Draft:Gerbh Alphabet
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The Gerbh (Γερβ͂) Alphabet is an alphabet which was created by Kauan Luz to represent and visualize the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) Language. PIE is thought to have been a spoken language from 4500 BCE to 2500 BCE, before the invention of written language. In academics, PIE is notated most commonly using Latin characters with inflections and diacritics (see Proto-Indo-European phonology). In contrast, the Gerbh Alphabet is based off of Greek, Cyrillic, and Coptic scripts, using diacritics for similar sounding letters.
The main purpose for the Gerbh Alphabet, or script, is due to the arguably cluttered but necessary notation for PIE used in modern academic texts such as the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (EIEC) or Andrew Sihler's New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. The Gerbh Alphabet aims to make PIE reconstructions easier to read and to connect PIE to the scripts of its non-Latin descendants, such as the ones mentioned above.
Alphabet
[edit]| Letter | Name (Romanized) | Pronunciation | PIE Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Α α | al | /a/ | *a?[1] |
| Β β | bet | /b/ | (*b)* |
| Β͂ β͂ | bhet | /bʱ/ | *bʰ |
| Γ γ | gam | /g/ | *g |
| Γ͂ γ͂ | gham | /gʱ/ | *gʰ |
| Γ̈ γ̈ | gam da | /gʷ/ | *gʷ |
| Γ̤͂ γ̤͂ | gham da | /gʷʱ/ | *gʷʰ |
| Δ δ | det | /d/ | *d |
| Δ͂ δ͂ | dhet | /dʱ/ | *dʰ |
| Ε ε | ep | /e/ | *e |
| Η η | het | /h¹/ | *h¹ |
| Ι ι | it | /i/ | (*i) |
| Κ κ | kap | /k/ | *k |
| Κ̈ κ̈ | kap da | /kʷ/ | *kʷ |
| Λ λ | lab | /l/ | *l |
| Μ μ | mun | /m/ | *m |
| Ν ν | nun | /n/ | *n |
| Ο ο | om | /o/ | *o |
| Π π | pibh | /p/ | *p |
| Ρ ρ | rud | /r/ | *r |
| Σ ς | sem | /s/ | *s |
| Τ τ | teg | /t/ | *t |
| Υ υ | up | /u/ | (*u) |
| Χ χ | chre | /h²/ | *h² |
| Ϙ ϙ | ggam | /ɟ/ | *ǵ |
| Ϙ͂ ϙ͂ | ggham | /ɟʱ/ | *ǵʰ |
| Ϝ ϝ | wad | /w/ | *w |
| Ϟ ϟ | ccop | /c/ | *ḱ |
| Ϫ ϫ | han | /h³/ | *h³ |
| Ϳ ϳ | yot | /j/ | *y |
| Ә ә | swa | /ә/ | In between
*e and *o |
Diacritics
[edit]Main Article: Diacritic
The only diacritics in the Gerbh Alphabet are the tilde (γ͂), and two dots (κ̈), or both (γ̤͂), which are used to represent aspiration and labialization respectively. According to the alphabet's creator Kauan Luz, "PIE is usually written with the Latin alphabet, with lots of diacritics and other symbols. [I] decided to create a better way to write it."[2]
Sample Text
[edit]Main Article: The king and the god
Gerbh:
Ϫρἐ̄ϟς ηεςτ; ςό әνπυτλος. Ϫρἐ̄ϟς ςύηνυμ ϝλәνητο. Τόςϳο ϙ͂έϝτορәμ πρε̄κςτ: “Σύηνυς μοϳ ϙәνηϳετο̄δ!” Ϙ͂έϝτο̄ρ τομ ϫρἐ̄ϟәμ ϝεϝκεδ: “Ηϳάγεςϝο δεϳϝόμ Ϝέρυνομ”. Ύπο ϫρἐ̄ϟς δεϳϝόμ Ϝέρυνομ ςεςολε νύ δεϳϝόμ ηϳαϙετο. “Ϙλυδ͂ί μοϳ, πτερ Ϝερυνε!” Δεϳϝός Ϝέρυνος διϝές κәμτά γ̈αχτ. “Κ̈ίδ ϝε̄ληςι?” “Σύηνυμ ϝε̄λημι.” “Τόδ ηεςτυ”, ϝέϝκεδ λεϝκός δεϳϝός Ϝέρυνος. Νυ ϫρἐ̄ϟς πότνιχ ςύηνυμ ϙεϙονηε. [2]
H₃rḗḱs h₁est; só n̥putlós. H₃rḗḱs súhxnum u̯l̥nh₁to. Tósi̯o ǵʰéu̯torm̥ prēḱst: "Súhxnus moi̯ ǵn̥h₁i̯etōd!" Ǵʰéu̯tōr tom h₃rḗǵm̥ u̯eu̯ked: "h₁i̯áǵesu̯o dei̯u̯óm U̯érunom". Úpo h₃rḗḱs dei̯u̯óm U̯érunom sesole nú dei̯u̯óm h₁i̯aǵeto. "ḱludʰí moi̯, pter U̯erune!" Dei̯u̯ós U̯érunos diu̯és km̥tá gʷah₂t. "Kʷíd u̯ēlh₁si?" "Súhxnum u̯ēlh₁mi." "Tód h₁estu", u̯éu̯ked leu̯kós dei̯u̯ós U̯érunos. Nu h₃réḱs pótnih₂ súhxnum ǵeǵonh₁e.
Translation:
Once there was a king. He was childless. The king wanted a son. He asked his priest: "May a son be born to me!" The priest said to the king: "Pray to the god Werunos." The king approached the god Werunos to pray now to the god. "Hear me, father Werunos!" The god Werunos came down from heaven. "What do you want?" "I want a son." "Let this be so," said the bright god Werunos. The king's lady bore a son.
See Also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Lubotsky, Alexander (1989-01-01). "Against a Proto-Indo-European phoneme *a". Essays in Phonological Reconstruction.
- ^ a b "Gerbh alphabet". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
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