Palaeohispanic writing systems

Abstract

This chapter presents the main characteristics of Palaeohispanic scripts and current lines of research to provide a deeper understanding of their origin, development, and mutual dependency. The scripts share a similar corpus of signs along with some common structural features, in particular the coexistence of alphabetical and syllabic characters; most exhibit a ‘dual system’, wherein similar signs with comparable phonetic values are differentiated by adding a stroke to the basic shape of the character. These common elements suggest a common ancestor, considered to have arisen from the Phoenician alphabet. However, there are also important differences between the scripts, mainly concerning the different value of the signs in each; the scripts accordingly can be attributed to two separate groups, the northern and the southern scripts. Decipherment of these two groups has not attained the same level; whereas the northern scripts can be considered fully deciphered, at present the southern ones are only partially decoded.