Nabatean alphabet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nabataean
Type Abjad
Spoken languages Nabataean language
Time period 2nd century BC to 4th century AD
Parent systems Proto-Canaanite alphabet
 → Phoenician alphabet
  → Aramaic alphabet
   → Syriac alphabet
    → Nabataean
Child systems Arabic alphabet
History of the alphabet

Middle Bronze Age 19 c. BCE

Meroitic 3 c. BCE
Ogham 4 c. CE
Hangul 1443 CE
Canadian syllabics 1840 CE
Zhuyin 1913 CE
complete genealogy

The Nabatean alphabet is a consonantal alphabet (abjad) that was used by the Nabateans in the 2nd century BC. Important inscriptions are found in Petra. The alphabet is descended from the Aramaic alphabet via the Syriac alphabet. It in turn developed into the Arabic alphabet from the 4th century, which is why its letterforms are intermediate between the more northerly Semitic scripts (such as the Hebrew) and Arabic.

Nabatean Name Arabic
Alphabet
Hebrew
Alphabet
Aleph א
Bet ב
Gimel ג
Dal ד
Ha ה
Waw ו
Zayn ז
Ħa ח
Ṭaa ט
Yaa י
Kaf כ
Lam ל
Meem מ
Noon נ
Sin ﺳׂ שׂ
'in ﻋـ ע
Fa ﻓـ פ
Ṣad צ
Qaf ק
Ra ר
Shin שׁ
Ta ת

[edit] See also

The Northwest Semitic abjad
ʾ b g d h w z y k l m n s ʿ p q r š t
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 300 400
historyPhoenicianAramaicHebrewSyriacArabic