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Paleohispanic scripts

Paleohispanic scripts
Script type
Time period
c. 700–100 BC
RegionPaleohispanic languages according to inscriptions (except Aquitanian - according to anthroponyms and theonyms used in Latin inscriptions).
LanguagesLusitanian, Tartessian, Celtiberian, Iberian
Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
  • (Northern Palaeohispanic)

(Southern Palaeohispanic)

Sister systems
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Simplified paleohispanic semi-syllabary
A possible southwestern signary (based on Rodríguez Ramos 2000).
Possible values of the southeastern Iberian signary (based on Correa 2004). Signs in red are the most debatable.
The proposed 'dual' variant of northeastern Iberian signary (based on Ferrer i Jané 2005).
A western Celtiberian signary (based on Ferrer i Jané 2005).
A northeastern Iberian signary (not dual).
An eastern Celtiberian signary.
The Greco-Iberian alphabet.
History of the alphabet

Egyptian hieroglyphs 32nd c. BCE


Adlam (slight influence from Arabic) 1989 CE

Hangul 1443 CE

Thaana c. 18 CE (derived from Eastern Arabic numerals and Brahmi numerals)

The Paleohispanic scripts are the writing systems created in the Iberian peninsula before the Latin alphabet became the main script. Most of them are unusual in that they are semi-syllabic rather than purely alphabetic, despite having supposedly developed, in part, from the Phoenician alphabet.

Paleohispanic scripts are known to have been used from the 5th century BCE — possibly from the 7th century, in the opinion of some researchers — until the end of the 1st century BCE or the beginning of the 1st century CE, and were the main scripts used to write the Paleohispanic languages. Some researchers conclude that their origin may lie solely with the Phoenician alphabet, while others believe the Greek alphabet may also have had a role.

  1. ^ Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (January/February 2000): 21.
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