Cypriot syllabary

Cypriot
Script type
Syllabary
Time period
11th–4th centuries BCE
DirectionRight-to-left script Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesArcadocypriot Greek, Eteocypriot
Related scripts
Parent systems
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Cprt (403), ​Cypriot syllabary
Unicode
Unicode alias
Cypriot
U+10800–U+1083F
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and  , see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Line drawing rendering, bronze Idalion Tablet, 5th century BCE, Idalion, Cyprus.

The Cypriot or Cypriote syllabary (also Classical Cypriot Syllabary) is a syllabic script used in Iron Age Cyprus, from about the 11th to the 4th centuries BCE, when it was replaced by the Greek alphabet. It has been suggested that the script remained in use as late as the 1st century BC.[1] A pioneer of that change was King Evagoras of Salamis. It is thought to be descended from the Cypro-Minoan syllabary, in turn, a variant or derivative of Linear A. Most texts using the script are in the Arcadocypriot dialect of Greek, but also one bilingual (Greek and Eteocypriot) inscription was found in Amathus.

  1. ^ Mitford, T. B., "Kafizin and the Cypriot Syllabary", The Classical Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 3/4, pp. 97–106, 1950