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ThePhrygian alphabet is the script used in the earliestPhrygian texts.
It dates back to the 8th century BCE and was used until the fourth century BCE ("Old Phrygian" inscriptions), after which it was replaced by the commonGreek alphabet ("New Phrygian" inscriptions, 1st to 3rd century CE). The Phrygian alphabet was derived from thePhoenician alphabet and is almost identical to the early WestGreek alphabets.
The alphabet consists of 19 letters – 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 14 consonants (b, g, d, v, z, y, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t).[1] A variant of the Phrygian alphabet was used in the inscriptions of theMysiandialect. Words are often separated by spaces or by three or four vertically spaced points. It is usually written from left to right ("dextroverse"), but about one-sixth of the inscriptions were written from right to left ("sinistroverse").[2] In multi-line inscriptions there is usually a spelling ofboustrophedon (a few dozen inscriptions).[3][4]
The nineteen characters of the Old Phrygian alphabet are:[5]
| Writing direction | Transcription | Phoneme | New Phrygian equivalent[6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ΑΒΓ⇒ | ΑΒΓ⇒ | |||
 | 𐤠 | a | /a/,/aː/ | Α |
| Β, 8 | B | b | /b/ | Β |
| 𐊩 | 𐊩 | g | /ɡ/ | Γ |
| 𐊅, 𐊍 | 𐊍, 𐊅 | d | /d/ | Δ |
𐊤, |  , | e | /e/,/eː/ | Ε, Η |
| F | F | v | /w/ | ΟΥ |
| Ι | Ι | i | /i/,/iː/ | Ι, ΕΙ |
Κ, , 𐊵, 𐊜, | 𐊜 ,𐊵 ,K | k | /k/ | Κ |
| 𐰃 |  | l | /l/ | Λ |
| 𐌌 |  | m | /m/ | Μ |
| 𐊪 |  | n | /n/ | Ν |
| Ο | Ο | o | /o/,/oː/ | Ο, Ω |
| 𐌐 |  | p | /p/ | Π |
| 𐌛 | 𐌛 | r | /r/ | Ρ |
 , , , | 𐰩, | s | /s/ | Σ |
| Τ | Τ | t | /t/ | Τ |
| 𐊄 | 𐤰 | u | /u/,/uː/ | ΟΥ, O |
| 𐰀, X | 𐰁,𐰀 | y | /j/ | Ι |
𐊁, 𐌘, , Ͳ | 𐊁 | z | /z/ (/zd/?) | Ζ |
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