Page:The Aryan Origin of the Alphabet.djvu/57

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SUMERIAN ORIGIN OF LETTERS S & T
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Fish,[1] and defined as meaning "Fish, god Ia of the Deep Waters, Lord or King." This syllabic sign by dropping its final consonant as previously described becomes Si or S alphabetically; and in "Semitic" Phœnician it is used for the simple S,[2] called Samekh in the Hebrew.

The second form, the plumed crown-sign is seen to be obviously derived from the Sumerian ???? Sa picturing a plumed crown and defined as "King"[3] disclosing the origin of Egyptian hieroglyph Śu, a plumed or feathered crown (see Plate II, col. 3) and the use of this hieroglyph alphabetically for Ś. This Sumerian plume-sign is also seen to be apparently the parent of the "Semitic" Phoenician letter for Ś, the so-called Shin of Hebrew, in all of which the sign is given the aspirated Ś value. In view of its aspirated value of Ś or Sh, it is possible that the "Semitic" Phœnician sign 𐤌 � Ψ?,? may be a diagrammatic form of the Sumerian sign Śar, "Garden," picturing a garden with plants, and shown in my Dictionary, Plate V to be the Sumerian source of the Egyptian hieroglyph Śa, "Garden," and alphabetic for Ś or Sh. And this Egyptian garden-sign Śa generally resembles the "Semitic" Phœnician letter for Ś or Sh.

In the Runes the oldest alphabetic form of the simple S is found, later it was sometimes written with its top and bottom strokes vertically (see Plate II, col. 18 and cp. WPOB. 29); and significantly the letter was called Sig or Sigil. In Ogam the "tree-twig" S has four bars on one side of the stem (see Plate II, col. 19). The Old Persian cuneiform appears to use for S the plumed crown-sign turned on its right side, and for Sh or Ś, the Śar

  1. BW. 94. It is the same sign which has the synonym of Nun, see Pl. IV.
  2. In the Phœnician form the central stroke is omitted above the bars.
  3. Br. 6839, 6848; BW. 300.