Re: Ancient writing systems

In article <1177185758.247250.33880@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Peter T. Daniels <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Apr 21, 2:54 pm, CatalinaIslandView <isla...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Peter T. Daniels wrote:
On Apr 21, 1:19 pm, CatalinaIslandView <isla...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
What was (were) the first logographic writing system(s)? I have been
trying to do some research on my own and am stuck at Proto-Canaanite
and Proto-Sinaitic (wouldn't the second come first?) Anyway, I am
confused and would welcome anyone who could simplify the topic a bit.

The first known logographic (logosyllabic) writing system is the
Sumerian.

The other known ones are Chinese and Maya.

Neither Proto-Sinaitic nor its descendant (Proto-)Canaanite is
logographic.

Yes, sorry. Acrophonic. What would then be the first known alphabet?

The only alphabet ever invented is the Greek. All the others (the list
isn't long: Etruscan, a handful of Italic ones, Roman, Coptic,
Gothic,Armenian, Georgian, Glagolitic, Cyrillic, "Caucasian Albanian")
have descended from it or (runes, ogham) from its offspring Roman.

The Greek is a modified form of the Phoenician. The
first known alphabetic writing is Semitic, and the oldest
known trace of it (as of this time) is on a cliff on the
Nile, dated as 1900 BCE. I doubt if any of the Semitic
alphabets are based on the Greek.

Other invented alphabets are the Indian alphabet, which
seems to have taken some of its characters from the
Semitic, and the Korean, which is not like any of the
others.


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are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
.