Paleohispanic scripts | |
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Script type | |
Time period | c. 700 or 500–100 BC |
Region | Iberian Peninsula and Aquitaine (southern France) |
Languages | Aquitanian, Celtiberian, Gallaecian, Iberian, Lusitanian, Sorothaptic, Tartessian |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | |
Sister systems | Greco-Iberian alphabet |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Nphn (146), N Palaeohispanic Sphn (147), S Palaeohispanic |
Unicode | |
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The Paleohispanic scripts are the writing systems created in the Iberian Peninsula before the Latin alphabet became the dominant script. They derive from the Phoenician alphabet, with the exception of the Greco-Iberian alphabet, which is a direct adaptation of the Greek alphabet. Some researchers believe that the Greek alphabet may also have played a role in the origin of the other Paleohispanic scripts. Most of these scripts are notable for being semi-syllabic rather than purely alphabetic.
Paleohispanic scripts are known to have been used from the 5th century BCE—possibly as early as the 7th century, according to some researchers—until the end of the 1st century BCE or the beginning of the 1st century CE. They were the primary scripts used to write the Paleohispanic languages.