Whence the sigma? The separate borrowing of the Greek letters and their names
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The Greek alphabet is clearly derived from a North Semitic ancestor, traditionally identified as Phoenician. The mismatch between the Greek and North Semitic sibilant letters and their names, however, has long stymied researchers. In shape, Greek xi matches North Semitic samekh and Greek sigma matches North Semitic shin. The name xi, however, does not resemble samekh at all; instead samekh is a better match for sigma. Previous explanations resort to unlikely scenarios such as imperfect learning or plain confusion on behalf of the Greek adopters of the alphabet and are ultimately unconvincing. In this talk, we will consider the additional evidence from the letters’ sound values and connect it with the affricate hypothesis. This states that before ca. 1000 BCE, Northwest Semitic samekh and shin were pronounced [ts] and [s], respectively. Greek xi is used for various combinations of plosives and sibilants, matching the value of North Semitic samekh during the second millennium BCE, while sigma is the basic voiceless sibilant, like second-millennium shin. This suggests that the letter shapes and sound values were borrowed during the second millennium, as suggested by Joseph Naveh and Willemijn Waal. The letter-name mismatch can then be understood if the names were only borrowed later, after deaffrication of samekh and backing of shin had taken place. Without altering the alphabetic order, shape, or value of their own letters, the Greeks accepted that the [s] was called (something like) samekh. The lack of affricates in first-millennium Northwest Semitic left the Greeks without a name for the letter representing [ks] etc., leaving xi with the default name type for obstruent letters that do not occur in North Semitic, C-i (cf. phi, chi, psi). As the letter names are one of the strongest pieces of evidence connecting the Greek alphabet with Phoenician in particular, the possibility that the Greek letter names are secondary opens up avenues to explore other routes of alphabet transmission.
DOI: 10.17613/m63bz-09018
Author: Benjamin Suchard
Institution: Leiden University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225418590