia and beyond, as far as around 300 BC before it was supplanted by the Neo-Phrygian⁽¹⁾ (rightmost column).

It is actually the very first known alphabet to feature proper vowels, 5 of them (A, E, I, O, Y), along a further 14 consonants adding up to 19 letters overall, although they may have actually been 21 or even more as ‘8’ and ‘Φ’ for instance seem to be pronounced as ‘f’ and aspirated ‘p’ respectively unlike what appears in the table.

All letters, some represented by more than one symbols, were capitals and Phrygian text was mostly written left-to-right though about one sixth of known corpus presents a right-to-left orientation, with multi-line inscriptions in Boustrophedon (alternate lines in reverse orientation). Words could also be separated by spaces or vertically spaced points.

It derives on the Phoenician alphabet that came to the land of Phrygia through the Syro-Hittite states that emerged in southeast Anatolia around the same time that the Phrygian kingdom itself surfaced in the west central region thereof following the collapse of the Hittite empire in the late 13th to early 12th century BC.

In fact, the Lesbian Aeolian alphabets (later called early Hellenic) that appear towards the mid eighth century BC are almost identical to the Phrygian and emerged in Lesbos, hence the name, which could have been under Phrygian rule but definitely under heavy influence by them as the culture of the island indicates at the time.

Among a number of ancient authors, Plato observes in his dialogue titled ‘Cratylus’ that many Phrygian words are almost identical or very similar to Hellenic (not Greek!) ones when the Phrygian language is far older, thereby the origin thereof is obvious.

Some among many interesting (mainly Old) Phrygian words are:

ΑΔΙΚΕΣΕΙ (‘adikesei’) meaning ‘injustice’ – ΑΔΙΚΙΑ in Hellenic

ΑΓΚΥΡΑ (‘agkura or ‘ankura’) meaning ‘refuge or anchor’ – ΑΓΚΥΡΑ in Hellenic

ΑΝΑΡ (”anar’) meaning ‘man’ – ΑΝΗΡ in Hellenic

ΑΥΤΟΣ (‘autos’) meaning ‘he’ (older form ΑϝΤΟΣ) – ΑΥΤΟΣ in Hellenic

ΒΑΛΗΝ (‘balε:n’) meaning ‘king’ – ΒΑΛΗΣ (modern ΒΑΛΕΣ) in Hellenic (master card in card playing)

ΔΕΩΣ⁽²⁾ (‘deɔːs’) meaning ‘god’ – ΔΕΥΣ in Hellenic

ΔΙΚΕ (‘dike’) meaning ‘justice’ – ΔΙΚΗ (trial) in Hellenic

ΔΙΟΥΝΣΙΝ (‘diounsin’) meaning ‘dionysus’⁽³⁾ – ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ in Hellenic

ΕΙΛΙΚΡΙΝΗ (‘elikrine’) meaning ‘pure’ – ΕΙΛΙΚΡΙΝΗΣ (honest) in Hellenic

EKATAIA (‘ekataia’) meaning ‘belonging to Hecate’ – ΕΚΑΤΑΙΟΣ in Hellenic

ΕΚΕΙ (‘ekei’) meaning ‘there’ – ΕΚΕΙ in Hellenic

ΕΛΕΓΟΣ (‘elegos’) meaning ‘poem/song of lament’ – ΕΛΕΓΕΙΑ in Hellenic

KE (‘ke’) meaning ‘and’ – ΚΑΙ in Hellenic

ΚΑΡΠΥΣ (‘karpus’) meaning ‘fruit, outcome’ – ΚΑΡΠΟΣ in Hellenic

ΚΥΝΕΣ (‘kunes’) meaning ‘dogs’ – ΚΥΝΕΣ in Hellenic

ΜΑ ΖΕΥΣ (‘ma zdeus’) meaning ‘Ma (deity) Heavenly/Mighty’ – ΖΕΥΣ (second word) in Hellenic

ΜΗΝ (‘men’) meaning ‘month’ – ΜΗΝ in Hellenic

ΞΕΥΝ (‘kseun’) meaning ‘strangers’ (most likely ΞΕΝΟΣ in singular) – ΞΕΝΟΣ/ΞΕΙΝΟΣ in Hellenic (singular)

ΠΑΝΤΑ (‘panta’) meaning ‘all’ – ΠΑΝΤΑ in Hellenic

ΠΑΤΗΡ (‘pater’) meaning ‘father’ – ΠΑΤΗΡ in Hellenic

ΠΕΝΘΕΡΟ/Ω (‘penterɔː’) meaning ‘father in law’ – ΠΕΝΘΕΡΟΣ in Hellenic

ΠΟΔΑΣ (‘podas’) meaning ‘feet’ – ΠΟΔΑ (accusative, singular) in Hellenic

ΠΥΡ (‘pur’) meaning ‘fire’ – ΠΥΡ in Hellenic

ΤΑΠΗΣ (‘tapes’) meaning ‘carpet – ΤΑΠΗΣ in Hellenic

ΥΔΩΡ (‘udɔːr’) meaning ‘water’ – ΥΔΩΡ in Hellenic

Some interesting points on the pronunciation of certain letters:

A, could be pronounced either as short ‘a’ or long ‘a:.’

B, in the case of the word ‘ΒΕΔΥ’ (water) it was intriguingly pronounced as ‘w’ to the effect of ‘wedu(?).’

All the same, I feel that the symbol ‘8’ was likely not pronounced as ‘b’ (as indicated in the table) but rather as ‘f’ judging especially by its use by a few other peoples like neighbouring Lydians, who shared it.

Δ, the variant ‘𐊍’ cited right next to it is identical to ‘Λ,’ a letter of the Hellenic alphabets with a Lydian name (‘labda’) and apparent origin to the sound of ‘l.’ An apparent further error in the table on show?

E, it was rendered as short ‘e’ with its variant on the right as long ‘e:’ apparently.

F, the well-known ‘wau’ which was pronounced just like English ‘w,’ inherited as ‘digamma’ in the Hellenic tongues.

I, it was voiced as either short or long ‘i.’

K, its variant of ‘𐊵’ may have been voiced as ‘ks’ instead, likely supplanted by ‘Ξ’ in the neo Phrygian alphabet…?

O, could be pronounced either as short or long ‘o,’ the latter also likely leaning to or as good as long ‘u,’ before ‘Ω’ was incorporated to represent the latter sound in the late fourth century BC.

S, the variants on its right could have been rendered as ‘sh’ (palatal s), just as in English ‘show’

𐌘, was pronounced as ‘aspirated p’ unlike what is shown in the table again.

𐰀, was voiced like ‘z’ or maybe even ‘dʒ/ts,’ likely also turning on the word, in some Phrygian dialects.

It seems that it was supplanted by ‘J’ in neo-Phrygian which suggests that Phrygians not only adopted the Eucleidean alphabet, which is actually descended from Anatolia⁽⁴⁾, and adjusted it to their own language but further expanded it on their part, on the one hand, whilst the new letter itself may have been voiced as either ‘z’ or ‘j,’ on the other.

X, it is not quite clear what sound it represented in the Old Phrygian, very likely as ‘z,’ but it was rendered as aspirated ‘k’ in the neo-Phrygian.

Z, was rendered as ‘zd’ (represented by other symbols such as ‘𐊁’ or ‘Ͳ’ in Old Phrygian⁽⁵⁾.

Finally, some consonants may have changed sound in the neo-Phrygian language spoken between the first the third century AD.

=============================================================

(1) The neo-Phrygian alphabet actually emerges much later and more precisely between the first and third century AD.

(2) ‘ΔΕΩΣ’ was most likely ‘ΔΕΥΣ’ in Old Phrygian before ‘Ω’ was incorporated.

(3) ‘ΔΙΟΥΝΣΙΝ’ was most likely ‘ΔΙΟΝΣΙΝ’ in Old Phrygian.

(4) Elements show, yet, that the neo-Phrygian alphabet may have derived directly on the Old instead such as the appearance of ‘H’ and ‘J’ in the latter already.

(5) The presented equivalent of ‘Ͳ’ (maybe ‘𐊁’ too), an early form of the so-called ‘sampi,’ may have actually been a different letter amounting to ‘ss,’ or even to ‘tt.’

Maybe the further equivalent of ‘𐊁’ too albeit it may have functioned as an aspirated ‘k’ and a forerunner of X in that regard

PS The featured table is from Wikipedia.

The Phrygian Alphabet was the first ever to contain vowels

As you may know, it is generally held that the Phoenician alphabet, the oldest fully matured one in history, contained only consonants and it was the Hellenes (not Greeks!) who actually invented and added vowels to it after they adopted it, yet this is not quite true on a couple of accounts.

First, later versions of the Phoenician contained letters/symbols, known as matres lectionis (‘mothers of reading’), that were used as vowels whilst definitely four vowel letters that emerged in the later Hellenic alphabets derived on such; A out of Aleph, E out of He, Y out of Waw and I out of Yodh.

That said, early Phoenician script itself presented a few matres lectionis already.

Second, the Phrygian alphabet, which is older than any of the Aeolian/Lesbian (later called early Hellenic) ones, contained vowels in the full sense, five of them, and it is actually the very first one to do so: A, E, I, O, Y.

In fact, the Aeolian/Lesbian alphabets are almost identical to the Phrygian and emerged in Lesbos which could have been under Phrygian rule but definitely under heavy influence by them as the culture of the island indicates at the time.

Moreover, the Aeolians most likely came to Lesbos from nearby Aeolia in northwest Anatolia (Minor Asia) rather than Thessaly so were definitely already in at least close contact with the Phrygians.

The wider use of the Phoenician alphabet started through the Syro-Hittite states that emerged in southeast Anatolia around the same time that the Phrygian kingdom surfaced in the west central region thereof following the collapse of the Hittite empire in the late 13th and early 12th century BC.

Therefore, it makes perfect sense that Phrygians, who adopted and adapted it to their own language, functioned as the conductor that conveyed the Phoenician alphabet through Anatolia before it later arrived and was further spread and adjusted over the Aegean.

On top of it, there has got to be said that the extent of the Phrygian kingdom may have been considerably greater than admitted but I will expand on the matter in a separate post.