phoenician

IPA/fəˈniːʃn/
KK[fənˈiʃən]IPA/fəˈniːʃn/

phoenician — noun

1. a language used long ago in the Middle East, whose alphabet later shaped Greek a

1.nounC2
Definition

a language used long ago in the Middle East, whose alphabet later shaped Greek and Roman letters

Example

Dr. Lee studies Phoenician texts at the museum in Beirut.

collocation: study Phoenician

Our class compared Phoenician letters with early Greek letters yesterday.

alphabet link: Phoenician and Greek letters

Common collocations
  • Phoenician alphabet
  • Phoenician text
  • Phoenician inscription
  • read Phoenician
  • write in Phoenician
Synonyms
  • Punic

    the later Carthaginian variety closely related to Phoenician; narrower, not the general term

  • Canaanite

    a broader label for the language group that includes Phoenician; not a direct substitute in most contexts

Grammar Patterns

study Phoenician

read Phoenician

write in Phoenician

Usage Note

Almost always uncountable and usually follows verbs such as study, read, write, or translate. In learner use, Phoenician often names the language, while Phoenician alphabet refers only to the writing system.

Common Mistakes

She is learning a Phoenician.
She is learning Phoenician.
names of languages are usually uncountable and do not take 'a'.
The stone is written in Phoenicia.
The stone is written in Phoenician.
Phoenicia is the place; Phoenician is the language.

Word family

  • Phoenicia
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For noun sense 1, Phoenician names the Semitic language once used in ancient Phoenicia. Punic is the closest related term, but it usually refers to the later western form used in Carthage, so it is narrower than Phoenician. Hebrew and Aramaic are not synonyms either; they are separate Semitic languages from the same broad region, and students often meet them in the same history or language courses. Greek is different again, because it belongs to another language family, but it is often mentioned with Phoenician because Greek writing was shaped by the Phoenician alphabet. A stone text from Tyre may be called Phoenician, while a Carthaginian text is more specifically Punic.

PunicHebrew ↗AramaicGreek ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Phoenician alphabet
  • Phoenician inscription
  • Phoenician text
  • Phoenician message

Phrases

  • read Phoenician
  • study Phoenician
  • write in Phoenician
  • translate from Phoenician

Prepositions

  • in Phoenician
  • from Phoenician

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Phoenician entered English in the late Middle Ages through Old French and Latin forms based on the name Phoenicia, the ancient region on the eastern Mediterranean coast. Those forms go back to Greek Phoinike, the Greek name for Phoenicia. English later used Phoenician for the people, their culture, and the Semitic language spoken there.