The Iberian scripts are types of Paleohispanic scripts used to write the Iberian language, which no longer exists. These scripts are unusual because they are semi-syllabic, meaning they use symbols to represent both sounds and syllables, rather than only individual letters. The earliest known Iberian writings date back to the 4th or possibly the 5th century BCE. The latest writings are from the end of the 1st century BCE or the beginning of the 1st century CE.

Variants

There are two main types of writing systems, or scripts, and two main geographic areas where they were used within the Iberian family of languages.

The Greco-Iberian alphabet was a script created by adapting the Greek alphabet for use by the Iberians. It was mainly used in the regions of Alicante and Murcia. The southwestern script, which is very similar to the southeastern Iberian script but was used to write the Tartessian language, and the Celtiberian script, which was a direct adaptation of the northeastern Iberian script used for the Celtiberian language, are not technically considered Iberian scripts.

The northeastern Iberian script is often called simply the Iberian script because it is used in 95% of known Iberian inscriptions. These inscriptions were mostly found in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, especially along the coast from Languedoc-Roussillon to Alicante, with some found in the Ebro valley.

The southeastern Iberian script is less well understood, and some symbols are missing from records. For example, there are no clear symbols for the sounds /gu/, /do/, and /m/. Unlike the northeastern Iberian script, the meaning of the southeastern Iberian script is not fully understood because some symbols do not have agreed-upon meanings. Inscriptions using this script were mainly found in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, including areas such as Eastern Andalusia, Murcia, Albacete, Alicante, and Valencia.

There are many differences in how the symbols of the Iberian scripts were shaped. Over the past few decades, scholars have suggested that some of these differences, especially in the northeastern Iberian script and more recently in the Celtiberian script, may have meaningful purposes. It appears that the earliest letters were used for the sounds /b/, /d/, and /g/, while the sounds /t/ and /k/ were created by adding a stroke to the letters for /d/ and /g/. This system is called the dual signary model. If this is correct, it would be similar to how the Latin letter G was created by adding a stroke to the letter C.

Typology

The Iberian scripts, except for the Greco-Iberian alphabet, are unusual in structure because they combine alphabetic and syllabic elements. Continuants, such as sounds like /s/ and vowels, were represented by individual letters, similar to the Phoenician or Greek alphabets. Non-continuants, including stops like /b/, /d/, /t/, /g/, and /k/, were written using syllabic symbols that combined consonants and vowels, much like the Japanese kana system. For example, the symbols for "ga" and "ge" looked different, and "bi" and "bo" had no visual connection. This unique system is called a "semi-syllabary."

The southeastern Iberian script was written from right to left, like the Phoenician alphabet, while the northeastern script was written from left to right, similar to the Greek alphabet.

Origins

The Iberian scripts are called Paleohispanic scripts for simplicity and because they share some general similarities. However, the exact relationships between these scripts and others from the same time, such as the Greco-Iberian script, are not clearly understood. Most scholars agree that these scripts were partly based on the Greek and Phoenician alphabets, as they have many symbols that look similar to those in these alphabets. Some researchers believe the northern and southern Iberian scripts originally came only from the Phoenician alphabet, while others think the Greek alphabet also had an influence. A few suggest that Old Italic may have played a role as well. It seems that either the symbols themselves were changed or they took on new meanings. For example, the southern symbol for the sound /e/ came from the Phoenician letter ‘ayin or the Greek letter Ο, while the northern symbol for /e/ resembles the Phoenician letter he or the Greek letter Ε. However, in southern Iberian, this symbol might have represented the sound /be/ instead. Despite these differences, it is clear that the scripts had a common origin. The most widely accepted idea is that the northeastern script developed from the southeastern script.