Unveiling

the 2-Dimensional Alphabets

Joannes Richter

Author Title Publication

- unknown - Sefer Yetzirah, traditionally ascribed to Abraham, unknown
or to Rabbi Akiva (c. 50 – 135 CE)
Marcus Tullius Cicero On the Nature of the Gods 45 BC
Rabbi Saadia Gaon Judeo-Arabic commentary on the “Sefer Yetzirah”1 ~900 – 942
Isaac Taylor The Alphabet 1883
John William Donaldson The New Cratylus 1850
Or Contributions Towards a More Accurate …
The Theory of Greek Alphabet
Karl Richard Lepsius Das allgemeine linguistische Alphabet 1855
William Matthew Flinders The Formation of the Alphabet 1912
Petrie
Joannes Richter Unveiling the 2 Dimensional Alphabets 2023
Table 1 Overview of publications with references to the 2-Dimensional Alphabets

Abstract
This essay is an introduction to the historical evolution of the 2-dimensional alphabets, which have
been developed and documented before they were to be lost in the mist of scientific research.
The Sefer Yetzirah describes the categorization of the alphabet, which is defined as a 22-letter
signary. The letters are formed by the voice in 5 Places of articulation, which in the 10th century are
categorized by Rabbi Saadia Gaon. In On the Nature of the Gods 2 the philosopher Cicero describes
the categories for the Places of articulation. Cicero applies other words such as “tongue”, “teeth”,
“palate”, “jaws”3, “the nostrils4, lungs and sides5”. Studying the books of Flinders Petrie, Karl
Richard Lepsius, John William Donaldson6 and Isaac Taylor I understood the authors interpreted the
alphabets from different viewpoints. In Unveiling the 2 Dimensional Alphabets the author Joannes
Richter confirms Rabbi Saadia Gaon's categorization of the 5 Places of articulation, which also
categorizes the Futhark and Ogham signaries. QED.

1 Saadia Gaon and Shabbethai Donnolo wrote commentaries on the longer recension (Mantua II.)
2 On the Nature of the Gods; Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, (1877), Translated, chiefly By C. D. Yonge
3 Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them?
4 We Stoics, therefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to the strings, and the nostrils to the
sounding-board.
5 And they must needs have these appearances speak, which is not possible without a tongue, and a palate, and jaws,
and without the help of lungs and sides, and without some shape or figure; for they could see nothing by their mind
alone—they referred all to their eyes.
6 New Cratylus, p. 148 John William Donaldson
The Sefer Yetzirah
The Sefer Yetzirah describes the categorization of the alphabet, which is defined as a 22-letter
signary.
These twenty-two sounds or letters are formed by the voice, impressed on the air, and
audibly modified in five places; in the throat, in the mouth, by the tongue, through the
teeth, and by the lips. (31) 7

The twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are classified both with reference to the
position of the vocal organs in producing the sounds, and with regard to sonant
intensity. In contrast to the Jewish grammarians, who assumed a special mode of
articulation for each of the five groups of sounds, the Sefer Yetzirah says that no sound
can be produced without the tongue, to which the other organs of speech merely lend
assistance8.

In this essay the five places of formation are coded by highlighting the letters or words according to
the guttural, palatal, lingual, dental and labial.

7 (Wikisource): Sefer Yetzirah 1887 - Translated from the Hebrew by William Wynn Westcott - Chapter II (Line 3)
8 Sefer Yetzirah
Saadia Gaon
In the 10th century, Saadia Gaon wrote his commentary based on a manuscript which was a
reorganized copy of the Longer Version, now called the "Saadia Version." This was translated into
French by Lambert and thence into English by Scott Thompson. This version and commentary was
more philosophical in nature rather than mystical and had virtually no impact on subsequent
kabbalists.[20]
Tafsīr Kitāb al-Mabādī[51] is an Arabic translation of and commentary on the Sefer
Yetzirah, written while its author was still residing in Egypt (or Israel), and intended to
explain in a scientific manner how the universe came into existence.[52] On the
linguistic aspect, Saadia combines a debate on the letters and on their attributes (e.g.
phonemes), as well as a debate on related linguistic matters.

In his commentary on the "Sefer Yetzirah", Saadia sought to render lucid and intelligible
the content of this esoteric work by the light of philosophy and scientific knowledge,
especially by a system of Hebrew phonology which he himself had founded.

In introducing "Sefer Yetzirah"'s theory of creation he makes a distinction between the

Biblical account of creation ex nihilo, in which no process of creation is described, and
the process described in "Sefer Yetzirah" (matter formed by speech).

Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabische commentary on the “Sefer Yetzirah”

Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabische commentary on the “Sefer Yetzirah” describes the
categorization of the 22 Hebrew letters of the alphabet:
Based on Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabic commentary on “Sefer Yetzirah” (chapter
4, paragraph 3), wherein he describes the phonetic sounds of the 22 characters of the
Hebrew alphabet and classifies them in groups based on their individual sounds: “Aleph
( ‫)א‬, hé (‫)ה‬, ḥet (‫)ח‬, ‘ayin (‫ )ע‬are [gutturals sounds] produced from the depth of the
tongue with the opening of the throat, but bet (‫)ב‬, waw (‫)ו‬, mim (‫)מ‬, pé (‫ )פ‬are [labial
sounds] made by the release of the lips and the end of the tongue; whereas gimel (‫)ג‬,
yōd (‫)י‬, kaf (‫)כ‬, quf (‫ )ק‬are [palatals] separated by the width of the tongue [against the
palate] with the [emission of] sound. However, daleth (‫)ד‬, ṭet (‫)ט‬, lamed (‫)ל‬, nūn (‫)נ‬, tau
(‫ )ת‬are [linguals] separated by the mid-section of the tongue with the [emission of]
sound; whereas zayin (‫)ז‬, samekh (‫)ס‬, ṣadi (‫)צ‬, resh (‫)ר‬, shin (‫ )ש‬are [dental sounds]
produced between the teeth by a tongue that is at rest.” 9

9 Footnote in Modern Hebrew phonology - Wikipedia

The 2-dimensional Hebrew alphabet
The 2-dimensional table of the Hebrew alphabet is based on the Ugaritic alphabet:

Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Transcription
of the Ugaritic 30 ʾa b g ḫ d h w z ḥ ṭ y k š l mḏ n ẓ s ʿ p ṣ q r s ġ t ʾi ʾu s2
alphabet
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Hebrew 22
‫ג ב א‬ ‫כ י טח ז ו הד‬ ‫מל‬ ‫נ‬ ‫שרק צ פ ע ס‬ ‫ת‬
Old-Greek 21 A B Γ Δ Ε Υ Ζ ΗΘ Ι Κ ΛΜ Ν ΟΠ s q Ρ Σ Τ
Classic
21 A B Γ Δ Ε Ζ ΗΘ Ι Κ ΛΜ Ν ΟΠ Ρ Σ Τ YXΩ
Greek
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21-26
C Ϝ I V,U,W,
Latin 26 A B DE Z H Þ K LM N O P s QR S T
G V J X,Y,Z
Table 2 Ugaritic abecedaria (1) of the "Northern Semitic order" (27-30 letters)
(categorized according to the comments of Rabbi Saadia Gaon's)

Lingual Palatal Guttural Labial Dental

5 Taw T22 Shin S21
4 Nun N14 Qoph K19 Ayin Gh16 Pe Ph17 Resh R20
3 Lamedh L12 Kaph Ch11 Heth H8 Mem M13 Tsade Ts18
2 Teth T9 Yodh I10 He Ε5 Waw V6 Samekh S15
1 Dalet D4 Gimel G3 Aleph Æ1 Bet B2 Zayin Z7
Table 3 The display of the theonyms I10-Ε5-V6 and T9-I10-Ε5-V6-S15 in the Hebrew alphabet10

10 Understand your Alphabet

Cicero's categorization11
Reading Cicero's The Nature of the Gods in a paperback (1997) I discovered Cicero's
knowledge of the Places of articulation for the human voice. I also used a digitized version
“On the Nature of the Gods12”, translated (1877) by C. D. Yonge to easily search the relevant
quotations.
In the Sefer Yetzirah the standard description of the phonetic sources are lingual, labial, guttural,
palatal and dental. Cicero applies other words such as “tongue”, “teeth”, “palate”, “jaws”13, “the
nostrils14, lungs and sides15”. In modern translations the “jaws” (1877) are replaced by “throat”
(1997).

The virtues
Cicero argues the gods cannot be happy without a virtue. According to Velleius virtue cannot exist
without reason and reason exists only in a human form 16. Often the virtues are bundled. Wisdom is
a bundled version of all virtues, which is found in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations. According to
Cicero the most excellent of all virtues is justice. Both wisdom and justice seemed to be the most
important virtues. Wisdom is the bundled all-in virtue and justice is the most excellent of all
virtues.
In the archaic stages of mythology the Hellenic sky-god DzEUS had been married with two deities:
METIS (“Wisdom”, in Latin: MINERVA) and “Justice” (ΘEMIS)17. In later mythologies the sky-
god *DJOUS-PITER had swallowed “Wisdom” and also joined “Justice” in his name “JU(s)”-piter.

11 Notes to Cicero's “The Nature of the Gods” and Cicero's Etymology for the Names of the Gods
12 On the Nature of the Gods; Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, (1877), Translated, chiefly By C. D. Yonge
13 Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them?
14 We Stoics, therefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to the strings, and the
nostrils to the sounding-board.
15 And they must needs have these appearances speak, which is not possible without a tongue, and a palate, and jaws,
and without the help of lungs and sides, and without some shape or figure; for they could see nothing by their mind
alone—they referred all to their eyes.
16 Book I §89 – The Nature of the Gods (Oxford World's Classics): Cicero, translated by Walsh, PG (1997)
17 Fundamentals in the Name-Giving for the Days of the Week
The first concept of Isaac Taylor
Studying the books of Flinders Petrie, Karl Richard Lepsius, John William Donaldson18 and Isaac
Taylor I understood the authors interpreted the alphabets from different viewpoints.
In The Alphabet the author Isaac Taylor19 describes a strange Hebrew concept, in which three
groups of 7-8-7 letters. According to Isaac Taylor the 7 letters may represent the days of the week.
For this concept the three sibilants z, s, š had to represent a sabbath position and the letter k had to
switch to the third group:

Fig. 1 The triad cycle of seven days of the week with

sabbatical days (z, s, š) at the 7th position in the alphabet

Fig. 2 Concept of the Hebrew alphabet (source: The Alphabet van Isaac Taylor)

The first division contains three soft mutes BGD; the second contains three continuants WḤṬ; the
third three liquids LMN; and the fourth three hard mutes PQT.
This may be illustrated in the following overview:

Mutes Continuants Liquids Hard mutes

Extract of the
Transcription 22
of the Ugaritic ʾa b g d h w z ḥ ṭ y k l mn s ʿ p ṣ q r š t
alphabet

bgd w ḥ ṭ l mn p q t
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Hebrew 22
‫ז ו ה ד ג ב א‬ ‫ס נ מ ל כ י טח‬ ‫ת שר ק צ פ ע‬
Table 4 Concept of the Hebrew alphabet (source: The Alphabet van Isaac Taylor)

18 New Cratylus, p. 148 John William Donaldson

19 The Alphabet: An Account of the Origin and Development of Letters (Isaac Taylor, K. Paul, Trench & Company,
1883 - 398 Seiten ) Band 1 (in 2 volumes)
The second concept of Isaac Taylor

The 2-dimensional of Isaac Taylor

In The Alphabet the author Isaac Taylor did choose an ABCDZ-structure with 5 categories, which
corresponds to the categorization of the Sefer Yetzirah.
The categorization is correct: Guttural, Labial, Palatal, Dental, Sibilant. However the name-giving
of the categories breath, sibilant and dental is strange:

Guttural Labial Palatal Dental Sibilant

(breath)
Soft Ἀ B G D Z
Continuous H V ꭓ Ț ꭙ
Liquid Y M L (R) N S
Hard Ἁ P Q (K) T Ṥ
Table 5 Concept of the Hebrew alphabet (source: The Alphabet of Isaac Taylor)

The original table in The Alphabet of Isaac Taylor) is

Fig. 3 Concept of the Hebrew alphabet (source: The Alphabet of Isaac Taylor)

Obviously the author Isaac Taylor suggests the Hebrew alphabet had been abbreviated from 22 to
20 characters in the course of time. The missing letters were specified as R and K.
If the sibilants are not taken into account it will be seen that this scheme is almost identical
with the actual arrangement. It has only been necessary to suppose that in the primitive
Semitic alphabet, as in the Egyptian alphabet from which it was derived, the sounds 1 ( r)
and k (2) had not been differentiated at the time when the letters were first arranged as an
alphabet.20

20 Page 194 , chapter: “The primitive letters” in The Alphabet van Isaac Taylor
The Ugaritic alphabet
Isaac Taylor did not experience the discovery of the Ugaritic alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet does
not relate to all letters of the Ugaritic alphabet. Did the missing symbols have played a role, which
had been abandoned in the course of time?

Comparing the Hebrew alphabet with Taylor's 2-dimensional table

The previously defined Hebrew alphabet may now be compared to Taylor's 2-dimensional table,
which will be restructured to illustrate the differences:
Guttural (breath) Labial Palatal Dental Sibilant
Soft Ἀ B G D Z
Continuous H V ꭓ Ț ꭙ
Liquid Y M L (R) N S
Hard Ἁ P Q (K) T Ṥ
Table 6 Concept of the Hebrew alphabet (source: The Alphabet of Isaac Taylor)

Lingual Palatal Guttural Labial Dental

5 Taw T22 Shin S21
4 Nun N14 Qoph K19 Ayin Gh16 Pe Ph17 Resh R20
3 Lamedh L12 Kaph Ch11 Heth H8 Mem M13 Tsade Ts18
2 Teth T9 Yodh I10 He Ε5 Waw V6 Samekh S15
1 Dalet D4 Gimel G3 Aleph Æ1 Bet B2 Zayin Z7
Table 7 The display of the theonyms I10-Ε5-V6 and T9-I10-Ε5-V6-S15 in the Hebrew alphabet21
In the restructured 2-dimensional overview of Isaac Taylor's concept row #1 corresponds to the first
row in the alphabet. In the second row the theonyms I10-Ε5-V6 and T9-I10-Ε5-V6-S15 are quite
different. Also the third row seemed to be deviating from the original 22-letter concept.
Dental Palatal Guttural Labial Sibilant
4 Hard T22 Q (K19) Ἁ16 P17 Ṥ21
3 Liquid N14 L (R) Y M13 S
2 Continuous T9 ꭓ H V6 ꭙ
1 Soft D4 G3 Ἀ1 B2 Z7
Table 8 Concept of the Hebrew alphabet (source: The Alphabet of Isaac Taylor)

Obviously Taylor's 2-dimensional table deviates from the original 22-letter concept:
• The theonyms at the 2nd row deviate from the readable display I10-Ε5-V6 & T9-I10-Ε5-V6-S15 .
• The letter Y should be a palatal (ꭓ ?) and is located in row #3 (instead of row #2).
• The letter He Ε5 is missing and ꭙ at the 2nd row seems to be undefined.
• The letter L may be a “dental”, or according to Rabbi Saadia Gaon even a lingual.

21 Understand your Alphabet

Lepsius' universal Alphabet
The Lepsius Standard Alphabet is a Latin-script alphabet developed by Karl Richard
Lepsius. Lepsius initially used it to transcribe Egyptian hieroglyphs in his Denkmäler aus
Ägypten und Äthiopien[1] and extended it to write African languages, published in 1854[2]
and 1855,[3] and in a revised edition in 1863.[4] The alphabet was comprehensive but was
not used much as it contained a lot of diacritic marks and was difficult to read and typeset at
that time22.

Fig. 4 Title image in the book Das allgemeine linguistische Alphabet (1855)

Overview of the Lepsius letters

The Lepsius letters without predictable diacritics are as follows:

Universal codes for vowels

According to Lepsius the original vowels were restricted to I, A, U. The classification of the vowels
are relatively easy: (A, E, O are gutturals; I a palatal and U a labial).

A
EE OOE OO
Ẹ OO O Ọ
I Ṳ U
Table 9 Vowels in the Lepsius Standard Alphabet

22 Lepsius Standard Alphabet

Universal codes for Consonants
Only the non-accentuated consonants may be categorized according the phonetic color code
(guttural, palatal, lingual, dental and labial). The gray colored letters may deviate from the standard.
The categorization remembers me of the Old-Persian and Sanskrit categorizations:
Velar Semi-
Vowels Palatal Alveolar Labial Nasal Sibilant
Guttural vowels L Glottal
(Ā), Ī, Ū C, Ç, J T, Θ, D P, F, B N&M S, Z, Ś
K, X, G Y, V, R
Table 10 Categorization in the Old Persian alphabet

# Letters 22 Hebrew letters 25 Old-Persian letters 28–47 Sanskrit letters

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 Linguals D4 Th9 L12 N14 T22 T Θ D N L Z T D N L S
2 palatals G3 I10 Ch11 K19 I C Ç J Y Ś I Ī C J Ñ Y Š
3 gutturals Æ1 Ε5 H8 Gh16 A K X G H A Ā K G Ṅ H
4 labials B2 V6 M13 Ph17 U P F B M V U Ū P B Ṃ V
5 dentals Z7 S15 Ts18 R20 S21 R S Ṭ Ḍ Ṇ R Ṣ
Table 11 2-Dimensional tables for the Hebrew, Old-Persian and Sanskrit alphabets

explosive or divided fricative or continuous Liquids

(Anceps)
fortes light nasal fortes light semi-vocals.

Faucal23 ꜣ ʼ HH H
1
(Throath) Q
Guttural Ṅ ꭓ
2 K G Ɣ(g) Ṙ
(Sanskrit) (ng) (ch)
Palatal
3
(Sanskrit)
Ḱ Ǵ Ń ꭓꭓ, Š, Šꭓ Ɣꭓ , Ž, Žꭓ Y, J Ĺ
4 Cerebral
(Sanskrit) Ṭ Ḍ Ṇ ṢṢ ẒṢ Ṛ Ḷ
5 Lingual Ḏ (Ṯ) SS Ẕ, ẟS
6 Dental T D N S, Θ Z, ẟ R L
7 Labial P B M F V W
Table 12 Lepsius Standard Alphabet
(Derived and translated from: Alphabet_standard_de_Lepsius)

23 Latin fauces (“throat”). - Litterae gutturales et litterae faucales von R Lepsius

The consonants in European scripture
Lepsius categorizes three classes (for German, but also for the Greek and Latin languages):
Guttural, Dental and Labial. These classes represent the Places of articulation Throat, Teeth,
respectively Lips:
Wir pflegen in unseren Sprachen, wie die Griechen und Röme, drei Schlußpunkte zu
unterscheiden und hiernach die Consonanten in drei Classen abzutheilen, in Gutturale,
Dentale und Labiale, je nachdem sie in der Kehle, an den Zähnen oder durch die Lippen
gebildet werden24.

In the European scripture the fricative or continue letters are varying according to language.

Fig. 5 The simple European consonants in European scripture

24 Karl Richard Lepsius – Das allgemeine linguistische Alphabet. Berlin 1855 MDZ München, Google =
Internet Archive
The concept of John William Donaldson

The Theory of Greek Alphabet (chapter V, page 144)25

Originally the Semitic alphabet contained 16 letters, which may be listed in a 2-dimensional table:

Lingual Palatal Guttural Labial Dental

5 Taw T22
T
4 Nun N14 Qoph K19 Ayin Gh16 Pe Ph17
N Q *h P
3 Lamedh L12 Heth H8 Mem M13
L Gh M
2 Teth T9 He Ε5 Waw V6 Samekh S15
Dh h Bh S
1 Dalet D4 Gimel G3 Aleph Æ1 Bet B2
D G 'h B
Table 13 The 16-letter Hebrew → Greek alphabet26
According to Donaldson the following 16-letter Greek alphabet is derived from the Hebrew
alphabet and introduced by Cadmus: 'h, B, G, D, h, Bh, Gh, Dh, L, M, N, S, *h, P, Q, T.
This is an optimized alphabetical signary for the Greek alphabet, in which the triads represent
ternary codes (B, Bh, M, P – 'h, h, Gh, *h – G, Q – D, Dh, L, N, T – S:

25 New Cratylus, p. 148 John William Donaldson

26 Understand your Alphabet
The Greek alphabet
I remembered I studied the 4 phases at the introduction of Greek alphabet and compared the intial
phases with the new concept: 'h, B, G, D, h, Bh, Gh, Dh, L, M, N, S, *h, P, Q, T.
A possible conflict may be identified in the letter ‫( ס‬Samekh S15), which is missing in the Old-Greek
alphabet. Also the Q is inherited from ‫( ק‬Qoph K19 Q).

Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Transcription
of the Ugaritic 30 ʾa b g ḫ d h w z ḥ ṭ y k š l mḏ n ẓ s ʿ p ṣ q r s ġ t ʾi ʾu s2
alphabet
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Hebrew 22
‫ג ב א‬ ‫כ י טח ז ו הד‬ ‫מל‬ ‫נ‬ ‫שרק צ פ ע ס‬ ‫ת‬
Hebrew-16
Donaldson
16
‫ג ב א‬ ‫ו הד‬ ‫טח‬ ‫מל‬ ‫נ‬ ‫פעס‬ ‫ק‬ ‫ת‬
Greek-16 16 A B Γ Δ Ε Υ ΗΘ ΛΜ N s ΟΠ q Τ
Old-Greek 21 A B Γ Δ Ε Υ Ζ ΗΘ Ι Κ ΛΜ Ν ΟΠ s q Ρ Σ Τ
Classic
21 A B Γ Δ Ε Ζ ΗΘ Ι Κ ΛΜ Ν ΟΠ Ρ Σ Τ YXΩ
Greek
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21-26
C Ϝ I V,U,W,
Latin 26 A B DE Z H Þ K LM N O P s QR S T
G V J X,Y,Z
Table 14 Ugaritic abecedaria (1) of the "Northern Semitic order" (27-30 letters)
(categorized according to the comments of Rabbi Saadia Gaon's)
According to Hyginus' legend the Greek alphabet is composed from letters in 4 stages, whose
symbols are inherited from the Phoenician alphabet :
number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
3 Moirai A B H I T Υ
Palamedes Γ Δ Θ Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Ρ Σ Χ
Simonides Ε Ζ Φ Ω
Epicharmus Π Ψ
The Greek Α Γ Δ Ε Ζ Ι Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω
alphabet α Β γ δ ε ζ Η Θ ι Κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω
β η θ κ
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Hebrew-16 a b g d h bh gh th l m n s o p q s t
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Donaldson's 'h B G D h B G D L M N S *h P Q S T
Concept h h h

Table 15 The introduction of the Greek alphabet according to Hyginus, Fabulae, section 277
The concept of Flinders Petrie
One of the alternative concepts may be found in The Formation of the Alphabet - by William
Matthew Flinders Petrie27. Flinders Petrie describes the earlier authors of Lepsius, Donaldson and
Taylor. He repeats the categorization: vowel, labial, guttural, and dental. Some of the letters belong
to the extensions. The liquids and sibilants were added later and form no part of such a scheme:
It had long ago been noticed by Lepsius, Donaldson, and Taylor that, embedded in the
Phoenician, Greek, and Italian alphabets there is a repeated sequence of letters,—vowel,
labial, guttural, and dental. What has however been ignored is that this system is
extended a whole series further in the Greek than in the Phoenician alphabet, forming a
fifth row and the beginning of a sixth. The liquids and sibilants were added later and
form no part of such a scheme.

Fig. 6 The 2-dimensional concept in “The Formation of the Alphabet” by Flinders Petrie

Obviously none of the researchers Flinders Petrie, Lepsius, Donaldson, and Taylor noticed the
earlier classification by Rabbi Saadia Gaon.
With 5 correct categorizations Isaac Taylor's concept may have presented one of the most promising
ideas for the 2-dimensional alphabets.

Guttural (breath) Labial Palatal Dental Sibilant

Soft Ἀ B G D Z
Continuous H V ꭓ Ț ꭙ
Liquid Y M L (R) N S
Hard Ἁ P Q (K) T Ṥ
Table 16 Concept of the Hebrew alphabet (source: The Alphabet of Isaac Taylor)

27 The Formation of the Alphabet - William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1912)

The concept of Richter
In Understand your Alphabet28 the author Joannes Richter confirms Rabbi Saadia Gaon's
categorization of the 5 Places of articulation, which also categorizes the Elder Futhark and Ogham
signaries.

lingual palatal guttural labial dental

5 Taw T22 Shin S21
4 Nun N14 Qoph K19 Ayin Gh16 Pe Ph17 Resh R20
3 Lamedh L12 Kaph Ch11 Heth H8 Mem M13 Tsade Ts18
2 Teth T9 Yodh I10 He Ε5 Waw V6 Samekh S15
1 Dalet D4 Gimel G3 Aleph Æ1 Bet B2 Zayin Z7

Table 17 The display of the theonyms I10-Ε5-V6 and T9-I10-Ε5-V6-S15 in the Hebrew alphabet
The elder Futhark runic signary may be transformed to the following 2-dimensional table:
# lingual palatal labial guttural dental
6 D M
5 Ŋ (Ng) B O
4 L J P E
3 T I [W] Ï or Æ S
2 N G U H Z
1 Þ K [F] A R
Table 18 2-Dimensional table of the runic alphabet on the Kylver Stone
(on the third row the alphabet displays the theonyms TĪW and TĪWÆS)
The standard ogham c may be transformed to the following 2-dimensional table:
lingual palatal guttural labial dental
5 Ng
4 T I Ε U
3 D G O M R
2 N Q A F Z
1 L C H B S
Table 19 Display of the theonym TIΕU in the Ogham alphabet (for the standard order)
These transformations may be interpreted as a common knowledge of the archaic composers of the
signaries. The keywords I10-Ε5-V6 and T9-I10-Ε5-V6-S15 , TĪW en TĪWÆS, TIΕU. In Greek, Latin
and Germanic languages the alphabetical displays for the theonyms may be rearranged to the words
for the virtues “Wisdom” and “Justice”: in Greek METIS (wisdom) ↔ ThEMIS (justice), in Latin:
MINERVA and in Germanic (WIT ↔ TIW) in [Witan ↔ Tiw].

28 Understand your Alphabet - The Introduction of a Number of Eurasian Alphabets

Overview of the pentagrams in various languages29
The overview of the pentagrams in various languages results in the following table:
Language Sky-god Virtue Wisdom Virtue Justice
1 Germanic *Teiws - TEIWS Wotan (from: to wit) or (W)Odin Tiwaz – TIWAZ
Futhark and his son: Víðarr VIDARr
2a Old Greek 1 Zeus (from: DIEUS) *Weyds - WEYDS (to see) ?
2b Early Greek 2 Zeus (from: DIEUS) Metis - METIS Themis – ΘEMIS
2c Classic Greek 3 Zeus (from: DIEUS) Athina (AΘINA, Pallas Athena) ?
3 Etruscan TINIA Menrva - MEN(i)RVA ?
4a Old Latin 1 JU-piter (from: DIOUS) VIDΕS (“to see”) IUS(ÞE)
4b Classic Latin 2 JU-piter (from: DIOUS) Minerva (“wisdom”) - MINERVA IUR(ÞE)
5 Basque URÞΙË SEIUÞ / ZAGUT IUSÞE
6 Lithuanian DieVAS IŠMANYMAS TEISMO
7 Ogham TIEU(*) VIDE(*) IU(*)TE

Table 20 Overview of the sky-gods and the virtues justice and wisdom

In the overview most entries may be identified as pentagrams, which represent all 5 categories.
Only the Etruscan name “Tinia” and the Basque name “URÞΙË“ for the sky-god seem to need some
more investigations.

The Latin word for IUS seems to be an abbreviation for IUS / IUR (the law).

row language Sky-god Virtue “wisdom” Virtue “justice”

3 Futhark 1 T Æ I W S W I T Æ S T I W Æ S
3 Futhark 2 T Æ I W S V I D A RR T I W A Z
2 Old Greek 1 Θ9 Ι10 Ε5 Υ6 (s15) W6 Ε5 Ι10 Θ9 (s15) Θ9 Ε5 Μ13 Ι10 (s15)
2 Early Greek 2 Θ9 Ι10 Ε5 Υ6 (s15) Μ13 Ε5 Θ9 Ι10 (s15) Θ9 Ε5 Μ13 Ι10 (s15)
2 Classic Greek 3 Θ9 Ι10 Ε5 Υ6 (s15) Μ13 Ε5 Θ9 Ι10 (s15) Θ9 Ε5 Μ13 Ι10 (s15)
2 Etruscan Θ9 Ι10 N I A M E N (i) R
2 Old Latin 1 Þ9 Ι9 Ε5 V6 (s15) V21 Ι9 Þ9 Ε5 (s15) Ι9 V6 (s15) Þ9 Ε5
2 Classic Latin 2 Þ9 Ι9 Ε5 V6 (s15) Μ13 Ι9 Ν14 Ε5 R18 Ι9 V6 (s15) Þ9 Ε5
2 Basque V6 R18 Þ9 Ι9 Ε5 (s15) Ε5 Ι9 V6 Þ 9 Ι9 V6 (s15) Þ9 Ε5
2 Lithuanian Þ9 Ιe9 V6 Ε5 (s15) Ι9 (s15) Μ13 Ε5 Þ9 Þ9 Ε5 Ι9 (s15) Μ13
4 Ogham T I E U (*) V I D E (*) I U (*) T E
Table 21 The triads of theonyms (sky-god and 2 virtues) for the languages Germanic (Futhark),
Greek, Latin, Basque, respectively Lithuanian

QED.

29 Why Wotan is Related to Metis and Minerva...

Summary
This essay is an introduction to the historical evolution of the 2-dimensional alphabets, which have
been developed and documented before they were to be lost in the mist of scientific research.
Studying the books of Flinders Petrie, Karl Richard Lepsius, John William Donaldson30 and Isaac
Taylor I understood the authors interpreted the alphabets from different viewpoints.

The Sefer Yetzirah

The Sefer Yetzirah describes the categorization of the alphabet, which is defined as a 22-letter
signary. The letters are formed by the voice in 5 Places of articulation, which in the 10th century are
categorized by Rabbi Saadia Gaon.

Cicero
In On the Nature of the Gods 31 the philosopher Cicero describes the categories for the Places of
articulation and the role of the virtues. Cicero applies other words such as “tongue”, “teeth”,
“palate”, “jaws”32, “the nostrils33, lungs and sides34”.
In the archaic stages of mythology the Hellenic sky-god DzEUS had been married with two deities:
METIS (“Wisdom”, in Latin: MINERVA) and “Justice” (ΘEMIS)35. In later mythologies the sky-
god *DJOUS-PITER had swallowed “Wisdom” and also joined “Justice” in his name “JU(s)”-piter.

Taylor I
In The Alphabet the author Isaac Taylor36 describes a strange Hebrew concept, in which three
groups of 7-8-7 letters. According to Isaac Taylor the 7 letters may represent the days of the week.
For this concept the three sibilants z, s, š had to represent a sabbath position and the letter k had to
switch to the third group

Taylor II
In The Alphabet the author Isaac Taylor did choose an ABCDZ-structure with 5 categories, which
corresponds to the categorization of the Sefer Yetzirah.
The categorization is correct: Guttural, Labial, Palatal, Dental, Sibilant. However the name-giving
of the categories breath, sibilant and dental is strange:

30 New Cratylus, p. 148 John William Donaldson

31 On the Nature of the Gods; Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, (1877), Translated, chiefly By C. D. Yonge
32 Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them?
33 We Stoics, therefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to the strings, and the nostrils to the
sounding-board.
34 And they must needs have these appearances speak, which is not possible without a tongue, and a palate, and jaws,
and without the help of lungs and sides, and without some shape or figure; for they could see nothing by their mind
alone—they referred all to their eyes.
35 Fundamentals in the Name-Giving for the Days of the Week
36 The Alphabet: An Account of the Origin and Development of Letters (Isaac Taylor, K. Paul, Trench & Company,
1883 - 398 Seiten ) Band 1 (in 2 volumes)
Lepsius
The Lepsius Standard Alphabet is a Latin-script alphabet developed by Karl Richard Lepsius.
According to Lepsius the original vowels were restricted to I, A, U. The classification of the vowels
are relatively easy: (A, E, O are gutturals; I a palatal and U a labial).

Donaldson
According to John William Donaldson the following 16-letter Greek alphabet is derived from the
Hebrew alphabet and introduced by Cadmus: 'h, B, G, D, h, Bh, Gh, Dh, L, M, N, S, *h, P, Q, T.
This is an optimized alphabetical signary for the Greek alphabet, in which the triads represent
ternary codes (B, Bh, M, P – 'h, h, Gh, *h – G, Q – D, Dh, L, N, T – S:

Flinders Petrie
William Matthew Flinders Petrie repeats the categorization: vowel, labial, guttural, and dental.
Some of the letters belong to the extensions. The liquids and sibilants were added later and form no
part of such a scheme

Richter
In Unveiling the 2 Dimensional Alphabets the author Joannes Richter confirms Rabbi Saadia Gaon's
categorization of the 5 Places of articulation, which also categorizes the Elder Futhark and Ogham
signaries. QED.

Summary
Obviously none of the researchers Flinders Petrie, Lepsius, Donaldson, and Taylor noticed the
earlier classification by Rabbi Saadia Gaon.
With 5 correct categorizations Isaac Taylor's concept may have presented one of the most promising
ideas for the 2-dimensional alphabets.
Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................1
The Sefer Yetzirah................................................................................................................................2
Saadia Gaon..........................................................................................................................................3
Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabische commentary on the “Sefer Yetzirah”.................................3
The 2-dimensional Hebrew alphabet...............................................................................................4
Cicero's categorization..........................................................................................................................5
The virtues.......................................................................................................................................5
The first concept of Isaac Taylor..........................................................................................................6
The second concept of Isaac Taylor......................................................................................................7
The 2-dimensional of Isaac Taylor .................................................................................................7
The Ugaritic alphabet.......................................................................................................................8
Comparing the Hebrew alphabet with Taylor's 2-dimensional table...............................................8
Lepsius' universal Alphabet..................................................................................................................9
Overview of the Lepsius letters.......................................................................................................9
Universal codes for vowels.........................................................................................................9
Universal codes for Consonants................................................................................................10
The consonants in European scripture...........................................................................................11
The concept of John William Donaldson ..........................................................................................12
The Theory of Greek Alphabet (chapter V, page 144)...................................................................12
The Greek alphabet...................................................................................................................13
The concept of Flinders Petrie............................................................................................................14
The concept of Richter......................................................................................................................15
Overview of the pentagrams in various languages.............................................................................16
Summary.............................................................................................................................................17
The Sefer Yetzirah..........................................................................................................................17
Cicero.............................................................................................................................................17
Taylor I...........................................................................................................................................17
Taylor II.........................................................................................................................................17
Lepsius...........................................................................................................................................18
Donaldson......................................................................................................................................18
Flinders Petrie................................................................................................................................18
Richter............................................................................................................................................18
Summary........................................................................................................................................18