Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Northeastern Iberian script
open-in-new
<h2 id="typology-and-variants">Typology and variants</h2> <p>All the <a href="/facts/Paleohispanic_scripts/aXqoBrvv">Paleohispanic scripts</a>, with the exception of the <a href="/facts/Greco-Iberian_alphabet/pdTtCxBb">Greco-Iberian alphabet</a>, share a common distinctive typological characteristic: they represent syllabic values for the <a href="/facts/Occlusives/sGy7fuyF">occlusives</a> and monophonemic values for the other consonants and vowels. In this <a href="/facts/Writing_system/ABG251A0">writing system</a>, they are neither <a href="/facts/Alphabets/vqfRpS3E">alphabets</a> nor <a href="/facts/Syllabaries/GCbFXaJ4">syllabaries</a>; rather, they are mixed scripts that are typically identified as <a href="/facts/Semi-syllabaries/LdHFRxdP">semi-syllabaries</a>. The basic signary (non-dual) contains 28 signs: 5 <a href="/facts/Vowels/BNhCeFtH">vowels</a>, 15 syllabic signs, and 8 consonantal signs (including one <a href="/facts/Lateral_consonant/Mcyc1or8">lateral</a>, two <a href="/facts/Sibilants/5ejwC21e">sibilants</a>, two <a href="/facts/Rhotics/tcAGzjfP">rhotics</a>, and three <a href="/facts/Nasals/m6D3cVhe">nasals</a>). </p><p>The northeastern script was nearly deciphered in 1922 by <a href="/facts/Manuel_G%C3%B3mez-Moreno_Mart%C3%ADnez/Gkj1HCMG">Manuel Gómez-Moreno Martínez</a>, who systematically linked the <a href="/facts/Syllabic/kKxGd6Fl">syllabic</a> signs to their <a href="/facts/Occlusive/sGy7fuyF">occlusive</a> values. This decipherment was based on the existence of a large number of coin legends (some bearing <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> inscriptions) that could easily be associated with ancient place names known from <a href="/facts/Ancient_Rome/cGqIuxPd">Roman</a> and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greece/PTVBrWXq">Greek</a> sources. </p><p>There are two variants of the northeastern Iberian script: the dual variant, which is almost exclusive to ancient inscriptions from the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, is characterized by the use of a dual system. This system, discovered by Joan Maluquer de Motes in 1968, allows for the differentiation of <a href="/facts/Occlusive/sGy7fuyF">occlusive</a> signs (<a href="/facts/Dentals/Yraaz9Nm">dentals</a> and <a href="/facts/Velars/blWClp79">velars</a>) between <a href="/facts/Voiced/VdqrEGQ3">voiced</a> and <a href="/facts/Unvoiced/575TtTUn">unvoiced</a> by the addition of an extra stroke. The simple sign represents the voiced value, while the complex sign represents the unvoiced value. The non-dual variant is primarily found in modern inscriptions from the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. </p> <h2 id="location-of-findings">Location of findings</h2> <p>The inscriptions that use the northeastern Iberian script have been found primarily in the northeastern quadrant of the <a href="/facts/Iberian_Peninsula/ztFXI8zt">Iberian Peninsula</a>, largely along the coast from <a href="/facts/Roussillon/CTwAI0s3">Roussillon</a> to <a href="/facts/Alicante/rL29Ln7F">Alicante</a>, as well as deep into the <a href="/facts/Ebro/Xo0GX4VE">Ebro</a> Valley. These inscriptions have been discovered on various types of objects, including <a href="/facts/Silver/xXe41BGg">silver</a> and <a href="/facts/Bronze/YCYCVIKt">bronze</a> coins, silver and <a href="/facts/Ceramic/9JKudpqX">ceramic</a> vessels, <a href="/facts/Lead/EYljasJN">lead</a> plaques, <a href="/facts/Mosaics/6QQYFQUe">mosaics</a>, <a href="/facts/Amphorae/joJ3P6W4">amphorae</a>, stones (<a href="/facts/Stele/TECCpFvv">steles</a>), <a href="/facts/Spindle_(textiles)/SvoglPJw">spindle</a> whorls, and more. Together, these represent 95% of the total finds (over 2,000 items), and nearly all the scripts were written from left to right. The oldest northeastern Iberian inscriptions date to the 4th or possibly the 5th century BCE, while the more modern ones date from the end of the 1st century BCE or perhaps the beginning of the 1st century CE. </p><p>In recent years, four northeastern Iberian abecedaries or signaries have been published: the Castellet de Bernabé signary, the Tos Pelat signary, the Ger signary, and the Bolvir signary, all of which belong to the dual variant of the script. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Greco-Iberian_alphabet/pdTtCxBb">Greco-Iberian alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Iberian_scripts/8koFyVT9">Iberian scripts</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Paleohispanic_scripts/aXqoBrvv">Paleohispanic scripts</a> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Celtiberian_script/xMBR7hca">Celtiberian script</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Southeastern_Iberian_script/1Q3gLEg9">Southeastern Iberian script</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Tartessian_script/ILW2hJQK">Tartessian script</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/facts/Paleohispanic_languages/9baNqxdc">Paleohispanic languages</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Pre-Roman_peoples_of_the_Iberian_Peninsula/6g8u1kLf">Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2> <ul><li>Correa, José Antonio (1992): «Representación gráfica de la oposición de sonoridad en las oclusivas ibéricas (semisilabario levantino)», <i>AION</i> 14, pp. 253–292.</li> <li>Ferrer i Jané, Joan (2005): <a href="https://www.academia.edu/425399/Novetats_sobre_el_sistema_dual_de_diferenciacio_grafica_de_les_oclusives_sordes_i_sonores"><i>Novetats sobre el sistema dual de diferenciació gràfica de les oclusives sordes i sonores</i></a>, <i>Palaeohispanica</i> 5, pp. 957–982.</li> <li>Ferrer i Jane Joan (2013): <a href="http://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/33/39/26ferrer.pdf">«Els sistemes duals de les escriptures ibèriques»</a>, <i>Palaeohispanica</i> 13, pp. 451-479.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Manuel_G%C3%B3mez-Moreno_Mart%C3%ADnez/Gkj1HCMG">Gómez-Moreno, Manuel</a> (1922): «De Epigrafia ibérica: el plomo de Alcoy», <i>Revista de filología española</i> 9, pp. 34–66.</li> <li>Hoz, Javier de (1985): «El nuevo plomo inscrito de Castell y el problema de las oposiciones de sonoridad en ibérico», <i>Symbolae Ludouico Mitxelena septuagenario oblatae</i>, pp. 443–453.</li> <li>Maluquer de Motes, Joan (1968): <i>Epigrafía prelatina de la península ibérica</i>, Barcelona.</li> <li>Quintanilla, Alberto (1993): «Sobre la notación en la escritura ibérica del modo de articulación de las consonantes oclusivas», <i>Studia Palaeohispanica et Indogermánica J. Untermann ab Amicis Hispanicis Oblata</i>, pp. 239–250.</li> <li>Rodríguez Ramos, Jesús (2004): <i>Análisis de epigrafía íbera</i>, Vitoria-Gasteiz.</li> <li><a href="/facts/J%C3%BCrgen_Untermann/vH0KSCSc">Untermann, Jürgen</a> (1990): <i><a href="/facts/Monumenta_Linguarum_Hispanicarum/8S7GUy1S">Monumenta Linguarum Hispanicarum</a>. III Die iberischen Inschriften aus Spanien</i>, Wiesbaden.</li> <li>Velaza, Javier (1996): <i>Epigrafía y lengua ibéricas</i>, Barcelona.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <p> Media related to Iberian scripts at Wikimedia Commons </p> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050207201113/http://www.webpersonal.net/jrr/ib2_en.htm">The levantine Iberian writing- Jesús Rodríguez Ramos</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Jones, Sam (2022-11-15). "Hand of Irulegi: ancient bronze artefact could help trace origins of Basque language". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-06-18. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/15/hand-of-irulegi-ancient-spanish-artefact-rewrites-history-of-basque-language" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/15/hand-of-irulegi-ancient-spanish-artefact-rewrites-history-of-basque-language</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>